Birthing a child involves both physical and emotional effort, yet these challenges don’t end at childbirth. It’s no secret that life after delivery carries a multitude of stresses. A postpartum doula serves as a supportive companion for new families during the recovery phase. Though traditional postpartum doulas are neither medical professionals nor therapists, they are trained to guide new parents with their healing journey after childbirth. Postpartum doulas provide emotional support, physical services and educational material to help families seamlessly transition into their new and joyful lives. 

Emotional support involves communicating and active listening to understand a parent’s feelings. A doula understands when mothers feel overwhelmed, fathers, feel unsure or when older siblings feel confused and provide attention and reassurance. Emotional support is found to decrease the chances of postpartum depression and boost self-confidence in new parents. (1)  Postpartum doulas are effective in guiding families in maintaining their mental health. Latch onto Health is dedicated to encouraging families with emotional care, so they can focus on healing.  

Additionally, doulas offer physical support and domestic services to aid families. This involves acquiring a rhythm to efficiently tackle the seemingly never-ending to-do list. Some tasks Latch onto Health assists with include laundry, light tidying, meal prep and cooking, breastfeeding/chestfeeding and bottle assistance, childcare, and any other relief needed during the three months or more following birth. Although some of these duties may seem minor, they allow parents to feel supported so they can comfortably adjust to postpartum life. With hands-on guidance, mothers are allowed some much-needed self-care time. Taking time to reset, recharge and nurture oneself is critical when occupied with tending to a newborn. 

Postpartum support doesn’t end there. Doulas provide a multitude of informational resources. Extensive training and experience ensure families can rely on doulas to introduce different child-care methods and techniques. Doulas are well versed in natural newborn behavior, as well as the different paces of postpartum healing. (2) Latch onto Health provides education in newborn safety, lactation consulting, as well as maternal and newborn nutrition support. One key factor in this period is breastfeeding/chestfeeding. It is critical families have resources to learn safe and rewarding ways to nourish their babies. Hands-on support and guidance allow families to broaden their scope of knowledge.

Hiring a postpartum doula has been universally acknowledged as a positive asset for new families. They assure parents and assist during transformative times, so they have more time to savor every precious moment. Hire a postpartum doula for increased confidence and security. If you would like to find one in your area use doulamatch.net. If you’re interested in working with Latch onto Health, check out our postpartum services or contact us for a free consultation. 

 

  1. https://www.dona.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DONA-Postpartum-Position-Paper-FINAL.pdf 
  2. https://www.herobirthservices.com/blog/what-does-a-postpartum-doula-do-anyway