After decades of women suffering in silence, isolated, desperate, overwhelmed and depleted within the first years post giving birth, and numbers showing alarming evidence that the current model of postpartum care is not working, we are starting to see some light. We are living the time of a “postpartum renaissance”, when women are starting to raise awareness and shout from the top of their roofs about the importance of reclaiming their needs and rights to receive proper care in the first days and months after becoming a mother.
If you still haven’t heard of a “postpartum doula”, you will for sure. There are so many women out there now getting trained and gathering knowledge to be able to serve the physical and emotional needs of new mothers.
However, there is a lot of education to be propagated. Many women still dismiss postpartum care services because they regard it as a luxury, not understanding that having someone caring for them postpartum is not the same as having a glorified housekeeper or a night nurse. Or many will find an excuse (for themselves) that their partners are taking time off work, and that should be enough. Appropriate postpartum care is essential for a woman’s recovery from the journey of being pregnant and giving birth, and without it medium to long term physical and mental health problems are of high risk to women who live in neglect of their wellbeing.
A good postpartum doula is a qualified professional that will conform with basic universal codes of care which can be seen in different ancient traditions all around the world and are shining the light for women to walk their paths into motherhood with safety, comfort, reassurance, tranquillity, presence and trust.
In practical ways, she will prepare fresh and nourishing food for the new mother, provide appropriate body work (massage, belly wrapping, pelvic floor awareness etc), assist with breastfeeding, remind her to rest, listen to her and help her clarify her visions, help the family with finding their way together– besides making her house tidier and beautiful! The postpartum doula is there to lighten the load on the partners as well, so that both new mother and father can focus on nurturing the baby or siblings and embracing this precious time together.
A common denominator among new mothers is feeling anxious and overwhelmed with the amount of information available about everything you can imagine related to baby care, postpartum depression, relationship with husband and so on. Then they spend a lot of money, time and energy (all of which are probably very scarce at this stage) scrambling around seeking all sorts of practitioners, devouring websites, looking for answers to problems that wouldn’t even be there if they weren’t moving around that much, and end up feeling confused and disorganized, not to mention frustrated and vulnerable because there’s just no formula or manual that can be applied for every baby, and most of the advice received won’t actually work for them.
And this is another great advantage of having someone trained to care for the new mother in the comfort of her own home. Receiving consistent, regular treatments from a single trusted practitioner is grounding and settling and will surely give her space to listen to herself and find her inner guidance.
Training for postpartum doula can vary, therefore when hiring a postpartum doula ask them their background and make sure they are trained in the areas of care you are most interested in.
I hope that this article lit your way and helped you see that the transition into motherhood can be bright.
LIKE WHAT YOU READ? WANT TO KNOW MORE? BE PART OF OUR MAILING LIST AND RECEIVE DROPLETS OF NECTAR IN YOUR MAILBOX!
