Forget the nursery: Why you should focus on postpartum prep
The weeks and months that follow the birth of your baby require careful preparation to ensure a smooth and less stressful transition for your family. Instead of focusing solely on setting up a perfect nursery, it's crucial to prioritise your postpartum period, a time of significant physical, emotional, and hormonal changes. From sleep deprivation, to learning how to breastfeed and recovering from birth - it can be a big shock for new parents.
The first 12 weeks, also known as the fourth trimester, are critical for recovery and bonding with your new baby. So, it's essential to prioritise self-care, nourishment, and emotional support. Creating a plan for postpartum recovery, similar to planning a wedding, can help ensure you receive the support you need. This plan should include practical aspects like having nutritious food, comfortable clothing, and baby care items readily available, as well as emotional support from your family, friends, or professionals to navigate this transformative time.
Ultimately, focusing on postpartum preparation over nursery aesthetics can significantly improve your early days of parenthood. By planning for rest, healing, bonding, and support, you will be able to better manage the demands of caring for a newborn while also taking care of your own wellbeing. Getting ahead of your postpartum with practical planning can allow you to thrive and enjoy this special chapter of your life, giving you a healthier and more balanced start to your parenting journey.
Shouldn’t postpartum come naturally to me?
While some aspects of postpartum life can feel instinctive, the reality is that the postnatal period is a unique and life-changing experience that requires significant consideration.
Throughout pregnancy and birth, your body undergoes incredible changes, which can leave you feeling physically and emotionally drained by the time your baby arrives. It’s no wonder that after birth, the body needs focused care to replenish its nutrient stores and to regain strength. Without good nutrition, rest and support, you might find yourself in your fourth trimester feeling more depleted than ever before.
In many parts of the world, cultures have long recognised the importance of supporting new mothers postpartum. However, in Australia, this 'village' of support is often missing, leaving many new parents to navigate this challenging time largely on their own. We’re often living away from our families and support networks, and pride ourselves on being ‘self-sufficient’ which makes postpartum planning even more important.
Challenges that can arise postpartum
While the postpartum period can be full of joy, it is also often a time of new challenges that you may find overwhelming. By preparing yourself for potential road bumps, you’ll be in a much better position to have a smooth entry into parenthood. Some of the challenges you may encounter following the birth of you baby include:
Exhaustion - Feeling tired and overwhelmed is very common postpartum. This can be due to a range of reasons, including broken sleep from your wakeful newborn, nutritional deficiencies stemming from your pregnancy and birth, increased nutrient requirements for breastfeeding, as well as stress and occasionally, medical conditions that can arise postpartum such as thyroid disorders. Throw in a lack of time for self-care, and you’ve got the perfect storm for burnout.
Breastfeeding challenges - Breastfeeding, though natural, can come with its own set of challenges. Painful, engorged breasts can cause many mothers to stop breastfeeding within the first two weeks. Cracked nipples is often another painful hurdle that new mums face and can make breastfeeding unpleasant. Many new mums also experience concern for their milk supply and need to seek support to ensure they are producing enough milk. Then there’s mastitis, an inflammation of the breast, which affects around 20% of women postpartum, which can be very painful and often requires treatment.
Physical recovery - The length of time required to recover from your birth depends on your birthing experience, with caesarean section births requiring additional time to allow for wound healing. Whether you birth vaginally or via c-section, you will experience uterine contractions and postpartum bleeding as your uterus returns to its pre-pregnancy state. Constipation and night sweats also affect some new mums and can be uncomfortable experiences.
Emotional and mental health - Emotional highs and lows can be very normal in early postpartum as your hormones adjust following birth. If you find you are still having mental health challenges like irritability and feeling low as you settle into postpartum, you may be one of the 1 in 5 new mothers that experience postpartum depression. If this is the case, we highly recommend you reach out to your health care professional who can refer you for support.
Strategies to have a positive fourth trimester
Let’s talk about the things you can do in preparation for postpartum to give yourself the best possible chance of enjoying those early weeks and months - and to feel supported at the same time.
Meal prepping - Postpartum nutrition is so important, especially if you are breastfeeding, as your nutrient needs are even higher than during pregnancy. Eating well will support your energy levels, help you heal from labour and birth, as well as support your breast milk production. Preparing and freezing meals during the final weeks of pregnancy is a great way to set yourself up for success and should include nutrient-dense foods, such as:
Healthy breakfast options like porridge with stewed fruit and egg muffins
Warming soups, broths, stews and curries
One-handed, protein-rich meals like pies, quiches and meatballs with added veggies
Snacks like muffins, cookies and bliss balls that contain oats and flax meal to support milk production
If you happen to go into labour before you have the opportunity to meal prep, use services like grocery and meal delivery to help lighten your load. You might also like to ask friends and family who want to help out to make meals that you can freeze or consider starting a meal train.
Hydration - A breastfeeding mother needs approximately 700ml to 1L of extra water a day to keep up with demand, so get yourself a nice (non-plastic) water bottle with a straw to make it easier to keep on top of your intake. You can also include herbal tea, coconut water and mineral water to mix things up
Slow down - Prioritise sleep, nap when you can, and ask for support from loved ones to ensure you get the rest needed. Plan for help with older children and housework - whether by family and friends or outsourcing a cleaner, babysitter or postpartum doula. Many traditional cultures around the world encourage staying at home for the first four weeks (at least!) to help your recovery, as well as allow for lots of skin-to-skin contact with your baby to support your milk supply and bonding. Although, when you’re ready, getting outside for a walk in the fresh air and sunshine can do wonders for everyone!
Schedule self care - it is easy for self-care to go to the bottom of your priority list when you have a new baby, but staying on top of your physical and mental health will help you thrive as a new parent. This will look different to everyone, but can include regular therapy sessions, having time alone to do things that fill your cup, attending appointments with your health care team, or spending time with friends.
How a naturopath can help you prepare for postpartum
Naturopathy is a great tool to consider if you are planning for postpartum. Naturopaths have a range of tools to support your physical recovery, emotional wellbeing, breastfeeding journey and ongoing nutrition. We can also organise testing or refer you for additional support from lactation consultants, physical therapists and mental health services if needed.
While you can certainly engage a naturopath following your birth, it is even more helpful to organise support while pregnant, so you can be prepared for any situation that may arise. We have incredible herbs that can support your physical recovery, reduce pain and discomfort post-birth, improve your energy levels and milk supply, and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. We can also support your nutrition with meal plans and targeted vitamins and minerals, to help prevent burnout and depletion.
As naturopaths, we can also provide targeted supplementation with practitioner-grade products to reduce the risk of mastitis, as well as atopic conditions such as eczema in your baby - this highlights why preventative care is so important!
Our naturopath, Rhiannon, has a special interest in supporting women and their families from prenatal to postpartum, and would love to help plan your best postpartum ever! Book a Telehealth or in-person consult with her below!
