Planning for Postpartum

We assemble our birth team with careful research; we know who we want in the birth room with us and who can wait to be invited in later. We curate the mood with music and lighting, we read books and take classes and do our best to educate ourselves about how best to prepare for pregnancy and labor. 

And then baby arrives and we are sent home. In some cases recovering from major surgery, or an unplanned transfer from the birthing place you chose. Often times the whirl of emotions, huge fluctuations in hormones, and sleep deprivation create a perfect storm, and we are left wondering how we can keep it all together while being responsible for a human life entirely dependent on yours. 

There is no routine postpartum checkup until 6 weeks, at which point you are typically told you can resume physical activity and be on your merry way. Who is checking on you during those 6 weeks and beyond? Who is there to answer your feeding questions not if but when they occur? Does your partner need support in order to better support you? Do you need someone to care for your baby so that you can shower or sleep? Are you being fed nourishing foods that promote physical healing and milk supply? 

If birthing parents were encouraged to plan for the postpartum period with the same careful consideration as pregnancy and childbirth, what would that look like for families? Assembling your postpartum team, just as you picked your OB/midwife, doula/support persons, childbirth educators. Who would you want on your call list when you are home and needing support? Trusted friends and family members, lactation consultants, community groups, pelvic floor specialists, massage therapists and chiropractors, and postpartum doulas. Who else? Would you feel more confident in your abilities to mother your new baby if someone was there making sure that your needs were also being met? 

These are the conversations finally starting to take place as we continue to expand our cultural awareness and sensitivity to the magnitude of having a baby. Let’s keep sharing our experiences, asking questions, and working toward solutions.