Your Postpartum Plan
A Postpartum Plan is much like a Birth Plan. It helps you to plan for a smooth transition adjusting to your new family dynamics in the first few weeks. Bear in mind that flexibility is the key when considering all the potential conditions and ‘personalities’ that are unknown.
Remember to honor this time as a rite of passage. The most important element is the ‘babymoon’ phase. You will only experience this time once for this baby. Make it count for you and your family – everything else that was there, will still be there to consider at a later time.
Sleep & Rest
What are your normal (pre-pregnancy) sleep requirements (# of hours per night)? ___________
Here’s an approach to help you get as much (or almost as much) sleep as you need:
1. Calculate how many hours of sleep you need regularly before pregnancy in order to function well. Six hours? Eight hours? This is the amount of sleep you now owe yourself everyday.
2. Since you cannot get this amount of sleep in one stretch because of interruptions for feedings and baby care, you will require more hours in bed to get your allotted amount of sleep.
3. Plan to stay in bed or keep going back to bed until you have your allotted number of hours. This means that, with the exception of trips to the bathroom, you do not get up. You do not brush your teeth, shower or dress in the early morning. Make a mental note of approximately how many hours you have slept since you went to bed. You may have to stay in bed from 10pm until noon the next day to get eight hours of sleep! If that’s what it takes, do it. Then brush your teeth, take a shower, dress and greet the day.
Physical Recovery
What is important to you when determining how you expect to physically recover from the birth? (self-care, exercise, weight, etc.) _________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Breastfeeding/Infant Feeding
Anticipated method of feeding for baby(ies): _________________________________________
My expectations for feeding the baby(ies) are: ____ on cue ____ scheduled
I feel this way because ___________________________________________________________
We will have a feeding/elimination chart: ____________________________________________
Nourishment
We plan to:
____ Have meals prepared ahead of time and stored in freezer
____ Prepare meals day to day ourselves
____ prepare meals day to day with help
____ order in ____ times per week
____ combination of _____________________________________________________________
Caring for the baby(ies)
We plan to:
____ Have help from a professional doula, so that we can spend our time with the baby(ies) and siblings (if any)
____ Have help from family, so that we can spend our time with the baby(ies) and siblings (if any)
____ Hire a nanny to look after the baby(ies) and siblings (if any)
____ Care for the baby(ies) and siblings (if any) ourselves and manange the house at the same time – we do not expect any outside help
Sleeping arrangements
____ We plan to co-sleep
____ We plan to have the baby(ies) in the same room but sleeping in a cradle/bassinet beside us
____ We plan to have the baby(ies) sleep in their own room
Redefining Roles
____ Who will do the baring for the baby(ies)?
____ Who will do the caring for the siblings (if any)?
____ Who will do the cleaning?
____ Who will do the cooking?
____ Who will do the laundry?
____ Who will be at home?
____ Who will do the shopping?
____ Who will run the errands?
____ Who will transport the siblings (if any) to places?
As a mother, I will expect my partner’s role to be:
As a partner, I will expect the mother’s role to be:
Partners/Relationships
It is important to our relationship that we:
Siblings
It is important that we maintain:
Pets
It is important that we maintain: