Postpartum Assistance
Postpartum Professionals are trained support specialists who offer in-home education, support, and hands-on care for families and their babies They are patient, non-judgmental, and knowledgeable about newborn care & breastfeeding. The goal of a Postpartum Professional is to nurture the parents into their new roles. As they experience success & their knowledge & self-confidence grow, their need for professional support will diminish.
What are the benefits of having postpartum support?
- The benefits of having postpartum support are:
- Increase parents confidence in their skills
- Increase success of breastfeeding
- Facilitating parent-infant bond
- Decrease postpartum mood disorders and depression
- Greater feeling of support for and from both mom and dad
- Increased baby soothing skills often leading to sleeping longer stretches sooner
- Better coping skills
- Fathers/Parnters and siblings feel included in life with a new baby
What will my Postpartum Professional do?
A Postpartum Professional supporting a family during daytime hours might…
- Provide hands-on education on infant and mother care
- Create a nurturing, restful atmosphere in which parents may eat, shower and nap
- Shop for groceries and prepare meals
- Spend time with the baby, allowing parents to cuddle and have quality time with older children or just be alone together
- Introduce parenting tips, helping parents to learn skills that will enable them to cope with their new responsibilities
- Screen for hurdles such as breastfeeding challenges or postpartum mood disorders
- Make referrals to any local or informational resources that the parents might need
- Work herself out of a job by helping parents to gather the skills and resources that they will need in the upcoming weeks and months
- Help to organize the nursery and home
- Take care of the baby’s laundry
- Offer a listening, non-judgmental ear
- Help with housework such as washing dishes, sweeping floor, etc
- Help initialize a routine for your baby and your family
Our Postpartum Professionals also offer Night Support!
A postpartum professional supporting a family during the “overnight” hours might do everything listed above as well as…
- Diaper and burp baby, so that mom does not need to move around – she can just stay cozy in her bed to feed and snuggle baby
- Preparing snacks and beverages to the mother while feeding her baby at night
- Prepare pump supplies or bottles for the next feeding or the next day
- Take the contentedly fed baby to another room and help the baby to go back to sleep, so parents can sleep soundly between feedings
- For bottle fed babies, feed babies so parents may get a few extra hours of sleep.