“Postpartum Doulas are the best thing since … sliced bread, ice cream, velcro, you name it. They are the angels who sweep into your home when you’re bleary-eyed, sleep deprived and need someone to talk to when you’re home from the hospital trying to figure it all out.”
A Postpartum Doula will provide non-medical support for educational, emotional and practical needs following childbirth or adoption, in your home. This professional (typically a woman) is a non-judgmental support person, and services can include the following as needed: care for mother’s postpartum body; assistance with breastfeeding; newborn care (diapering, bathing, etc); infant massage techniques; assistance with siblings; support for mother’s normal adjustment to the parenting process; running errands, meal planning, cooking and dishwashing; doing laundry, emptying trash and other light housework. The Postpartum Doula assists with transitions that accompany a newborn being welcomed into a family, and she works beside the family to foster confidence and knowledge during that special time. Each family must make informed decisions based on what works best for them, and the Postpartum Doula is there to support those family decisions in the process.
Here are some of the many important ways a Postpartum Doula can help:
1. A Variety of Services
Here are some of the many important ways a Postpartum Doula can help:
1. A Variety of Services
The role of a Postpartum Doula is multi-dimensional. She comes to your home and works where she is needed, according to your needs and the needs of your new family. Not only can she provide direct support for the new mom and family on topics such as breastfeeding, newborn care and babywearing, she can also tend to light housework, meal planning and other daily chores while the new parents get precious bonding time with their baby. She’s flexible and compassionate; she knows when to jump in and when to back away.
2. Mothering the New Mom
2. Mothering the New Mom
After a baby is born, the focus of everyone around often shifts to the baby, which can leave the new mom feeling lonely or unsupported. A Postpartum Doula can help "mother the new mom" by ensuring she is well fed and hydrated, and can be on hand to help fetch needed supplies or run interference if the new mom needs to rest. She provides emotional support, a tender touch and a listening ear as a women navigates this completely new experience. She can provide guidance when mom has questions or concerns about her ever changing body, offering insights about what is normal and to be expected.
"I honor birth stories, I shoulder anger, I dissolve guilt and fear. I do not judge and I do not try to do things my way. I teach, but I don’t give advice unless asked. I am a humble servant, I am a secret keeper, I am a baby burper. I am a mother to the mother." Jen Rognerud
3. Breastfeeding Support
If you don’t have a lactation consultant, having a Postpartum Doula in the early days can be extremely valuable. A Postpartum Doula knows basic information on breastfeeding, to guide mothers through the challenges. She also has referrals to other professionals who can help with problem solving beyond her practical knowledge. It is important to get breastfeeding off to a good start just after the baby is born. It is important to address questions as early as possible, and the Postpartum Doula is there to support the family during this process. She can help with feeding charts if the pediatrician needs to see progress, as well as give instructions for nipple shields, positioning, latching and breast pumps. She can also give nutritional suggestions to increase milk supply. She can help mother rest and have adequate time with her baby to not feel rushed.
4. Emotional Support
Postpartum Doulas can serve as a sounding board for the new mother and can really help her work through her thoughts and feelings during the early weeks with a new little one. Statistics show that Postpartum Doulas help reduce the risk of postpartum depression. When a mother feels supported, understood and cared for, it provides her the best opportunity to thrive in her new role.
5. Overnight Care
Sleep. Sweet, precious, glorious sleep. Unfortunately you can’t bank sleep and use it for when you really need it (wouldn’t that be nice!?) But the good news - you can have a Postpartum Doula step in when you really need it, and for a lot of people that is at night. When parents are completely run down and overtired, the whole world seems more overwhelming. A Postpartum Doula can provide night time care for baby to allow parents a full nights rest.
5. Doulas and Extended Family Members
Do you need a Doula if you have lots of family nearby? The answer probably depends on your family and the level of support and care they offer you. Not everyone has a mother they can trust to come over, pitch in and help out—without the added commentary on how she’d do it differently if she were you. One of the things new parents most appreciate about Doulas is the complete lack of pretense; the Doula is there to help you and support you, not to change your views or parenting style and impose her own system of ethics. Because your Doula doesn’t have an emotional investment in the way you desire to parent your newborn, she is a help to the process, rather than a hurdle.
However, Doulas are not just for women with especially vocal mothers and mothers-in-law! Perhaps you would rather let mom do the fun grandma things like helping to entertain your visitors and taking care of older siblings, and then allow your Doula to handle the mundane chores and basic operations of a household. Doulas don’t usurp the role of family members in supporting a mother at this special time, rather they are advocates, making sure mom’s needs get handled in the midst of the new baby chaos. Said one doula, “The best thing I can do is to be quietly present. To take care of “things”, while mom is learning her new role.”
Postpartum Doulas can serve as a sounding board for the new mother and can really help her work through her thoughts and feelings during the early weeks with a new little one. Statistics show that Postpartum Doulas help reduce the risk of postpartum depression. When a mother feels supported, understood and cared for, it provides her the best opportunity to thrive in her new role.
5. Overnight Care
Sleep. Sweet, precious, glorious sleep. Unfortunately you can’t bank sleep and use it for when you really need it (wouldn’t that be nice!?) But the good news - you can have a Postpartum Doula step in when you really need it, and for a lot of people that is at night. When parents are completely run down and overtired, the whole world seems more overwhelming. A Postpartum Doula can provide night time care for baby to allow parents a full nights rest.
5. Doulas and Extended Family Members
Do you need a Doula if you have lots of family nearby? The answer probably depends on your family and the level of support and care they offer you. Not everyone has a mother they can trust to come over, pitch in and help out—without the added commentary on how she’d do it differently if she were you. One of the things new parents most appreciate about Doulas is the complete lack of pretense; the Doula is there to help you and support you, not to change your views or parenting style and impose her own system of ethics. Because your Doula doesn’t have an emotional investment in the way you desire to parent your newborn, she is a help to the process, rather than a hurdle.
However, Doulas are not just for women with especially vocal mothers and mothers-in-law! Perhaps you would rather let mom do the fun grandma things like helping to entertain your visitors and taking care of older siblings, and then allow your Doula to handle the mundane chores and basic operations of a household. Doulas don’t usurp the role of family members in supporting a mother at this special time, rather they are advocates, making sure mom’s needs get handled in the midst of the new baby chaos. Said one doula, “The best thing I can do is to be quietly present. To take care of “things”, while mom is learning her new role.”
6. Babywearing Support
Today's baby carrier market has skyrocketed since days of old and the choices can be stagger. Your Postpartum Doula can help you navigate these choices, choose the carrier that is right for your family, discuss the important benefits of babywearing and train you in the different techniques used with today's popular carriers.
Both a birth doula and a postpartum doula are worth their weight in gold, and the support they provide is unlike any you’ll find anywhere else. If you’ve chosen to hire one, know that it’s money well spent so you can recover from birth and get to know your baby in peace and solitude.
Both a birth doula and a postpartum doula are worth their weight in gold, and the support they provide is unlike any you’ll find anywhere else. If you’ve chosen to hire one, know that it’s money well spent so you can recover from birth and get to know your baby in peace and solitude.
Harmony at Home offers Postpartum Doula services in the greater Philadelphia area.
Visit www.harmonyathome.net for more information.
Looking back at becoming a mother from the vantage point of 20 years, I wouldn't hesitate to have a post-partum doula. What a marvelous constellation of services for a new mother!
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