WELLTHY Generation Podcast!

76. Maternal Health & Wellness in Underserved Communities with Taylor John

• Naihomy Jerez • Episode 76

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Taylor John, founder of Tay Talks, shares her expertise as a doula, researcher, and advocate for maternal health in underserved communities to help us understand the intersection of wellness, pregnancy, and relationship dynamics.

• Affordable wellness solutions include DIY heating pads (rice-filled socks with essential oils), community centers with holistic services, and free knowledge from social media creators
• The expansive role of doulas who provide emotional, physical, and informational support before, during, and after childbirth, with specializations ranging from birth to abortion, infertility, and adoption
• Importance of establishing boundaries with healthcare providers and understanding your right to request different care if feeling uncomfortable
• Culturally responsive nutrition guidance that accommodates traditional foods rather than eliminating them
• Practical stress management techniques including breathing exercises, visualization, and physical tools like stress balls
• How setting boundaries around personal space models healthy behavior for children and improves overall family wellness
• Finding community support through neighborhood walks, yoga classes, and local organizations if you lack a personal support system

If you'd like to connect with Taylor, you can find her on social media @TayTalks, on LinkedIn as Taylor John, or listen to her podcast "Tay Talks, Unapologetically Me" on all streaming platforms.

Additional Resources

Thank you so much for listening!


Naihomy:

Hello friends, welcome back to Wealthy Generation Podcast Today. I am really excited because we have a guest on today's show. We connected on Instagram, one of my favorite places, because I meet a lot of cool people there. She is in public health, she's a doula, she's a researcher and she is a really big advocate for maternal health, nutrition and those who have been harmed in relationships. So, taylor, thank you so much for being with us. Please introduce yourself to everybody.

Taylor:

Thank you so much, naomi. Hi everyone. As Naomi said, my name is Taylor John. I am the founder of Tay Talks, which violence and being able to have and share education around the intersects between IPV and maternal health, particularly in underserved communities. I am a survivor of intimate partner violence myself and that experience drives much of my advocacy work today, but also my research, which I'll be able to share a little bit more in this conversation. Thank you so much for having me.

Naihomy:

Yeah, thank you for being on with us. So I know like you touched so many different aspects of a female's life and just going through pregnancy and getting pregnant and being in relationships. But one thing that you said that really just sparks my interest and I would love to touch on is underserved communities or lack of resources, and what do you do? Because oftentimes it takes a lot of resources or money or accessibility to be able to take care of yourself. I think that wellness is something that can get expensive or it's very limited by your access and what's around you. So, but I also do think that it's possible to always do something right, like something that we might not know about right. So when we're talking about, let's say, holistic health and maternal health, and you don't have access to a lot of resources, where is a good starting point?

Taylor:

Absolutely, I would say. First, the starting point is typically right there in your own home. I feel like many people forget that they have a lot of resources in in their kitchen right or in their bathroom. One of my favorite tricks that I use with my doula clients is I fill a sock like this extra large sock with rice and we add some fragrance oils so eucalyptus, lavender, lavender whatever scents they like and if you heat it up in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds, it becomes like a heating pad for lack of better words and so it's a place to offer comfort. A lot of my pregnant folks use it, but also I've noticed a few people who are going through early menopause or in menopause actually use it as well for a place of comfort. And so super simple, right Rice, a sock and some essential oils, and more than likely you have those all in your house.

Taylor:

The other thing that I would say is, if you have the means, depending on where you live, if you're able to go to a community center, that's a great place to get and seek holistic support. So a lot of community centers, specifically into the New York City area, they do have reproductive health centers they have, and that component is like a split. So, yes, they're offering birthing services, but then they might have a holistic you know wellness, right? So they might have different teas to try different trinkets, they might even have yoga. So community centers are really important and a huge component of the work that I do, as I was trained as a community doula and so that focuses more on what the community needs, right? So taking a more holistic approach rather than an approach from medicine, and really keeping community at the center.

Taylor:

So I would say, and apart from that, if you're unable to get to those places, if you have access to technology, to social media, that is where you can find a lot of creators, you know, such as yourself, such as others, who are sharing tips and resources about the work that they do, and that's free, right, most of the time. Even if it's only 60 seconds, it's 60 seconds of knowledge that you didn't have yesterday, and so I try to always encourage and share different folks who I follow, and that's even how I came about with your page. You popped up and someone reposted you and I was like, wow, that's really good information to learn about. So I definitely think those three things are at a reduced cost and you know folks to look into.

Naihomy:

Yeah, the number one word that came to me, especially with the sock example, is resourcefulness. Right, just being resourceful, and I love that because it's stuff that most likely you do have at home. It is not that expensive to have, or you can pick up, let's say, rice at a food pantry or socks somewhere you know and it is, it is something that's accessible and I know. Right before we hopped on our conversation to record this podcast, you mentioned traditional practices and what our ancestors did, and I think that one thing that our ancestors were extremely good at, even, let's say, one generation removed, like my parents or something, is being resourceful.

Naihomy:

Yes, um, and I think that in this current I I don't know about the world, but at least in the us a lot of times is what new thing can we get?

Naihomy:

What fancy thing can we get? Or like trinkets for every single little individual thing that you do, whereas you might have things that can serve for multiple purposes and and it works exactly the same at the end of the day. So I love this and I never even thought about community centers. So, before we keep going, I never even thought about community centers, so before we keep going, I just want you to please explain what is a doula and why are they useful? And I ask this because I have two kids and I never knew about doulas until way later on and I was like, why didn't I know? This is part of the access and information piece that you're talking about, because it is something I don't want to have any more kids. But it is that one thing where, if anybody asks me for advice on having children, I'm like you need to speak to a doula. So what, what, what do you do as a doulala?

Taylor:

so a doula? That is my number one question that I get from everyone. Every podcast I hop on, every client that I get um because a doula, you know it's. It's something that's new. It's something that's new, but not really doulas have been around.

Naihomy:

I was gonna say I'm like where does that get?

Taylor:

they've been around years, but I think, current in our current climate, our current, you know, world doulas have been, have become the hot topic, and I think that's because of social media. I think the history of doulas and midwives and I'll touch on what midwives do as well has been an ancient practice in many different countries for years. So in Hispanic countries and African countries, I mean all over the world, midwifery and birth work has been practiced. But I do think, again, because of social media, because it's becoming popular, which is a good thing, it's now, you know, attracting people to say oh, what is a doula? So a doula is a professional that's typically trained to provide emotional, physical, informational support, labor support and birthing support, either before, during or after childbirth, and they essentially help the birthing person have a, you know, an experience that is designed for that individual. So they're really like the secondhand person in that experience. Now I will say that a doula can have a range of a scope of practice. So for me, I am a full spectrum doula, so I cover birth, labor, postpartum, but I also am a certified abortion doula and so I got trained to be an abortion doula and provide abortion services during my time working at Planned Parenthood. But you also have doulas that offer trauma support, right, you have infertility doulas, you have emergency doulas that you know sit in terms of crises and adoption doulas. So there is a range of services that can be offered.

Taylor:

As a doula, you do get trained, but the typical ones that people hear are birth doulas and they're the ones that are in. They're the ones that are in the, you know like the labor, the labor with you exactly, thank you, the hospital, and then you have a midwife, right?

Taylor:

So midwife is typically a trained healthcare professional. More than likely it's a nurse, because you do have to be a certified nurse. Midwife, a CNM and they provide care to people during pregnancy, their childbirth and postpartum, so they are also providing the clinical care, versus a doula is unable to provide the clinical care unless they have those credentials, the midwife is the one that essentially acts as a clinical provider, right? A midwife can deliver a birth without having a doctor or anything like that, so they're capable of doing that. Both work together. Oftentimes they're trained to handle low-risk pregnancies as well, so they can, you know, refer the birthing person to different providers or assist when complications arise. So if someone wants to have a birth at home, they would need to have a midwife. They don't need to have a doula, but the two work together.

Naihomy:

I'm mind blown right now because I had no idea that doula has covered so many aspects. I literally thought it was just through birth and labor, the like. If I would have known this, I would have probably had yeah, and you can't just hire a doula to only focus on one thing.

Taylor:

So, like right now, I have a client that I'm only working with postpartum, so it didn't help with the birth or during the labor or even prenatal, but specifically only focusing on postpartum, adjusting them as a new family. But I also had full, you know, from the minute to hey I think I want to get pregnant all the way until the end.

Naihomy:

So it kind of ranges wow, and I didn't know that they were infertility, doulas or abortion doulas, can you just?

Naihomy:

like talk a little. I literally I'm mindful, I'm like what and I think it's so brilliant because and we'll probably get more into this I, I'm, I'm kind of like digging this whole traditional, ancestral and how a woman experiences pregnancy and postpartum now, because it's so different and I feel like a doula is kind of filling the role of what a community used to do back in the day. I think I would have probably benefited so much at least from a postpartum doula. I thought that because I was already at least the second time around going to have a scheduled C-section, that I didn't need a doula, that I didn't need a doula. And boy was I incorrect by what you're sharing here. So please, go ahead.

Taylor:

No, no, go ahead, that's I mean that's always the misconception, right Is it's only during this time. That's the biggest misconception. I even tell people like, for me, I personally extend my postpartum care up to two years, sometimes more, because, like you, if you have a second child right, that postpartum period doesn't really stop and so you have to balance right multiple kids and there's so many stressors going back to work if you're still, you know, breastfeeding both of your kids or if you're not breastfeeding. You had a C-section right.

Taylor:

I'm hearing so many things as to why that could have been beneficial during your postpartum right and that this happens to so many other mothers and so many other people who don't realize that, yeah, you can still reach out to a doula to offer help, even if you've had that baby six months ago. Pick up the phone and call the doula, you know, go to a.

Naihomy:

I want to hire a doula now. My kids are 10 and 8.

Taylor:

I'm like I'm out Exactly, but it's, that's the reality of it, right? And so you mentioned infertility, and I'll just touch on that too.

Naihomy:

And the abortion piece and the abortion doula.

Taylor:

Yes, so the infertility doula still works with. You know, the emotional, physical and providing educational support right to the families, but it's really just focusing on infertility. So they might offer guidance through fertility treatments. Right, they might offer support with IVF supporting through any emotional challenges that arise. They might also help them navigate any medical terms that can come about right in those visits and overall the journey. Sometimes, you know, with infertility there is loss, so the doula supports that emotional component as well. Right, there's a miscarriage, there's a stillbirth, creating a safe space. Right, a supportive space for the family, creating a safe space right, a supportive space for the family, for the person who's caring, to offer them whatever they need to heal and to navigate that Infertility. Doulas are there. They're not as common. I think it's you have to really look for them, and so there are doula directories. So in New York, for example, there's a doula directory and I can send you the link to the show notes if anyone's interested but there is a directory where you can search doulas that are in your community.

Taylor:

I believe you just put in your zip code and it kind of filters. That's something that was passed, I want to say, in 2021. Bill was passed to have that, and then I'm also. I lived in Atlanta for a little bit, so Atlanta Doula Collective they also have a directory as well where you can, you know, search and find the doula that you need. And then abortion doula you know, again, same thing emotional, physical, educational support. We all kind of get that foundation.

Taylor:

An abortion doula can be in the surgical room to assist the process of ending a pregnancy. They can assist with the emotional and labor that happens sometimes because in the surgical procedure you take a medication that creates these, you know labor signs, right, so pain, a small contraction right to release the beginning of the fetus, and so that is a huge physical. You know intensity on the body. I've had patients who are, you know experience, body. I've had patients who are, you know experience, unfortunately, a great amount of pain. And so my role was to offer some comfort, and I had entered in the clinic at the time and I was like this is something that I think would be really beneficial, and I had a manager that was amazing. That was like, okay, let's, let's get you signed up for doula care and get you trained. And that's exactly what I did, and I ended up being an abortion doula for two years before even being a birth doula and with that work right, you're working with families.

Taylor:

A lot of the times, my patients were kids. They were like me. They were either even younger than me I'm 24. So they were. A lot of them were younger than me, and so being able to give that care to someone who looked like me as well was really impactful work and I think um, you know, I think it's a touchy subject. Sometimes when I say that I'm an abortion doula, people are a little bit reserved um and I, you know I think that's, that's normal, right, uh, our current climate on on abortion access and services, right.

Taylor:

But also we go back to that generational conversation right About, I know my elders. You know abortion never existed in their world. It were, you know, made to have children, right, caribbean culture, chinese culture, that was the mindset and you know it's different. And so I think that's the abortion doula is definitely something that is not as easy, not as accessible, but they exist and so if you can find it through those services that I provided the directory or even a simple Google search you know that they have that even in your local parenthood. Not all of them have it, but some of them do have a doula on site.

Naihomy:

Yeah, thank you so much much. Did you say you were 24 yes 24 oh my goodness you're such a baby god bless you for doing this work and having so much knowledge.

Naihomy:

At 24 I was, I don't even want to remember what I was doing, so thank you for like sharing so much information that is so needed, desperately needed in our communities. And to tie it back to access and resourcefulness, right, you gave us a lot of tips as to where we can find a doula. Is there a way to have a doula covered by insurance? Or do you know this information? Insurance is it always out of pocket? Are there non-profits that sponsor? How can we?

Taylor:

that's a great question so the short answer is no, doulas are not covered by insurance.

Taylor:

The hope is that they will be covered by insurance, and I think that's something that doulas in New York specifically have been advocating for is to be covered by insurance. Because doula services can range it can be as little as $300 to $5,000 or more, right, and when you talk about access, when you talk about resources, not everyone can afford that out-of-pocket expense. So, which is why you tend to have community doulas who either are providing services at a reduced cost payment plan, sometimes for free, or maybe even offering services in exchange. So you know, for example, you know if you wanted to offer me nutritional and you know health coaching, and I offered you my doula service. A lot of doulas they tend to do that as well and really just try to work with the family. Right, our goal, at least my goal is not to make a dollar. Of course I I have those too, but if I know that you really need help, like I'm going to figure out how to make it work, because five thousand dollars is not something that you can easily flip out. Right um, communities that look like us that we serve, right um, and so just being mindful of that. So where can you? Where can you get it? So I mentioned those payment plans, which I think most people prefer. They do a payment plan for however long they need and it works out for them. I also have a community birth worker fund, so those that would like to donate to it can either donate on my website or through Venmo.

Taylor:

And then I also have things that I do. I do a community baby shower, a registry list, and so that's on Amazon and people can buy things for, you know, new families, mothers, babies, and then I give them to a family when it's time, and so those are different ways, and a lot of doulas do this. They, they have a registry. A lot of us have funds that you can donate directly to us, and that not only helps us provide the services right, but it provides the resources for the families. And then, lastly, again going back to the birthing centers and the community centers, a lot of those places do offer scholarships where families can apply. They, you know, evaluate. So those are definitely things to look into, and charities not so much. You know, we kind of touched on that. I think it's mainly a community effort. There are some grants, though, that do exist. So if there is a partnership with a community center and then a grant. They might be federally funded, and so that's something that people can look into too.

Naihomy:

Yeah, thank you so much for this information. So what is something that would be super helpful for women to know before they get pregnant or if they're thinking of starting a family almost at every stage, what's something that would be useful for them to know? I know that when I was, you know, wanted to get pregnant or while I was in pregnancy, I didn't know that much, and I am a health and food hormone health coach now and sometimes people ask me if I knew all this information before I got pregnant and during pregnancy and I was like no, I was like out here doing all the things that you're probably not supposed to do, and my wellness journey actually started after I had kids. And I think about it now and I'm like, wow, I would have probably had a very different experience if I would have known this information beforehand. So is there anything that you're like this is such useful, such a useful piece of knowledge or tool for you to have when you're thinking of having kids, during pregnancy or after?

Taylor:

Yeah, Absolutely, and I'll kind of pull from my public health knowledge too, if that's okay.

Taylor:

I would say the first thing, and you already touched on this education. So get as much information as possible. Knowledge is power, right, but empowering yourself and your partner through education is important. And so you know, starting okay, start from the very beginning. I want to have a child, right. I want to get pregnant. What do I do? I like to say Google is the best friend, but not really, because there's lots of myths on Google. So use trusted resources, right. You have Mayo Clinic, you have NIH, things like that, where you can get resourceful information and things that are fact-checked.

Taylor:

The other thing that I would say is understanding boundaries and consent when it comes to wellness. As you're navigating that process in the clinic, in the hospital, in meeting an OB meeting a GYN meeting, whoever, meeting an OB, meeting a GYN meeting whoever you have to understand that that is a boundary is so important to maintaining your physical wellness and your emotional wellness, and that's a big part of my practice in understanding and empowering my clients that, hey, if you don't feel comfortable with your provider, you have the right to leave, you have the right to ask for another provider and when you're experiencing something that's very invasive right, ivf you're getting routine checkups every week. You need to feel safe, and so that's something that I always say do extra research on your provider, have someone go with you. That's where the doula comes in to support you in that space, and it's not just in regards to sexual context, right, but it's also vital for respect and wellness in this space, and so if you feel like you can trust your provider, you feel like your provider is doing everything that they need to help you get to your goal, then they are going to do that. That's the hope, right. It's a mutual respect, and so I always talk about just boundaries in that setting.

Taylor:

The other thing I would say is the nutrition component. So one of the things and I'm sure you can touch on this a lot, but is drinking water. That is something where I get so many clients who they oh yeah, I drink a lot of water. I drink two bottles today. Like that's not a lot of water. I drink two bottles today like that's not a lot of water. Here's how we can incorporate.

Taylor:

You know you don't like the taste of water. That's people tell me all the time like, okay, well, try some lemons, try some mint, try some strawberries in your water. There's ways that you can enhance your water. Don't drink all those sugary packets that are filled with processed sugars. You're not getting any nutrients from that, right, um? And so I will say that's something I think water plays a huge role just in everything.

Taylor:

Right, when you talk about pregnancy and um constipation, right, water is the solution. Right, you talk about, um, infertility and just the amount of treatments that you get if you you're on you're on so much medication, right, it's going to make you drowsy. Making sure you're eating nutrient dense food, right, packed with proteins, fibers, green leafy vegetables. If you don't like those vegetables, throw it in a smoothie, like that's my go-to, and so that's all going to help with your you know your brain function. It's going to help reduce your stress. It's going to help lower your blood pressure. So, if you're coming into this with high blood pressure, that's something to make sure that you're, you know, checking out.

Taylor:

The other thing that I've noticed lately is thyroid concerns, and so that's something that I I mean I have hyperthyroidism, but something that I'm kind of navigating more in my research and so I don't have a an exact answer for that, but I have been recommending my clients to see an endocrinologist if they, if they present with you, know thyroid concerns, fibroids or even high blood pressure, that is like my, my referral, like we need to see an endocrinologist that's run some labs and double check before we kind of talk a little bit more, because even that, like you, may not be able to have salty foods, right.

Taylor:

So thinking about things, um, like that and then overall, um, lastly, is having a support system. You need to have a support system in in this journey. I oftentimes, you know, have folks that are they seek me because of my trauma experience and they seek me for for that care and and that's great, but you all, you need someone else to. Your doula is your primary and but your primary in the daytime I feel like, right, unless you're on call, it's not the person that you're living with, right. So establishing a support system, someone to really be there for you is only going to help you before, during, after and several years later, when your kids are 15 and 20, you know. So those are some basic things that I think you know, immediate things, resourceful things that people can kind of start with.

Naihomy:

Yeah, I love that first one on boundaries and knowing that you have the option of changing providers, because with my very first pregnancy I just got matched up with an OB and I did not have a good experience with that person and I felt very uncomfortable. The bedside manner wasn't there and I just didn't even know that I could be like, hey, I need another doctor and it can cause even more trauma.

Naihomy:

I feel like you're already going through this life changing experience. Your body's changing. There's a lot of things happening happening. You have all these doctor's appointments, people are poking and prodding and now there's somebody who treats you like it's not, it doesn't matter, it's not a big deal, right?

Taylor:

yeah, I'm sorry you experienced that, um, but yes, that that is something that I I the first thing I try to empower in my first consultation call is because that's why people seek a doula.

Taylor:

Nine out of 10 times they seek it because they're having a negative experience, right, and I'm like, okay, well, that's I understand. I hear your concerns. What are we going to do now? You have the right to ask for another doctor. You have a right to ask for another nurse, anyone who's in that room. You don't have to be seen or treated by them and that's. There's nothing wrong with that, and I think if more people knew that, we would probably have less of these traumatic experiences that folks enter, because it could really be this simple switch and, like you, like you're saying a lot of times, people get matched with their provider.

Taylor:

It's not something that they are individually seeking right and it's, you know, based off of compatibility or availability, and that may not necessarily be the best person to seek.

Taylor:

So, yes, I definitely encourage you know to ask and ask questions to your provider. It is okay if you know they don't know the answer. It's okay if you want clarification. That's their role. Their role is to provide clarification. And if they can't give that to you in that moment and they have to go find or consult with someone, that's okay and it's also okay to get a second opinion. I always tell people that too.

Naihomy:

Yeah, I know, the second time around I specifically picked my provider and the experience was totally different. So thank you and I just want to say that this goes across the board. For any doctor, like we're specifically talking about pregnancy right now, or obese, but I also encourage all my clients, whatever doctor they have or whoever they're building a relationship with, same rules apply. You should be able to feel comfortable, talk to them, ask questions and have this mutual relationship. Right, it is your health and I understand they're a professional, but they should be able to not be annoyed with you or try and help you understand or pull other resources that you might need is not just like you have to listen or you can't get a certain second opinion. You can't question them because you're the one that's always in your body, right, um, so thank you for bringing that up.

Naihomy:

So, thank you for bringing that up Community. You mentioned community, having support, usually safe at home. Who does not have a community? She might find herself pregnant or with a new baby. What, what can you share someone with that experience?

Taylor:

It's like a tough question, but not really, because there's a lot of layers. First thing I would say is, if you're, if you're listening to this and you are in a space that you can get to safety, go to safety, um, so wherever that is, if there's a space, there's a community center, your job. A lot of times we see, I see clients who are in are living the sexual harm and relationship harm in that moment and they're either pregnant or they've already had the baby and they are trying to navigate. Where can I go? So you know, of course there's social services, there's the police, but that may not always be the option for people, right? Not everybody wants to report and so find, find comfort in whatever your safe space is, and if that safe space is your doula, that's okay. They should be hopefully trained to know what to do and navigate.

Taylor:

The other thing that I would say is make sure that you're taking care of yourself and if you're already you already had the baby care for the two of you, right? Or three of you if you have twins. Healthy relationships are foundational to our wellness, to our identity, right? And it's really important to check in with your physical and mental health, whether that's seeking mental health services, which a lot of services can be free offered in your, your community or it's talking to someone. Sometimes you just need labor of love and support, and so find that in a community center. I encourage you if you don't have anyone at home, if you don't have siblings, if you don't have family or friends, right, you move to a new place and you're suddenly living in a home with your abuser. Go outside, go for a community walk. I'm sure you're going to find someone along the way who's also walking their baby in a stroller or walking their dog right. Find comfort in, you know, a church if you're interested in advancing your faith. Find comfort in joining a yoga you know session. A lot of communities offer free yoga, especially mommy and me yoga. That's a great place to meet people and to feel comfort in that.

Taylor:

Yoga is a big part of my process and transformation and my healing journey as a survivor and the way that we hold so much trauma in our body. Yoga is a great way to release that, and so I definitely would encourage that and also identify and notice that your trauma can show up in physically and emotionally and mentally right. So note where your trauma is showing up. So if you're at home and you're starting to feel it in your gut, right, what does that mean? Have some reflection on that. If you notice your eating habits have changed, right, if you're not eating as a mom, you cannot nurse your baby, right? It's just facts. Your baby relies on your nutrients, right, and so, especially during pregnancy. So make note of that, identify.

Taylor:

Okay, I'm having a very hard time at home, but my baby is also suffering too. We both are and we need to figure out what can we do. Right, and you mentioned earlier naomi food pantries right there's. You can get services at at the church right, or at local organizations, community-based organizations that are handing out groceries, right. So you have a partner that is in charge of your finances and you have no way, no control of your finances. There's a resource right there, a food pantry, right. So, just again, thinking about being resourceful and knowing that you're not alone in this. There are so many people, unfortunately, that are experiencing relationship harm and you will get through this.

Naihomy:

Thank you so much. I know previously you mentioned, when you were talking about water, high blood pressure and just making sure that you are getting enough hydration. I know something that also comes up a lot is gestational diabetes. That can be impactful in the pregnancy. It can be impactful for the baby as well. So any words on that. I know it goes a lot hand in hand a lot of times with nutrition and sometimes if you're not sure what's going on with your health before you get pregnant, then it might carry over. So what do you see in terms of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, in the work that you do, or in the public health space too?

Taylor:

Women with twins are most likely to have diabetes, and so that's something to just be aware of. A lot of times it can be reversed, right, and so with diet, with exercise, with you know substituting certain things that you're accustomed to. So I always tell people, yes, okay, you might be diagnosed with, you know, diabetes right now and it's alarms, right, but understand that more than likely you can reverse it, and so that's just something to be mindful of. I do tend in in research we tend to also see risks for the baby. So preterm birth and then a larger size birth, so the baby is at an abnormal, you know, weight and height range, which is the cause to the diabetes, and then we also do see like an increase of obesity right later in life for the child, and so that's something to also be mindful of. Any advice that I would say. I'm definitely an advocate for a wellness health coach. So if you have the capacity to even, you know, just do a consult. Most of the time they are. I know a lot of folks who offer either free consultation or reduced fee might be like $50 or something like that. That's a great place to start If you have you know, if your insurance, your insurance covers. You know, seeing a nutritionist or a dietician, that might be a good start.

Taylor:

Um, however, I, based off of my own experience, I had someone tell me okay, you can't eat any more rice, you can't do this, can't, can't, can't, can't. And I was like well, I grew up in this, you know caribbean household, uh, filled with cuban, jamaican, and you know dianese and chinese ancestry, so that's impossible. Rice is at every meal. And I ended up meeting with another dietitian who is it was Caribbean, and she was the health coach and she was like, okay, that's fine, so great, you have your rice and peas, but you need to have this much of vegetables, right, and you need to have this much of protein. You can still enjoy your rice, you can still do this, right. Or you want to have, you know, a sugary drink? That's okay. Do you need to have six sugary drinks in the day? No, we could probably do just one or two, right, and so, offering substitutions, I think, if you have a capacity to explore that, that would be good. And then, just overall, I will say most women with diabetes can have a healthy pregnancy and they can deliver healthy babies. So it's not to alarm you, but I think it's to be.

Taylor:

The diagnosis is not to alarm you, but it's to be aware, right, of the potential risks that could happen during your pregnancy, after, and then potential risks that could happen during your pregnancy, after, and then potential risks that could happen for your child in the future. So try your best to you know, seek medical guidance to support, but also to see what you can do at home. Right, can you go on a few walks? Right, and can you, even if you spend 20 minutes outside, just start somewhere. I think the importance is just to start and not to be overwhelmed by the diagnosis, overwhelmed by the amount of pounds to lose, overwhelmed about how you look or how you feel. Just start, you know, and if you can't do it by yourself, do it with a friend and find comfort in that too.

Naihomy:

Yeah, Two very good points here the fact that I think that's the scary part for most people when it comes to making a nutritional change. Where it's like you, there's this fear of not eating any more familiar foods or foods that you grew up with or that you enjoy. And I'm really happy that you found a nutrition expert who told you that it's okay to have cultural foods and this is. I think that this really paints a picture as to why somebody who has cultural relevance a lot of times is able to help you in a less scary. Or because I find that hearing don't have rice, don't have noodles, don't have this, don't have that it's so overwhelming and it's like, well, what? What am I going to eat? What am I going to enjoy?

Naihomy:

Food is also community and love and culture and all of these different things. So, yes, culturally relevant, cultural relevance, is important. Again, going back to if it's not somebody you connect with, if there's a lot of don't do this, don't do that, no, no, no, I think it's kind of a red flag too. So, just going for the second opinion. So just going for the second opinion exploring here is very important.

Naihomy:

And I know I mentioned two things, but the second one just flew out of my head. What was the second?

Taylor:

thing you mentioned. I'll come back. What did I?

Naihomy:

say, oh my God, oh, it was going for walks. I remember you're like, just start.

Naihomy:

And that's another thing where I find that there's this zero to a hundred or all to nothing mentality where it's like well, if I can't work out for an hour then I might as well not do anything, or if I can't go seven days a week, then I might as well not do anything. But there's so much benefit at just doing the 10 minutes of just being at least. Now you know it's getting warmer, but even if it's winter, just bundling up and getting some sort of sunlight, there is power and benefit to a short walk or workout or being outside. So giving yourself the grace of it's not going to be perfect, it won't ever look perfect and just fitting in what your capacity allows can be just as beneficial as doing whatever you think you should be doing. Absolutely, absolutely.

Taylor:

and I I add to that too, in that I think, especially with diet culture right now, you have things like 75 hard, 75 softs and all the 75s, and then you have, you know, people using um ozembe or seeking you know surgery, which you know, all things that you can have. But I think it's that perfectionist, that pressure, that folks, other folks who may not be able to afford surgery, who may not be able to afford medical treatment, right Again, feel like, okay, if I can't work out for an hour, if I can't lose five pounds in a week, then that's it, just throw my hands up, throw all the papers away, right? But to understand that everyone's journey is different. Everyone has health concerns that are different. Every metabolism is different, every body shape, size are all different and you are a unique individual, right and what.

Taylor:

What is going to help you may not help me, right, and what helped that person who was on Ozempic may not even help me if I was on Ozempic, right. And so I was trying to just paint that picture because of the influence of social media and I'm guilty of it too, you know, I'm guilty of seeing all my friends do these things and I'm like, wow, why can't I look like that yet you know. But the reality is is that if we remove ourselves from the social media, we remove ourselves from this perfectionist mindset and we just step outside or step on the treadmill or ride the bike, do the fun things that we love. Right, you're going to notice change. It may not be immediate, but you will notice change, right?

Taylor:

and I think just keeping, keeping the focus, keeping the tunnel vision is really important. But also, hey, if you don't like to run, that's okay. If you don't like to go on a walk, that's okay, find something that you like to do. I remember when I was younger, when I was navigating obesity, I loved to go on skateboard, and that is what I did.

Naihomy:

I was on the scooter, yeah those are my two things, right.

Taylor:

I didn't like running. I don't like team sports. Um, I dance. I did dance a lot when I was younger. Those were like my three things that I was really invested in, right.

Naihomy:

So I think, just find something that you like and just do it yeah, I'm glad you mentioned well it just came up like Ozempic and surgery and all that and the contrast between starting with something that you love because and then seeing fast results, and that's this is something that I've spoken about a lot recently, because this is microwave culture Everything is fast, Everything is instant your mother says, yeah, like everything is right away, but I really don't care how fast you get results and what your results look like.

Naihomy:

I always love to see what happens in the long run. Love to see what happens in the long run. How are you able to keep up your results? And it always goes back to what you suggested in the first place is in the slow and steady. So, building the foundation of the discipline and movement, finding something that you enjoy because there's a ton of things that you can do, finding the foods that serves you and the proper balance that serves you in your body, that is what is going to allow you to get good results, and by good results I don't mean thinness.

Naihomy:

I want to clarify that. By good results, I mean being healthy in your body, and that looks different and different sizes for everybody. So I want to make that clear, because a lot of times we assume that health equals thin and it does not. Health equals what does your blood work say? How do you feel in your body? You know those kinds of things. There are a gazillionillion yeah, metrics and that takes time.

Naihomy:

So even if you go, let's say, on ozempic or have surgery or whatever, those are all tools and that's cool, you'll still. I highly encourage you to learn the foundation of movement of, so that you're able to maintain what you're going through anyway, because it doesn't sound easy to go through surgery, it doesn't sound easy to be on Ozempic, just by experiences that people share with me. So might as well do the foundational work to support your results in the long term. And yeah, and something I used to enjoy doing because sometimes too, it's like, let's say, you have young children, it's like, oh, I don't have a babysitter, I can't leave them, it gets expensive. Something I used to love doing was working out with my kids.

Naihomy:

And yeah, I would. They're free weights, people. They are free weights and you get to play with them. The exercise might not look quote unquote, perfect, you might miss a few steps, but guess what? You're also teaching your child about a lifestyle shifts that you might be having, which is moving your body. So I used to squat with my kids. I used to dance with my kids. I now see these amazing baby carrier classes that were not around when my kids were little. So I I bought my kid little one pound weights when they were old enough and because they used to see me with mine, they saw them at like five and below. They're pretty inexpensive. So them having their own little tools will get them really excited and, trust me, they're excited for all of max 10 minutes and then they'll move on and do something else and you will get to move more than you think. And it's also good that you're exposing them to this kind of, I guess, behavior or wellness right.

Taylor:

Absolutely yeah, and offering them. You know like health promotion, right, it's like something that we talk about all the time in public health. How to you know, navigate and break the cycles of maybe poor health? You know environments that they either cycles of maybe poor health. You know environments that they either saw when they were younger or even you experience, right, and how do you switch the focus on the next generation and ensure that they're getting quality healthcare? You know nutritious food, mental health support, education all these things are part of health promotion, so I love that idea. That's great.

Naihomy:

Awesome. The last thing I want to cover is stress, Okay, and how it impacts us. I know that we've spoken a lot about movement and about food and the impacts that it has, but the truth is that I always love to remind my clients of this it doesn't matter how perfect your diet is quote unquote for you right how great your exercise routine is, If we do not learn how to manage our stress, it's all out the window. It will completely take over. So please share with us.

Taylor:

Stress is. Well, I think. First, what is stress? Because I think you know a lot of people tend to not know, and you know stress is your natural reaction, your body's natural reaction, right when, when things are no longer in your control, when there are changes that happen, when there are challenges, when things shift, I think is when you have this hormone right that triggers the stress hormone right Now. It can result in physical responses, you know, emotional challenges, right and behavioral responses, so that can look like screaming, crying, yelling, laughing A lot of people laugh when there's stress right.

Taylor:

That looks like someone shutting down right, someone disconnecting, and it can lead over time right To behaviors of anxiety, depression, right, things like that where you're really isolating yourself and you're now at an increased risk of having severe depression. It could also look like memory issues, right, and so struggling with remembering little things because you're tired when you're stressed, more than likely not sleeping, and sleeping is very important, no matter what anybody says. Sleeping is so critical for our health and it's really important that you're getting a substantial enough hours of sleep, and that looks different for everyone. Some people can function in five, four hours of sleep. Does that mean that's okay? No, but they probably trained their body right. A lot of the times people, some people, need 10 hours of sleep, right. So, honoring and acknowledging that Stress, chronic stress right. Can increase your heart rate and your blood pressure right, so if you are very upset and you already have high blood pressure, that is not a good mix. You can elevate your blood pressure significantly to the point where you might even have to be hospitalized right so you can have, you know, other cardiovascular issues that could arise. But also, stress can affect our bowel movements. It can affect, in women, our pH levels.

Taylor:

Right, and thinking about that, you know, I, literally right before I got on this, I had someone text me and was like I'm feeling like not really well, I'm smells like fish down there. What is this, what's happening? And I was like, okay, well, what's happening right now in your life? Like what is going on? And they had an event at work and she's running this event and running this conference, that you're probably stressed and like you need to drink the water. Try to flush it out, have some cranberry juice. If you can eat some fruits, what did you eat today? Right? So acknowledging that we've also seen stress can lead to stroke, um, because of the high blood pressure, right. So, um, you could be at risk for that. We mentioned diabetes earlier, right. When you have, um, the insulin resistance, right, that can lead to stress and lead to that which elevates your diabetes, your blood pressure level so much, so great.

Taylor:

We know what stress is, but how do we navigate it? One of the things right here that I have is a stress ball, so I keep that at work. I love that. Squeezing all the time also just helps because I'm always typing, so that's something that I help for my wrists and my fingers. I love walks. That's my thing.

Taylor:

Going on a long walk, um ways that you can talk to your friends, right. But sometimes even that is very daunting for some folks. Um, I know, for me, sometimes I don't want to talk for six hours. I love to talk, as we can probably tell, but sometimes it's I'm like, okay, I need a break, right. And so we talked about boundaries earlier, setting those boundaries right.

Taylor:

If you, if you pay attention to your stress hormones, your stress triggers, right, you can learn how to self-regulate. That's a tool that you know we learn in therapy. If you, if you're in there, being that's definitely a privilege, but it's something that you can learn on your own too. Again, the internet is free, as my parents tell me, so look it up, you can. You can find those little things.

Taylor:

Um, one of the things that I love is a butterfly technique. I think in the beginning my family members mocked me all the time, but now they understand. But you cross your hands like a butterfly and you place it on your heart and you breathe, right. So you inhale for four, exhale for four and you keep going to however many numbers that you need. Another technique is visualization. So that's something that I learned in EMDR and I shared that with as many people as I can because it really saved my life and you think about a place, whatever your happy place is For me it was being on the island.

Taylor:

You know where I spent my summers, and being on my family's farm, and so I picture that and you ask questions like what do you hear, what do you taste, what do you see, what do you smell? So you're now activating your five senses. So what does this do? This regulates all the things that are happening in your brain to focus on this one thing, and that's the goal, right, when you're in a high stress situation, it's to regulate your body right. You might start to have sweats, you might start to feel jittery, trying to, you know, know, regain control in, in your, in your setting, and these are all things that you can do. You know, if you are in new york city and you're in a cubicle and there's 20 people next to you, you don't want everyone to know that you're inhaling and exhaling 100 times right, like I get it but there's things like the visualization, the stressful coloring, right, if you're an artist or if you just like to draw as a kid.

Taylor:

How many times do we see adults drawing for fun, right.

Naihomy:

Right right.

Taylor:

Tap into your childhood. It's okay. And going back on, not everyone's perfect. Everyone's going through this. Everyone is experiencing some sort of stress, right, whether they're navigating the current political climate, they're navigating work, they're navigating fears, they're navigating home school right, paying loans, whatever it is like. These are real world problems that we're all facing. But you have to understand that you have control of your body, right. You can manage your stress. Stress is a managed thing. Some people are on medication to navigate stress when it's very severe, when it's chronic, but for the most part, something that you can, you can do at home, that you have the tools right there in front of you.

Naihomy:

Yeah, something I had to learn for myself when I was learning how to manage my stress was how did it feel in my body? And because I didn't realize that I was stressed or I was holding on to things and I always encourage people to see what that feels like for them so, for example, for me, I would hold my breath and I was not breathing and I thought it was so funny that when I got my Apple Watch, it told me to breathe. And I was like and I was like so funny that when I got my Apple watch, it told me to breathe and I was like, haha. And I was like, oh shit, that's not even funny, like I continue, I consistently hold my breath, and that wasn't okay.

Naihomy:

Other things I do is I clench my jaw real tight or I like my shoulders are near my ears and I hold a lot of tension. So sometimes your body feels the stress before you even notice you're stressed and it's good to learn how your body communicates with you. So if I feel like my jaw is clenched or like I notice my jaw is clenched, or I'm holding my shoulders up high, things like that, I'm like, oh, I want to remind my body that I'm actually safe. So then I'll do some of that techniques, I'll do the deep breathing or I'll do, you know, whatever it is.

Naihomy:

I also find that just taking a pause and seeing what tool I need at the moment, sometimes I need to move fast, so I go out for a really fast walk, sometimes I just need to go go to sleep. So also identifying those things and there are a lot of free things those are actually free and things that sometimes I really enjoy, that actually bring me peace, is especially now is like listening to the birds outside, like who knew? So there are a lot of things. I think that really what you said identifying your triggers and also understanding how it feels in your body and then building a toolbox, uh, to use whether you're at work in front of a lot of people. The bathroom was my best friend when I worked in corporate because it gave me time alone away from people in just a second, so you can build a toolbox for different situations and it's a learning process, is not?

Naihomy:

something that you know it's like a light switch, is like really being intentional and paying attention to yourself.

Taylor:

Yeah, and what one thing works, you know, for right now may not work tomorrow, yeah, so, which is why you need a toolbox of multiple things, and then I will just add really quickly is having the boundaries again. I will just add really quickly is having the boundaries again. So, if you're in a work environment and I know one of the things for me is, if I have lunch in my office, I tend to, I have an open door policy, so I tend to have people that come in, right, but I'm literally eating lunch, like this is my 10 minutes before another meeting, right, or whatever the case may be. So what I do, if I really know that it's been a long day, I just leave, I will eat my lunch outside, right, because I know that that's. I just need 10 minutes of space, right, that's my safe space, it's just having that alone time and that's okay, right, and so making sure that you're setting whatever, whatever boundary.

Taylor:

If you have kids, a lot of times I encourage moms to just tell you know, mommy needs a moment right now, like mom is not doing well, I just need to be by myself and there's nothing wrong with that. I actually think that that empowers mothers, right, and knowing that, yes, you're a mom, but you are also Taylor, you are also Alexa, you're also you, right, and having that boundary is okay, your child will be okay and you will be okay, but you can't help. It's just like when you're in the airplane, right? You can't help someone else if you're not helping yourself first. And it's really important, and stress is one of those things that affects every person, every identity, every aspect of your health. Stress is, and can be, a huge killer, right? So it's important to understand how can you navigate that?

Naihomy:

Yeah, and it's also when you mention your kids, teaching them how they can have, because it's something that I've done many times with my kids. I'm like I just need a second and I'll go lock myself in the bathroom or in my room or whatever, and when they get upset they remember that tool and they're like I need alone time and they'll like march off and, and you know, get some space and then they're able to come back.

Taylor:

So you're not doing anything, you're not a bad mom, you're actually a great mom modeling how to handle situations where you just need a moment Right and encouraging to be expressive right For yourself and your kids that you know, yeah, it's, things happen and you might lose your shit. You might start yelling Right.

Taylor:

And that's totally normal, right, and so it's one of the things that I see now with my little brother. We're 12 years apart, and so the way he expresses his emotions to my parents and the reverse of our exchange is so different, and he's so expressive and he'll be like I need a moment. You're making me upset. I'm like, oh my gosh, if I ever said that to my parents, they'd be like who are you talking to? You know, um, and so it's so different. It's a beautiful thing to see at at 11, you know he's able to express himself. So I would just, yeah, again encourage that you're modeling this behavior for someone else. If it's not your kid, if you're a teacher, you're showing them how how to bring those tools you know at yeah, taylor, it's been an absolute pleasure.

Naihomy:

You're a brilliant 24-year-old. Thank you for sharing so many resources, information with our community that hopefully they put to good use. I know I would have valued this kind of information a long time ago, so just to have access to it. And again, this is free, free information you know, taylor. Where can people find you? How can people work with you and connect with you if they are interested? And, by the way, this information will also be in the show notes. Um, just for ease and for you to find her.

Taylor:

Naomi, thank you so much for such a wonderful conversation. This, I love doing this and this is just a great topic and very important. Um, if people want to connect with me and learn a little bit more, you can find me on social media at Tay Talks, and then my LinkedIn is my name, taylor John, and I am switching gears a little bit in my business, so I'm going to focus more on consulting and engagement, which is kind of what I've done. The podcast is still there, it exists. So Tay Talks, unapologetically Me. You can find me on all streaming platforms, but the consulting is something that I'm really honing in on and that will be launched, hopefully next month. So once I have that back and running my website, you can definitely check me out, but T-Talks is the best way to find me.

Naihomy:

Awesome. Thank you so much, taylor, and I'll see you guys next week. Bye.