How I Can Help You Postpartum
Postpartum Planning Support
I offer prenatal planning sessions to help prepare families for the postpartum period. We often spend too much time prepping for the birth, and we forget about all that the postpartum period entails. Let me help you feel confident for that transition.
Eat. Sleep. Shower.
Being responsible for a small human is a lot, and it’s hard to take care of someone else, especially when you aren’t taking care of yourself. Put the oxygen mask on yourself first, right? Let me be with your little one for a minute while you take care of YOU. Let’s get those basic needs met so you can feel a little like a human again.
Emotional Support
There’s nothing more emotionally tolling than that postpartum period. Whether you did the birthing, you’re supporting a birthing person, you adopted, etc., it’s a major transition for all involved. For the birthing person, hormones are dropping, changing, and adjusting, and they also just went through a major trauma. Not only is the postpartum person likely struggling, but even fathers and other partners can struggle emotionally & hormonally. Other children need to adjust with the major shift, as well. The entire family unit is thrown out of whack and nobody is unaffected. I’m here, judgement-free, to listen and help everyone cope with these major life shifts.
Lactation & Feeding Support
Whatever feeding looks like for you, I want to support you. Every parent’s journey is different, and they need to feel supported and unjudged. In your prenatal visit, we will discuss your feeding goals & plans, and I will provide you with education. This will help you and your family feel better prepared. Will you be breast/chestfeeding? Bottle feeding? Pumping? How do all of those things work? What are the best bottles? There’s so many tools on the market; what do I need? Maybe it’s been a while since you last fed a newborn, or maybe you’ve never fed a newborn. What’s the plan for going back to work? Maybe with your last baby you weren’t able to breast/chestfeed but would like to try this time around. Whatever your goal is, I’m here for you. As a certified breastfeeding specialist, I’m here to educate you and provide the best possible resources I can to help you thrive.
Companionship
Postpartum journeys can be incredibly lonely. It’s something that I experienced; it’s something many new parents experience. I’m here as to provide a safe space to help you feel supported, connected, and heard. I’m here to listen. Maybe you need to tell your birth story over and over; I’m here for it. Maybe you just want somebody to sit and watch Netflix with; I’m here for it. Maybe you just need somebody to sit and have a cup of coffee with you; I’m here for it. You’re not alone. It truly takes a village, and I can be your village if you need it.
Resource & Referrals
My scope as a doula can be limited. I’m not a medical professional. I don’t provide medical advice or diagnosis. I educate within my scope, and if it’s beyond my scope I can refer you to the proper resource. Maybe you need more lactation support than I can offer. Maybe you need emotional support beyond my qualifications. Maybe you need a kick ass chiropractor to fix that sore neck from all your baby snuggles. I’m here to help you find those resources.
Sibling Assistance
If this isn’t your first child, you have extra things to worry about. How is my other little(s) transitioning? What if I don’t have time to focus on them? What if they feel forgotten about? How will I be able to help them with being a big sibling? The questions and concerns flood your thoughts. This adds a whole other level of stress and exhaustion. I want to help you, your partner(s), and other children adjust. I want to teach you tools and techniques for lasting success and make sure your other children feel supported.
Household Organization
Let me bring peace to the chaos. I want you and your family to focus on being a caregiver(s) and recovering. I will help you keep up with those simple household tasks to bring this peace to your environment. If there’s one thing I remember from being a new parent, it’s how messy and unorganized things can get. As somebody who is highly organized, this became so distracting and stressful. Instead of napping and recovering when baby napped, I would clean and tidy my surroundings. This delayed my recovery and drained my energy even more. It also took away from my enjoyment of being a new parent. It’s one of my goals to make sure you don’t need to worry about those tasks.
Meal & Snack Assistance
As a mother, I know how impossible it felt in those early months to get nutrition. We’re tired, busy, and immobile. It can be especially difficult if we have other littles in the picture who take up more time and also need fuel. BUT we NEED to fuel our bodies to recover and care for our littles. Additionally, if you’re breast/chestfeeding, you need even more fuel. Let me set you up for success by making sure you have food available and prepped. Let me help you to make sure you’re eating, a task that seems so simple, yet so impossible sometimes. I am by no means a chef- don’t let me fool you- but, I can provide simple preparations to make this need easier to fulfill.
Provide Evidence-Based Information
The world is in information overdrive. There is an endless amount of information through our internet, books, and even friends. It can be impossible to know what’s real or just an old wives’ tale. It also takes time and energy to sort through it all (time and energy that we don’t have prenatally/postpartum). I’m here to give you the facts and evidence so that you are equipped to make informed decisions for your new family without being overwhelmed.
Support the Family Unit
As I mentioned above, nobody is unaffected by this major transition and shift in their world. I am here to help support everybody in the family unit. If one member in the family is neglected, unsupported, etc., the whole family unit gets impacted (whether it is noticed or not). I’m here to provide support but also to teach everybody how to better communicate with and support each other so that you are all set up for long-lasting success.
…Whatever YOU and your family need.
As a note, I do not provide birth or overnight postpartum doula care at this time.
Disclaimer
The following are what a postpartum doula is not:
We are not medical professionals. We do not diagnose or treat clients. We do offer practical, informational, and emotional support. We do educate clients on signs & symptoms so that they know what is either common or concerning and can reach out for help from a medical professional if needed. If it is beyond our scope, we refer you to the proper resources. We provide education and guidance on pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and breastfeeding support.
We are not babysitters. We can help with brief periods of spending time with your baby/babies so that you can nap, rest, shower, etc., but we do not provide childcare over extended periods of time, particularly without a parent present.
We are not housekeepers. We will help to tidy and bring peace to your environment, but deep cleaning of your home is beyond our scope.