Making a Postpartum Plan
Imagine a postpartum when you feel relaxed, whole and treasured! You are nestled into a bed and are surrounded by pillows and warmth. You have a cup of tea with your favorite snack by your elbow, and your baby is nursing comfortably at your breast. Your older children are playing happily with friends or grandparents. Your partner is feeling comfortable and supported while they are making sure you are happy and cared for. This idyllic moment in time might be fleeting but for this moment everything is perfect. You are all celebrating the arrival of your new baby, and you feel nourished and at peace.
“You are all celebrating the arrival of your new baby, and you feel nourished and at peace”
Compare that blissful moment to a postpartum that is unfortunately much more common. One where you feel abandoned, broken and uneasy. Nothing comes naturally, so everything is feeling forced. Your partner isn't feeling comfortable and doesn’t know how to support you, your family isn’t aware you need help, and you feel like you are supposed to do it all on your own. You haven’t prepared yourself mentally or physically so you aren’t able to rest, and aren’t able to heal. This isn’t even a big exaggeration of what a typical postpartum looks and feels like. But the important thing is that this does NOT have to be your reality. This is not what a standard postpartum should ever look like.
“The time after birth should be kind and gracious to a newborn mother”
Birthing people are made to feel that birth is where the work stops, and everything else afterwards is instinctual. Our society shows us images of mothers that “bounce back” to their pre-baby activities. They somehow know, without any preparations, how to nurse without complication. They get their “pre-baby body back” as if the ultimate goal is to not show the triumph that your body has just gone through. All of this is part of why our mothers and our families are struggling.
The time after birth should be kind and gracious to a newborn mother, as should pregnancy and labor! Preparing for this time means learning how to care for yourself, learning what to expect, and learning how to move in a healing way. Do more for yourself than make a birth plan, try making a postpartum plan! Learning about your body, and about your postpartum, is just as important as learning about your birth!
By making a postpartum plan you are providing yourself and your support people with a toolbox of solutions. These solutions are for the moments when you feel overwhelmed, sleep deprived and hangry. You and your support people can look back and see what things bring you joy, what your favorite snack is, or any of the other tools you think of putting into your list. That way you can rebalance without creating any more stress.
Have you started making your plan?
If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to planning for your postpartum, please send me a note and we can set up a virtual session to get you started, or you can take a look at our events for a preparation workshop!
