Most people are familiar with birth planning but what happens when you bring your new baby home? As professionals that walk through the journey of birth with clients every day, we believe Postpartum Planning for expectant parents is equally important as birth planning. Who will walk the dog? Who will prepare dinner? Getting this in line before birth creates a sense of security and peace after baby arrives. Need a hand? Check out our Postpartum Planning Guide below!
What is Postpartum Planning?
Creating a plan for after the baby has arrived covers many different aspects of your life. A good Postpartum Plan should include discussion with your partner and anyone who will be with you for an extended period of time immediately after birth. The plan is meant to facilitate communication between you and your support team, whoever that includes.
What should I consider for my Postpartum Planning Guide?
There are many aspects to running your home and life and planning for all of them can get overwhelming. We recommend that you break everything down into categories. If you like guides, you can download our Postpartum Planning Guide here (for Free!).
Before Pregnancy
We suggest covering topics like parental leave, childcare preferences, birth providers and birth locations and parenting topics.
Early Pregnancy
During your first trimester it’s a great time to discuss things like childcare options, where the baby will sleep in your home, announcing your pregnancy, and care providers for your birth and postpartum.
Mid-Pregnancy
Around your second trimester is a great time to begin hiring support for birth and postpartum, creating your baby registry, planning a Babymoon, and getting to any large house projects like renovations or upgrades.
Late Pregnancy
Your third trimester will feel both long and very short! It’s time to start tying up loose ends like setting up your home to welcome your baby, outline lists of who does what around the house and who can help with those tasks while the birthing parent is healing, and creating a resource list full of providers such as your OBGYN/Midwife, your doula, and your Lactation Consultant.
Easing the Transition
We also recommend considering how you will ease the transition for you, your baby, the baby’s siblings, your fur babies, and your extended family. How will you structure your day? How will you ensure everyone’s needs are met? What boundaries will you put in place to ensure visiting family offers support and not more burdens?
Who should help with my Postpartum Planning Guide?
The best people to help with your postpartum plan fall into two categories. One is the people who will be directly involved in caring for you after you give birth. This could include a partner, siblings, parents, or other loved ones who step up. The other category is the professionals you’ve added to your support team. This could include a chat with your birth doula or a session with your postpartum doula.
The best place to begin? In our opinion, our Free Postpartum Planning Guide!
