The Babymoon - caring for the new family.
The above post may be a helpful read when family and friends are new to the idea and may wonder what the purpose is.
Post-Natal Peri-Care Kit
An ideal gift for the post-natal mama. These sachets of herbs are wonderful for the healing tissues. Place in a warm bath - and bliss. Also for sale are plastic peri-squeeze bottles.
Baby's First Bath
This video was shared by some parents on Youtube and is a reminder to add something in your birth plan about how you would like your baby handled after birth.
More wisdom from Midwife Gloria Lemay:
After the birth, what the family needs
“Let me know if I can help you in any way when the baby is born.” … “Just let me know if you need a hand.” … “Anything I can do, just give me a call.”
Most pregnant women get these statements from friends and family but shy away from making requests when they are up to their ears in dirty laundry, unmade beds, dust bunnies and countertops crowded with dirty dishes. The myth of “I’m fine, I’m doing great, new motherhood is wonderful, I can cope and my husband is the Rock of Gibraltar” is pervasive in postpartum land. If you’re too shy to ask for help and make straight requests of people, I suggest sending the following list out to your friends and family. These are the things I have found to be missing in every house with a new baby. It’s actually easy and fun for outsiders to remedy these problems for the new parents but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what’s wanted and needed…
1. Buy us toilet paper, milk and beautiful whole grain bread.
2. Buy us a new garbage can with a swing top lid and 6 pairs of black cotton underpants (women’s size____).
3. Make us a big supper salad with feta cheese, black Kalamata olives, toasted almonds, organic green crispy things and a nice homemade dressing on the side. Drop it off and leave right away. Or, buy us frozen lasagna, garlic bread, a bag of salad, a big jug of juice, and maybe some cookies to have for dessert. Drop it off and leave right away.
4. Come over about 2 in the afternoon, hold the baby while I have a hot shower, put me to bed with the baby and then fold all the piles of laundry that have been dumped on the couch, beds or in the room corners. If there’s no laundry to fold yet, do some.
5. Come over at l0 a.m., make me eggs, toast and a 1/2 grapefruit. Clean my fridge and throw out everything you are in doubt about. Don’t ask me about anything; just use your best judgment.
6. Put a sign on my door saying “Dear Friends and Family, Mom and baby need extra rest right now. Please come back in 7 days but phone first. All donations of casserole dinners would be most welcome. Thank you for caring about this family.”
7. Come over in your work clothes and vacuum and dust my house and then leave quietly. It’s tiring for me to chat and have tea with visitors but it will renew my soul to get some rest knowing I will wake up to clean, organized space.
8. Take my older kids for a really fun-filled afternoon to a park, zoo or Science World and feed them healthy food.
9. Come over and give my husband a two hour break so he can go to a coffee shop, pub, hockey rink or some other r & r that will delight him. Fold more laundry.
10. Make me a giant pot of vegetable soup and clean the kitchen completely afterwards. Take a big garbage bag and empty every trash basket in the house and reline with fresh bags.
These are the kindnesses that new families remember and appreciate forever. It’s easy to spend money on gifts but the things that really make a difference are the services for the body and soul described above. Most of your friends and family members don’t know what they can do that won’t be an intrusion. They also can’t devote 40 hours to supporting you but they would be thrilled to devote 4 hours. If you let 10 people help you out for 4 hours, you will have the 40 hours of rested, adult support you really need with a newborn in the house. There’s magic in the little prayer “I need help.”
All the Baby Mamas
This video clip is a light-hearted look at baby-wearing, but there's no doubt a sling can make the early weeks of parenting easier.
The Under-valued therapeutic power of rest by Gloria Lemay
Blissful Herbs products to enhance your Babymoon:
Post Natal Bliss healing bath herbs - fragrant bath herbs with natural healing properties - perfect luxury after giving birth.
Peri-cleanse bottle - fill with herbal liquid, or a small bit of sea salt, for gentle cleansing of the perineum.
Babymoon Bliss herbal tea - delicious, nourishing and calming for the new mother.
'Baby Blues' healing tea - a nourishing tonic herbal tea to support you through the occasional 'blahs' of early motherhood.
Soothing Salve - ideal for the healing peri and for baby's bum at nappy changes.
Lotus Birth Bliss - herbs for the lotus born placenta.
Breastfeeding Bliss galactogogue tea to support a plentiful milk supply.
Mastitis Blitz tea and topical compress herbs.
Sore Nipple Bliss topical herbs.
Placenta Encapsulation
Another thing that can make all the difference for post natal recovery is to have your placenta encapsulated. Women have raved about these "placenta pills", noticing less fatigue and depression, more energy, coping much better. Here is a list of people providing placenta encapsulation services in Melbourne.
Babywearing: if you want to help out a newborn family, rather than buy them a bunch of stuff they don't really need (or would rather choose themselves), ask if they have a sling. A good supportive, ergonomic sling can help the early days and weeks with a new baby go so much more easily. Especially if it's the first baby, it's a great time to invest in a quality Manduca, Ergo or ring sling. The parents may choose to use a pram as well (some do, some are hard-core baby-wearers), but I think all parents can do with a handy sling, so that if little one is unhappy in the pram, out comes the sling and pop the baby in it: instant serenity.
And a few more helpful resources on the topic:
http://thebabywearingpractice.com.au/
http://baby-carriers-downunder.com/author/slingdad/page/2/
Postpartum: Fourth Trimester by Peggy O'Mara
"Around the world, the postpartum period is considered a special time—a time in which a mother is born, as well as a baby. Many cultures have special practices and customs that serve to recognize this very special time in the life of a woman: the postpartum period.
In many cultures, women are not expected to carry on their usual lives, but are revered and recognized for the new journey they are beginning."
The Fourth Trimester – AKA Why Your Newborn Baby is Only Happy in Your Arms
"To empathise with our newborns feelings we need to put ourselves in their place, to imagine experiencing their world – but which world? The world they have spent most of their life in, their ‘womb world’ or the world they are in now – our world. To fully understand we must appreciate the enormous transition they have made ..."
The Second Nine Months - Exterogestation and the need to be held
"Although birth may be seen as a separation of mother and infant, babies need anything but separation. Nature intended that they be held on their mother’s bodies after birth until they complete their gestation out of the womb. This period of exterior gestation needs to be respected not just as a sentimental matter, but as one that has a profound and major impact on an infant’s physical, emotional, and psychological development."
How to Postpartum Like a Boss - one mother's experience
- wise and heartfelt words from Angela Gallo
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