We get questions like these all the time.
-Are you a night nurse?
-Are you a night nanny?
-How can you help me?
-What if I am breastfeeding?
-What if my baby needs me?
-What if I just need sleep?
-Where can I sign up? (This is our favorite!)
As Postpartum Doulas, we offer support in various ways to each of our clients. However, our main goal is to “mother the mother” and help the entire family transition into life with a newborn. We're constantly told how hard it will be to sleep with a new baby. Will we struggle for weeks? Months? Will we ever sleep again? We also know how dangerous sleep deprivation can be for people ... What if it didn't have to be that way?
A big part of this transition is helping with better quality AND quantity of sleep. Unlike night nurses or nannies, Postpartum Doulas are specifically trained to support both the mother and the baby. With evidence based education and non-judgmental support, Doulas focus on every member of the family, not just the newest addition.
Our current culture isn’t necessarily supportive of new mothers, especially during the postpartum period. Your body is healing, you’re adjusting to a newborn, and yet what is expected of you on a day-to-day basis, often remains the same. The lack of sleep mixed with jumping right back into daily life can make it hard for your body and mind to recover from pregnancy and birth. You deserve to rest. Postpartum Doulas can make a huge difference in your recovery and overall well-being. So what do we do all night? Our goal during a postpartum night shift is to help meet your physical and mental needs, while supporting your feeding goals.
With overnight Doula support, our goal is to help you in whatever way is most supportive. We can be the sole overnight caretaker, allowing you to get a full night’s sleep. If you’re adjusting to breastfeeding, we can stay in a separate room with baby and bring the baby to you as needed to nurse. We will then take care of the burping, diapers and soothing so you can get back to sleep. We'll even take care of pump parts, make bottles and whatever else you need to make the first feed of the morning as seamless as possible. Worried you'll miss something? Don't worry ... we'll take notes all evening, so you're not guessing about baby's schedule! We work with YOUR goals to set up the best plan for both you and your family, whether that is a few nights after you bring baby home, a few weeks, a few months or anything in between. As far as how much or how little support is needed, that is up to YOU!