What is a postpartum doula?

A postpartum doula is a perinatal professional trained specifically in postpartum care and newborn care. A postpartum doula’s mission is to provide support during the post birth stage of the childbearing year. Some postpartum doulas also help new parents prepare ahead of time for the postpartum season. Postpartum doulas are trained to recognize normal postpartum recovery and newborn development. They also have an extensive list of resources and referrals available for you if the fall out of the range of normal. Doulas are tapped into your local birth and parenting communities.

What's the difference between a postpartum doula and a baby nurse or night nurse?

A baby nurse or night nurse is a medical nursing professional usually with an RN certification. Their mission is to bring their medical expertise into the home for families and babies with needs beyond their birthing place. Many baby nurses and night nurses are familiar with NICU and PICU and specialize in helping those families or families who need help with clinical tasks like weights checks and administering medication. A baby nurse or night nurse is perfect for families with special needs or serious post birth complications.

What's the difference between a postpartum doula and a nanny?

A nanny is a childcare professional trained specifically to supervise and care for children and is hired to do so in the absence of their parents. A nanny’s mission is to take over child care so that the parents can do other important activities like going to work or date night. A nanny cares for children as young as 6 weeks old all the way up to 18 years old.

What are the benefits of working with a postpartum doula?

Working with a postpartum doula will give you evidence based and real world based education, a huge boost of confidence and the understanding help you need navigate early motherhood successfully. Here are just a few ways that education, confidence and support benefit you as a new mother: More confidence More self-efficacy aka belief in yourself that you can do this Smoother transition into mother role More satisfaction with your body and how you are healing Reach your breastfeeding goals More understanding of newborn emotional and physical needs and behaviors Earlier bonding More independent confidence in new role Less risk for postpartum depression or perinatal mood disorders Less exhaustion, frustration and apprehension Smoother return to work

How far in advance do I need to book my postpartum doula?

I suggest booking your postpartum doula as far in advanced as possible. Ideally 12 weeks or even earlier will allow you to maximize all of the support and resources that your postpartum doula has. The postpartum doula doula search can be daunting. You want to be sure that the postpartum doula you love will be available to support you. This means signing that contact and securing your spot on their calendar as soon as possible. If you wait and they aren’t available this could leave you scrambling for support or worse going with out the help at all. Most new parents do’t start looking for a postpartum doula until baby is already born. And at this point they are desperate and may choose anyone who is available instead of being able to take time to find a postpartum doula they really love and work well with.

How long do I work with my postpartum doula?

The Prima Mama Signature package is designed to provide in person doula support during the first 6 to 8 weeks after birth. However, if you choose a start day 2 weeks or more after birth you can will end 6 weeks weeks from that start date. If you really love The Prima Mama experience you can book for another 6 weeks.

4 Life Changing Skills Every Postpartum Woman Should Have

Oftentimes in the birth world, much of the focus is on the life changing experience that is pregnancy and childbirth and the new baby. And when we talk about the postpartum period, we tend to talk about postpartum depression or breastfeeding.

But what about your transition from pregnant to parenting, from maiden to mother? What about your recovery from the 9 months of pregnancy and on average 19 hour labor and delivery?

Medically, your postpartum recovery begins in the hour after your baby’s birth and last 6- 8 weeks as your uterus contracts back down into the pelvis and most of your body systems return to their non pregnant state.

However, there are many other important events occurring the months after childbirth. You will be navigating your role as a new parent and what that means in your larger family and social networks. You will also be adjusting to physical and mental changes as your body recovers from pregnancy.

Professionals and parents will agree that these changes can take much longer than 6-8 weeks to be resolved and that the healing time is closer to 12 months.

The transitions and recovery that characterize your postpartum period will leave you in a vulnerable state which without the right preparation and support system can lead to serious physical and mental issues, including postpartum depression.

And while there is certainly strength and beauty in vulnerability and asking for the support of those around you, it is normal to fear the unknowns of postpartum.

You may have heard well-meaning horror stories from family and strangers alike. You might feel discouraged about your parenting, breastfeeding or recovery goals. You might be hoping to just survive the postpartum period.

This is totally normal. And the good news is that there are things you can do now to set your self up for a thriving postpartum.

Becoming a mother will present new challenges in your life, making it is easy for you to your care and needs behind all of the other things you have to focus on.

With the right tools, you can reach your goals and take hold off your new normal.

You can do more than just survive postpartum, you can thrive.

It sounds easy but you may be wondering how exactly you can do this. There are 4 skills that are constantly popping up in maternal health research as necessary to taking charge of your postpartum health, and your baby and family’s health.

This also has long term effects on your life. More positive energy and confidence as a new mom means a deeper strong bond early on with your baby. And a strong bond with your baby early on has a positive effect on your life and help your child learn to form healthy relationships.

By focusing on becoming stronger in these 4 areas you will be able to combat the stressors and challenges you may face in the months and years after you give birth.

1|The ability to mobilize social support

This is how you give and receive support from others. Support from close friends and professionals have been show to have positive effects on physical, social and mental health of new moms. A combination of emotional support, instrumental support and informational support will help soften how you view the challenging times.

Get comfortable with asking for help and saying yes to help from others. But also be ready to be really specific about what your needs are and the type of help that you need. You are not a bad parent for needing and asking for help. You are not a burden. You will not hurt someones feelings by saying exactly what you need from others. And you are not alone.

2|Self-efficacy

Self efficacy is your belief in your ability to perform a behavior or task successfully. Essentially, it is your self confidence in yourself as a mother. Higher self- efficacy, or confidence in your abilities as mother, means the better you are going to be able to care for your baby, yourself and your family. Higher maternal self -efficacy is also linked to child development.

Start building up that mom confidence – momfidence? Is that a word? – as early as possible. Practice the skills necessary to care for an infant, spend time with family and friends with infants and ask questions. Use positive affirmations to keep the positive thoughts flowing. Celebrate the successes and learn from the challenges without becoming discouraged. You will find your self-efficacy or momfidence growing each day.

3|Positive coping strategies

Coping is how you react and deal with a challenging situation or demand. Coping can happen as a reaction to or in anticipation to these demands or problems. Each mother copes differently depending on the situation and her unique personality but there is a connection between positive coping strategies and addressing any issue that arise head on.

There are three types of coping strategies you can add to your skill set. You can change how you view or think about a problem, redefining or accepting the problem as is. You can take action to lessen of get rid of the problem completely. And you can change how your react to the problem, using meditation, relaxation or prayer.

4|Realistic expectations

We develop expectations as way to quickly and easily navigate our world. However, when our expectations are out of touch with the reality of a challenge, it can disrupt our lives and those around us. If your expectations are not met, this can have an affect on how you adjust to motherhood. Unmet expectations can also affect your ability to use the above skills when needed.

Don’t be blindsided by postpartum. Get hands on experiences soothing a fussy baby. Talk to other moms about their experiences. Really listen but don’t let their experiences scare or discourage you. Know that each woman, each pregnancy, each labor, each delivery, each postpartum is unique and special. Use the experiences they share to form realistic ideas about how you see yourself as a mother.

Start now

Don’t wait until the postpartum period to start working on these skills. As soon as you learn that you are expecting you can start identifying the family, friends and professionals that make up your support network. By asking for help and learning from their experiences you will begin forming your expectations for your own mothering experience. You can start practicing using affirmations and positive self talk as your progress throughout your pregnancy. You can also plan ahead and identify not only potential challenge but also how you will cope.

By working on these skills early on, you can set yourself up for postpartum success. I love helping new parents refine these skills in my postpartum planning sessions, where together we pinpoint your goals and create a custom action plan.

Reference:

Fahey, J. O. and Shenassa, E. (2013), Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Women in the Postpartum Period: The Perinatal Maternal Health Promotion Model. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 58: 613–621. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12139