“Pregnant nine months, postpartum forever.”  This quote, while humorous, has an underlying truth.  The effect on a woman having a baby is profound and life-altering.   Physically and emotionally having a baby may be the biggest event of a woman’s life.  Most women are initially surprised at how they feel physically and emotionally.  The strongest, most confident woman can feel unsure, fragile and needy during early postpartum.  This is normal and expected although women are often not informed of how they will feel after their baby is born. 

While there is often much information given to a pregnant woman about her prenatal care and what to expect from her labor, little is said about postpartum.  Yet postpartum is marked by unsettled emotions, unexpected tears, and feelings of isolation.  These feelings are often short-lived but can be exacerbated by a lack of female support.

In times past, a woman naturally had the support of mothers, aunts, sisters and neighbors to help her adjust to her new role as mother.  Experienced women of all cultures have supported and taught younger women about how to care for a new baby and breastfeed while relieving that new mother of her household chores and care of siblings.  This allowed the mother to heal and adjust to her new role and to the newest family member.

Rest and recuperate with the assistance of Postpartum Doula Support

Today, most American women come home from the hospital with little and sometimes no female support.  Many women live away from immediate family.  Often, the mothers of today’s new mom’s are older because women are having their babies at older ages.  It can be uncomfortable asking our mothers to do our laundry or fix dinner or chase the two-year old if they are elderly.  Grandmother’s often are still working and have a limited amount of time to be available.  For some women the relationship with their mother is strained and having one’s mother to stay with her after her delivery adds an enormous amount of emotional stress that isn’t helpful to the new mother’s adjustment.

In generations past, neighbors were home and having babies as well.  So even if immediate family was not available a new mom could get support or advice from other mom’s who lived nearby.  Today, many moms are the only one on the street home with their kids, while many do not know their neighbors.

Thus the need for professional postpartum doulas has arisen.  A professional doula brings the value of her individual experience in combination with training in the care of newborns and breastfeeding to a new mom and her family.  A doula will help a first-time mom understand her baby, answer any questions a new couple has on baby-care as well as help a mom be successful with breastfeeding.  

Her presence allows a woman to rest and recuperate.  The doula will help with other children, supply nutritious meals for the whole family, shop, run errands, pick-up children from school or other activities.  We also do laundry for the whole family and other light housework as needed.

This type of postpartum support decreases the family’s anxiety, helps the family to adjust to this new person and generally makes the postpartum period enjoyable rather than stressful.  A doula also allows the partner some peace of mind if he has to go to work soon after the delivery. 

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