So we always talk about the famous birth plan, but do we ever think about what is coming after? The reality is that after you give birth, you will most likely be going home with a brand new baby and a life forever changed. Nothing really prepares you for what’s to come. You may have talked to some family or friends that have had babies or maybe all you’ve seen is what’s in the movies but every situation is so unique that you really need to prepare for YOUR postpartum.

So how do we really go about doing that? Well you can do it just like a birth plan. What are your wishes, what do you want and what do you not want? Who do you plan to have around? Get down the even the most basics of tasks because believe me, when that newborn baby is attached to you every hour of the day, it is not the time to figure out who will cook and who will clean. I have made a lists of questions to ask yourself when planning for your postpartum:

Can we hire a postpartum doula? (HIGHLY recommend this, of course)

Who from our social group can we ask for help? (Here I recommend you be really picky because you want to be surrounded by people that will just support you in YOUR decisions)

Who can cook for us? Can we get meal delivery for the first few weeks?

What part of the house is the most important for me to keep clean? Only focus on a few rooms/spaces.

If there is an older child, how can we keep him/her entertained and cared for? (blog post coming on this!)

Who can we ask to run to the shops for us if needed?

Who will feed baby during the night?

Who will change diapers during the night?

Is there any traditions or cultural activities you will want to do with the new baby?

Do you know the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression? Make a plan for what to do if you or your partner start noticing signs of this.

There really are so many more questions you can ask yourselves to plan for a better postpartum but a lot of them will be personal to you and your family. Look at your normal day-to-day life and try to think about all the things that will change or that you may have to do differently.

I highly recommend doing this with a doula prenatally. If I am your doula, we will look at this together and make a plan. It’s good to have some outside perspective when making plans like this, specially coming from a doula because we know what can happen and we have seen from different families what has worked and what hasn’t. So contact me and we can chat about my services or even just plan a session to just plan for your postpartum.

Talk soon!

Kaella