The first six weeks after delivery is what we normally refer to as the postpartum period.
It is an intense period for every new mum. Your body is trying to heal and recover from an almost 10-month long pregnancy journey and birth. You are leaking and bleeding. Your hormones are all over the place. You are feeding on demand. And a newborn doesn't know the difference between night and day, and doesn't give a toss about bedtimes, so chances are you are pretty sleep deprived right now too.
Midwives and doulas across the globe are forever trying to remind new mums and those around them that, really, we should be talking about a fourth trimester when we speak of the six weeks following delivery. It is a time so crucial for both mum and baby's health that we cannot ignore its importance. Nor can we overlook just how overwhelming a job mums are doing at this time, trying to both recover themselves and look after a brand new human.
For so many, feeling overwhelmed by all this new-ness, we try to rush back to being our "old selves". We're trying to establish routines and normality, when what we probably should be doing is get into our comfiest pair of pyjamas and not thinking about much more than bonding with your baby and nourishing our postpartum bodies with healthy, wholesome foods.
Let's not be afraid to ask for help, be it in the form of grandparents being roped in to entertain older children or do créche pick-ups, or having someone bring you over dinner when you are just too out of it to manage to cook something for yourself. And when you know someone who just had a baby – offer to help. Cook some freezable dinners and bring them over to the new mum; hold the baby while she has a shower; fold the laundry for her while she naps – it will mean the world.
In the meantime, take a look at this beautiful post below, highlighting just what a vulnerable and overwhelming time this is for new mamas – and why we need to take extra good care of them through all this:
