How Your Partner Can Support You As A New Postpartum Mom
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Let’s talk about how your spouse/partner can best support you as a new postpartum momma.
I’ve heard stories from friends, acquaintances, and moms on social media sharing how challenging the first several weeks postpartum felt and here is what they all had in common …
The lack of establishing postpartum expectations before baby was born.
Entering an overwhelming new season of life without any preparation resulted in increased frustration, stress and lack of unity when it’s really needed most.
Whether you birth your baby vaginally or via cesarean, child birth is a major physical accomplishment that requires many weeks to heal and recover from. For 40ish weeks your body has have been growing, protecting and nourishing new life. Then, when the time comes, you have to physically deliver that new life into the world and care for them in new ways.
It’s truly a miracle how it all works!
And all that labor HAS to be followed by rest and recovery. But, it’s not that straight forward when you add a new baby into the mix. For a lot of new moms and dads it can be overwhelming to figure out how to make it work.
After 1-3 nights at the hospital where you have nurses supporting you around the clock, you’re suddenly thrown to the wolves and have to figure it out all on your own.
It sounds scary, but by setting clear expectations on:
#1 How you plan to establish your new normal
#2 Heal from the physical hurt and exhaustion left behind by child birth
…You can thrive as a new family unit.
Before I had my first baby, I remember hearing stories from friends and other moms online sharing various ways their spouses helped (or didn’t help) them as a newly postpartum mom.
Through each story I was able to assemble a list of ways my husband could be most helpful during the first several weeks home with our new baby.
And boy did he nail it.
By communicating my expectations and needs up front, my husband was fully prepared to take on his new dad and caregiver role.
We discussed all the things that I would be relying on him to help me with in the weeks leading up to meeting our sweet girl so he wouldn’t be confused or unsure when the time came to spring into action.
Now, obviously there was still a learning curve since this was our very first experience welcoming a baby into our lives. But, I can confidently say that our proactive planning made the transition from 0-1 relatively seamless!
By the way … my FREE downloadable Pregnancy Checklist By Trimester provides you a complete breakdown of everything you need to accomplish at various stages of pregnancy. Download and print instantly!
Postpartum recovery looks different for everyone based on their birth experience, but there are universal ways that all partners can best support a newly postpartum mom.
Here are 10 ways your spouse/partner can support you as a new postpartum mom:
Prepare Your Meals
Do Laundry
Wash Dishes / Clean Pump Parts
Refill Your Water Cup
Bring You The Baby To Nurse
Restock Your Postpartum Supplies
Do The Heavy Lifting (literally and figuratively if other kids or pets live at home)
Run Errands
Cleanup The House
Keep Track Of Your Medications (Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc)
*C-Section Specific*
Check Your Incision
Support You Climbing Up/Down Stairs
Help You In/Out Of Shower
This is my message encouraging you to establish postpartum expectations with your partner before baby arrives. Discuss the list above and any other ways your partner can best support you while you’re physically and mentally recovering from birth.
Having a plan is not only helpful for YOU, but it will enable your partner to truly feel purposeful when you return home as a family.
It’s not uncommon for dad to feel insecure about what their role is in the new family dynamic.
Keeping mom fed and hydrated and performing household duties are the VERY BEST WAYS for your partner to support you and your family for the first several weeks postpartum.
So, if you want the very best, supportive partner after birth then discuss the list above and establish your plan to thrive as a new family of 3+ !
Momma, I am so glad you are here!
Hopefully you gained some helpful tips on ways you can confidently crush motherhood! I’d love for you to stick around and allow me to continue to help guide you during this wild journey. I have a ton of goodies to share so enter your name and email below to connect!
Can’t wait to meet you in your inbox :)
