How Can You Take Care of Yourself Postpartum?
As moms, it can feel impossible to put yourself first. This is especially true for postpartum moms. You’re responsible for a newborn who relies on you for every single aspect of their life. You are also healing from and processing your birth experience. You may have other children, a partner, and a home you also feel the weight of responsibility for. I’m here to tell you that it’s ok mama, I see you. Let’s talk about what you can do to prepare yourself for this critical time in your postpartum journey.
Before getting into the best practices for postpartum care, remember that postpartum mood and anxiety disorders are not something that you can fully prevent, even if you’re doing all of the things to take care of yourself. There is no shame in PMADs, but it’s important to recognize when you are experiencing symptoms so you can seek professional help. A happy and healthy mama equals a happy and healthy baby, so please remember how important your mental health is after you’ve had your baby.
Create Your Postpartum Plan
The best way to make sure you have a supported postpartum experience is to create a Postpartum Plan. You and your partner sit down and think of everything that you’ll encounter postpartum, from how to handle excited loved ones asking to visit to your nighttime schedule. This will help alleviate the pressure and tensions that come in those first few weeks. By having a plan, you’ll have a framework for your postpartum care and a pathway for creating new routines as you adjust to the newest addition in your house.
Creating a postpartum plan can be really overwhelming though, especially when you already have so many other things on your plate. I have a Preparing for Postpartum Comprehensive Guide that covers everything you’ll need to plan for, with pre-made templates for you to write in what works best for your household.
Consider a Postpartum Doula
Hiring a postpartum doula is a fantastic way to ensure you can feel supported and cared for during your postpartum experience. You’ll receive professional guidance on caring for your baby, along with support for you and your entire household so you can make space for rest and rejuvenation. Here’s what expert Meagan Taylor with Take Care Mommy says are the core areas of care postpartum doulas can provide:
Professional Guidance and Expertise
Emotional Support for the Whole Family
Facilitation of Rest and Recovery
Assistance with Breastfeeding and Infant Care
Practical Household Support
Individualized Care and Flexible Schedules
A Non-Judgmental and Compassionate Presence
A postpartum doula is a great way to create added support for yourself if you feel like your support system is small or you will need more hands on help than you have available to you. They will walk you through the beginning stages of motherhood with love, care and attention. You can read more about postpartum doulas from Take Care Mommy here.
Accept Help When It’s Offered
Part of postpartum planning involves finding and including your support system. You truly cannot make it through parenthood alone, a support system is vital. If you already have a strong support system, make sure you’re utilizing them. If someone offers to do something for you, let them! Have a conversation with your support system about your boundaries around accepting help, like if you are comfortable with people helping with childcare tasks and when you will allow people into your home. Having open conversations about what type of support you want to receive will help your support system be there for you in the best way they can
If you struggle with a lack of a built in support system, there is nothing wrong with finding and creating a support system for yourself. Look up local mom groups that meet up, or search for postpartum support groups near you. You can also find support by joining non-parenting groups, like ones that are catered to your hobbies.
It doesn’t matter if your support system is full of family members or if you’ve had to find your village. What matters is that you have people who are there to encourage and support you without judgment or crossing any boundaries.
Nourish Yourself
I know this may sound obvious, but it is so common as new moms for us to forget about something as simple as feeding ourselves. You have to eat! Your body just went through something transformational, and it needs to be cared for. You are also burning so much more mental and physical energy being a parent of a newborn.
Think about your values and what is important to you when it comes to feeding yourself. For some, it may be important for you to accommodate yourself, and for others it’s merely about survival and having some type of nutrition daily. If you have dietary preferences that you don’t want to change when you have your baby, plan ahead how to make sure this need is still met for you. Maybe this means freezing meals, hiring a meal service, or creating pre-made grocery lists.
The most important thing is that you are feeding yourself in some way. It doesn’t matter if this looks drastically different than it did before. It may feel like things will never normalize, but you and your household will adjust to new routines and you’ll find new ways to make sure everything is managed.
Boost Your Postpartum Resources
Taking care of yourself postpartum is so much easier if you arm yourself with the tools to succeed. Dive into some podcasts, read a book, or find your favorite postpartum and parenting Instagram accounts to follow. It’s great to have things like this you can lean on when you’re feeling less supported than you’d like.
Your schedule might be filled with appointments for your baby, but don’t forget about appointments for yourself too! Having a postpartum therapist, pelvic floor therapist, chiropractor and even your other self-care appointments like nails and hair, will ensure you’re taking care of yourself so you can be your best self when navigating parenting.
Final Thoughts
Motherhood is a beautiful journey full of ups and downs. It teaches us lessons every single day. The best thing we can do for our babies is to take care of ourselves, especially during the postpartum period. Rely on your support system, ask for help, and don’t forget about doing the things that make you your best self!
Resources for Postpartum Care:
To learn more about all of the services Postpartum Doulas provide, along with tips from the experts and postpartum education, check out Take Care Mommy!
Purchase a copy of Preparing for Postpartum Guide or the Comprehensive Guide to Cesarean Birth and Recovery so you can create your postpartum plan with ease.
Sign up for our e-mail list through this blog or our Postpartum Hub to receive a free resource guide full of our favorite recommendations to podcasts, books, websites and more.
