5 hot tips to prepare for postpartum and make your life easier

When I fell pregnant I was really happy to become a mum. It was a dream of mine come true.

I began the journey excited and supported. Everyone around me was happy and I was treated like a goddess. People let me sat on the bus, cars stopped to let me go on footpaths, I could skipped toilet cues… It was great to see the level of care and honouring that is given to a pregnant women in our society.

Luckily, I had an awesome pregnancy so I didn’t need much support really. Then I had my baby and the story changed.

My stitches were sore, I had zero sleep, my breasts were engorged and I felt terribly and painfully lonely.
My baby did not sleep in the pram or breastfed in public; so to go out felt like impossible mission.
And right then I’ve noticed: no one stopped to let me go on the footpaths, no one helped me get on or off the bus and I realised that I had become invisible. When I was the most vulnerable and needed the most help, no one saw me. I was an inconvenience to those around me.

I have gone from princess to peasant.

What I wished was different for me was the support around me. I wished I had prepared and planned for those times as I did for my birth.

I wished I planned and prepared and hired support in the same way I did for my birth.
Here are some hot tips on how to prepare for postpartum and make your life easier:

1. Pack your freezer with nourishing meals for when baby arrives

   This literally can save your life, as you or your partner won’t have to worry to cook, prepare food and having to clean afterwards. By doing that you invest your time in YOU, so you can rest, bond with your baby and have your partner around as support.

2. Organise a meal train

   Meal train is another great way to take care of yourself. Plus you create community and a sense of belonging through your friends and family being there for you in times of need.

3. Hire help

   That may look in different forms, such as a cleaner, a cook or a postpartum doula.

   Do what’s right for you, but keep in mind as a mom your only job is to rest and be with your baby. Cleaning and running the household is not mothering chores and it is really not your job to do it right after having a baby.

   By hiring help you can focus on what really matters, you and your bubba.

4. Have visitors rules and agreements

   Tune in into your intuition and know what feels right for you. Do you want the first few weeks just to be you and your little family? Do you need some company and socialisation?
   There is no right or wrong here but you should know IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO BE A HOST.
   Every visitor that comes through your door should not only have good intentions but come to help and make your life easier. They can pick up groceries on the way, hold baby while you sleep or shower, cook you a meal, put on a washing machine, do the dishes, etc.

5. Honour your needs and rest

   Do not rush your body because everyone around you tells you to bounce back and go back to normal. Your body is healing from 9 months of pregnancy and birth. Listen to your body and trust the timing of it, doesn’t matter if 6 weeks, a year or two. Postpartum is for life and only you know what you need. You will find the people who get it and will be there to support you.

You’ve got this mama and you are doing amazing. Know that even if you have a rough day and every thing is going down hill that this too will pass and no matter what, you are an amazing human being.