Happy Healthy Spine is thrilled to feature our first guest blogger, Buddha Belly! They have detailed input on the difference postpartum doulas can make. Read on to learn more.
Could a Postpartum Doula Help After Baby Is Born?
Picture this: you arrive home from the hospital after just giving birth to your sweet baby. You’re tired (who can sleep in hospitals anyway?), hungry (and that food! Ick.) and your baby is fussing to breastfeed. You and your partner scramble to eat something fast while sleepily trying to get the baby to latch.
Now imagine this same scenario – but this time you arrive home to meet your postpartum doula. She prepares a healthy meal for you and your partner and helps you finesse baby’s latch. When you are ready, you hand baby over to your doula for a diaper change and soothing while you head off to the peace and comfort of your own bed for a much needed nap.
Sound like a fantasy? It’s not!
Postpartum Doulas Are a Reality
At Buddha Belly, our postpartum doulas do this and more for the families they support. They offer experienced, gentle care in your home and sometimes while still in the hospital. They provide newborn expertise, answer questions, help with baby care, baby feeding (breastfeeding or otherwise), light meal prep, practical stuff around the house, running errands, companionship and emotional support.
Who Hires a Postpartum Doula?
This service is designed to meet the individual needs of a family. Here are just a few examples:
- First-time parents. When bringing your first baby home, everything is new! Feeding, sleeping, diapering, washing, doctors, daycares… it’s enough to make even the most level-headed people feel slightly batty. Add in a lack of sleep and now you’re completely overwhelmed!
- New parents without a local network of family or friends. The Tampa Bay area is a great community that attracts mobile families for professional and military advancement and those drawn to our tropical location. Living so close to the beach offers lots of amenities, but your friends and family may be many states (or even countries) away. While your parents may make a trip for a baby’s birth, many aren’t able to stay as long as needed for you to have a complete postpartum recovery.
- New parents who have a demanding career. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a business owner or professional, you may or may not have a generous family-leave package. Regardless, the necessity of caring for your growing family can feel overwhelming in addition to outreach from your employees, boss or clients.
- Families with an older child or children at home. Figuring out logistics like nap schedules, bedtime, playdates, school drop-offs and all of the other myriad of responsibilities are hard enough. Adding in your newborn and his/her needs – pediatrician visits, breastfeeding, avoiding too much time in the car – can present a significant challenge.
- Families with a baby in the NICU. When a newborn requires a short – or extended- stay in the NICU, figuring out how to be at home and in the hospital may be very frustrating for you, in addition to the scariness of dealing with your baby’s medical needs. The NICU can be an overwhelming and exhausting place.
- Parents of multiples. Figuring out your new singleton baby is hard work! Now make it TWO – or more! – and there aren’t enough hands or time to go around.
Maybe your new family has a little of everything going on. Maybe your needs are totally different. No matter why you need support, we’re here to offer it. Learn more about the services Buddha Belly offers by visiting our website.
