Practical Postpartum Planning
Congratulations! You’ve just had your bundle of joy and have finally settled into your new routine. You’re figuring out feeding your baby, your baby is growing well and doing all the newborn things, and you are so relieved. The only problem is that you feel terrible. We know, we’ve been there! You are tired all the time, you can't seem to find time to bathe or sleep, much less time to prepare nutritious meals for yourself. You’re butting heads with your partner or taking on all the burden of your new rhythm. You find that you are eating foods that you normally wouldn’t out of convenience or struggling to balance out basic chores and rest. You are not alone. Most new parents find it difficult to maneuver through self-care while transitioning into parenthood. Start preparing for the fourth trimester as you did for the arrival of your baby with our practical postpartum planning tips.
Food Prep
New parents rely heavily on food delivery options or are at the mercy of eating food that is either prepared or dropped off by others.
Consider pre-making easily frozen and reheated casseroles or single pot meals prepared with whole foods, protein and healthy fats. Label the foods with instructions for reheating, that way your support partner can take charge of this task with minimal input from you while you recover.
For quick things that you can grab and sip on to replenish nutrients in the first week postpartum, broth can be a great way to replenish nutrients right after delivery. Bone broth or vegetable stock can be prepared before delivery and frozen into individual servings. A great way to do this is by using an ice cube tray. Once it’s frozen you can then store it in the container of your choice and use either as a base for other dishes on just as is!
Ask for gift-cards from family and friends to your favorite food places with nutritious whole meals. Save these gift cards to be used further along in your postnatal period when most people have stopped dropping off food. This is a great way to still get nutritious meals when you are short on time but still high on stress, like after returning to work i fyou work outside of your home.
Check out our nutrition section for more tips and info on exactly what nutrients your body will most need postpartum for healing and lactation.
Breastfeeding/Pumping
Be sure to take a breastfeeding class while you are still pregnant or explore our breastfeeding articles so that you can learn more about what a healthy breastfeeding or pumping breast milk journey looks like. During a Prenatal breastfeeding class you will learn about the benefits of breastfeeding, how to get breastfeeding off to a great start, recommendations about prenatal milk expression, the importance of hand expression, what common booby traps you might experience (see what we did there?) and when to know to call for help if needed.
Spend time learning how to use your particular breast pump before you need to actually use it. You can schedule an appointment with a lactation consultant or do this yourself at home. Check that your flange (the part that goes on your breast) is sized correctly for your areola/nipple (check out this awesome tutorial from Spectra https://www.spectrababyusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Spectra-Baby-USA-Flange-Guide-2022-copy.pdf). Become familiar with your pump settings and read reviews for common issues that particular pumps may experience to ensure you understand troubleshooting your particular pump or have whatever back-ups you may need.
Invest in a good manual pump. A simple manual pump can be a life saver not only for situations where your electrical pump has malfunctioned but also to decrease discomfort with engorgement or as a gentler alternative when healing from raw nipples. To learn more about our choice for a manual pump visit our Uwa Care Kit guide.
Invest in a dual use nursing/pumping bra and wear it before your baby is born. Whether you plan to exclusively direct breastfeed or exclusively pump, having one type of bra that is able to do both from the get go will remove one of the many decisions you may find yourself making postpartum. Like shoes, bras also require some break-in time. Wear the bra before your baby is born to ensure it feels comfortable and functional for you. Your breasts will already start to change with the hormones released during pregnancy but there will still be a significant change in the size and shape of your breasts after birth so try on several beforehand to select one that gives you some space for the inevitable deflating and inflating with breastfeeding/pumping.
Fun fact: Most insurances will cover a breast pump as well as pump part replacements at no cost to you!
Sleep deprivation and Stress
The first few weeks postpartum can feel like surviving in a war zone where tensions are high and sleep is fleeting. There is no getting around sleep deprivation with an infant at home, however there are ways to make it less damaging to your recovery and your ability to become the parent you wish to be.
Communication before your baby arrives can set expectations and decrease tensions. Discuss with your support partner(s) ways to maximize sleep for the adults in those first few weeks postpartum. This will look different for every family but may include arrangements where “shifts” are taken to give each parent a stretch of several hours to sleep, or shared night-time duties to ensure the work is spread out, or even just discussing each other’s concerns.
Be intentional about giving yourself and your partner unstimulated stress free space/time. It does not take long or much to feel overstimulated when sleep deprived with a newborn at home. Prioritizing stress management even if just a few minutes a day even when you seem to be managing OK can make a huge difference in how your body recovers and functions. This could be 20 mins alone in the shower or a 10 min solo break outside in the sun. Whatever this looks like for you, schedule it into what seems like an impossibly packed routine because you matter.
Set clear boundaries with family and friends about your space and time postpartum. This should include not only when visitation is OK, but also who may visit, expectations about illness/vaccines, and ways in which visitors can be helpful (most people want to bring things that will be useful so tell them what you need! Specific food, IOU date night babysitting, massage gift card, mani-pedi gift card, etc). These can be uncomfortable conversations to have but will make your postpartum experience more enjoyable. These may change as you get comfortable in your postnatal space but expectations beforehand will remove a lot of added stress in managing the expectations and emotions of others while newly postpartum.
Baby shower gifts are sweet to open but clothes and other adorable additions may end up being a one time photo-op or not used at all. Set up a postnatal fund! Use the fund to help cover a night-nurse or better yet a postnatal spa or retreat if you have one in your area. Getting some time to recharge and recover will not only give you something to look forward to during those difficult initial moments postpartum, but will change your physical, mental and emotional trajectory in an immediately noticeable way.
The fourth trimester can be a beautiful journey but also very stressful. Plan for the fourth trimester with as much diligence as you have planned for the pregnancy. Sometimes overlooked, how you prepare to care for yourself is the most important thing you can do for your newborn and growing family.
Written by: Dr. Farida Kwaji and Kiana Ayers IBCLC
Uwa Postnatal Care
