Simply put, we are a lovely someone who comes to support you in your home in the weeks and months following the birth of your first and subsequent babies.
We are a friendly face and a listening ear. We help you with emotional and practical support and provide you with signposting for evidence-based information. The postnatal period can be pretty tough and quite overwhelming and can sometimes be a little relentless. So, to have a friendly someone, a smiley face, somebody to listen, who’s non-judgemental and someone who can help you find the answers to the million questions you may have can be hugely beneficial.
A postnatal doula can provide you with reassurance that you are doing a good job. We will empower you to make your own decisions and not offer advice but sometimes helpful suggestions. We can help you to understand what normal baby behaviour is in the fourth trimester and how to navigate that. As already mentioned, postnatal doulas can signpost you to relevant information that is going to help you find the answers and make the choices that are right for you and your family.
During the postnatal period new families can be given advice from well meaning family and friends and it can be totally overwhelming and a struggle to work out what’s right for you. So to have someone there to talk it all through and to help you practically and emotionally during that time can be gold.
Practically we can hold baby so that you can go and have a shower or get dressed or take some time out; go for a walk with a friend and get some head space. Postnatal doulas can help nourish you with lovely food when you just feel too tired to cook anything healthy and nutritional for yourself and your family. We can look after older siblings and help them adjust to becoming a big brother or sister. Postnatal doulas can provide a well needed hug and a shoulder to lean on. We are flexible to family’s needs. So whether you need somebody in the morning, afternoon, at tricky times of the day such as tea time, bedtime and even overnight, you will be able to find the right doula for you and your family.
Another service postnatal doulas can provide is postnatal planning. This helps you think ahead, plan and prepare for your fourth trimester. This planning usually covers various topics including rest, feeding, parenting, visitors, physical recovery, and relationships to name a few. Lots of us make a plan for birth, a house move, a long holiday, all the huge transitions in life, but very few of us know about postnatal planning. Isn’t having a baby one of the biggest transitions of all? It’s always good to think ahead, make a plan and get some help. This is what postnatal doulas do, we help you to prepare and plan and then we walk the path with you providing the support that you and your family needs to adjust to your new life together.
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