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from Natural Life magazine,
November/December 2008 Sometimes so much attention is paid on being pregnant that the shift to life outside the belly for baby and mom can be quite a shock. Suddenly, baby arrives and now the amazing journey of motherhood has officially begun. Spending nine or ten months preparing for your birth and for taking the plunge into motherhood instantly culminates in that magical moment when you hold your newborn child close to your chest, skin to skin, madly in love. While meeting your baby can be a blissful experience, it is so important to be mindful of the great transition that is now facing you, your partner and your baby. Consider taking your time to formally fall in love with your newborn, and again with your partner, as you embrace the postpartum concept of the “baby moon.”
The baby moon is those precious new days, weeks and months when you become acquainted with your new baby, your postpartum body and, quite possibly, your view of the entire world. You are a different woman now – in body, mind and spirit – so give yourself permission to experience a wide range of feelings. Having a baby is hard work; being a mother is even harder! Hormonal changes can leave you feeling high as a kite and completely alone out on a limb, sometimes all at once. Be kind to yourself! You are not alone on this journey. Seek out supportive, like-minded new mothers at mother’s groups, La Leche League meetings or local playgrounds. If you do not have a support network of friends or family that you can readily call upon, a good postpartum Doula will be a must. Take a moment to make a list of people you can call on when you feel you need an extra hand or an extra meal. It really does “take a village” to raise a child, particularly a new baby. A helpful tool that I share with students and clients of mine is what I describe as the “law of threes” when beginning the postpartum period. The first three days after your baby is born, try to stay in bed or at least in your bedroom. Many other cultures worldwide have much longer “lying in” periods for mother and baby. If you can give yourself the much-deserved rest of focusing on breastfeeding, sleeping, eating and recovering from the work of labor, your body and your baby will thank you for it. While birth is a healthy, normal event, honor the recovery period that your hard working body needs and deserves. The less you physically do in the initial few days following childbirth, the better ... To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Natural Life's online edition. Beth Leianne Curtis owns Believe In Birth, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a Home Birth Midwife completing her Certified Professional Midwife credential, as well as a Certified Childbirth Educator and Certified Birth Doula. She welcomes reader email messages at beth@believeinbirth.com. |
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