Top 5 Reasons to Have a Plan for After Birth
There is a ton of value in preparing for life with a new baby. Elizabeth Luke, perinatal and postnatal support professional, childbirth educator, and owner of First Coast Doulas talks about the top 5 reasons to have a plan for after birth in place before you give birth to your baby!
Unlike birth, your postpartum time period is typically a little more predictable. Elizabeth suggests creating a plan now before you give birth so systems are in place and implementation is seamless. It brings our team great joy to support families as they make these life transitions. We absolutely hope you contact us to help you create and implement a plan, but you don’t have to hire support to make the most of early parenting!
Without further ado, we give you the top 5 reasons to have a plan for after birth in place now!
1. Healing & Recovery
Physically your body needs a minimum of a full six weeks to recover and heal from the birth process. Whether you had an uncomplicated vaginal birth, a planned cesarean, or an emergency cesarean your cervix and uterus most definitely need this time to heal and return to pre-pregnancy size. You may feel like you’ve fully recovered and that is great! Sometimes emotionally we may need this time to grieve and heal as well. Give yourself time and permission to grieve, but also to take steps towards healing during this time.
Having a system in place allows you to eat healthy meals and snacks, stay hydrated, get as much sleep as possible (it is possible with support), put your feet up, relax, and get horizontal with your baby. These things are super duper beneficial to the healing process, which brings me to #2 on our list.
2. Bonding
The day has finally come. Your baby is finally here. This is what you’ve been waiting approximately 40 weeks for! Bonding is important, not just bonding with your baby, but bonding with your partner, other children, and even extended family if you want those people in your lives at this point in time.
Learning all about the tiniest member of your family, helping each other, and discovering amazing things about your baby and each other along the way is the ultimate joy!
These moments only happen once! Take this time to bond, have a support system in place! Don’t let it pass you by, escape you, or overwhelm you which brings me to #3 on our list of the top 5 reasons to have a plan for after birth in place before the big day!
3. BIG Feelings
Without a doubt, you will have BIG feelings after you bring your baby home. It may be feelings of relief, bliss, happiness, and joy! It may also be feelings of sadness, nervousness, inadequacy, or undeserving. These feelings can and do happen!
Having space and support system in place allows you time to process your feelings. Surprisingly, even if you’re a private, more reserved person, having a support person you feel comfortable with to discuss those feelings is invaluable. Truth is you probably don’t need another Suzy Sunshine trying to fix every damn thing, but rather a person who will validate your feelings, commiserate with you, and is prepared to offer you an objective perspective without judgment, W-H-E-N you’re ready! Our postnatal support professionals, also known as postpartum doulas or newborn care specialist are, in a sense like life coaches for the postpartum period.
4. For Your Partner/Support System
Yep, support for your support system! It’s totally a thing! If you have a partner they know you intimately. They love you and are likely feeling all the feelings too. Not only are they feeling all the feelings their also protector(s) and provider(s) and trying to find time to bond and engage with your newest family member!
Your partner is trying to make sure that you are:
1. healing
2. bonding
3. feeling okay
4. focused on baby and not them
And finally, that brings us to:
5. Practicality
While your healing, bonding, and caring for your sweetpea life moves on around you like the speed of toddlers. LOL Dishes dirty, meals must be prepared, appointments must be made, and tiny human clothes pile up quicker than you could ever imagine!
Having someone to run the vacuum, tidy up the playroom, and take the trash out is necessary to healing and recovery! Your practical support person(s) should help where they see help is needed. Grocery shopping, running errands, and getting the clothes folded and put into the drawers are all things that need to be done, your support system should be doing those things!
After you have a baby it is more than 100% okay to ask for help!
Postpartum support and planning is our specialty. If you or someone you know is expecting a baby, one of the very best gifts you can give a new family (yours included) is the gift of support! Whether you step up and help them, contact a support professional who can help them, or do both, know that your gift is the ultimate gift! Giving your time and energy to a new family so that they can heal, bond, and feel all the feels is priceless!
I want to give a very special shout-out to Heather Horrell who works with us here at First Coast Doulas and is also the owner of Grow Family. We originally made this video and it malfunctioned in the process of upload. Thank you, Heather, for caring so much and being a huge asset to families in our community!
