Taking care of yourself as a new mum
by laura
March 14, 2023 You’ve waited many long months to meet your little one, and once they are here they can demand a lot of your time and energy. But remember you can’t pour from an empty cup – it’s vital that you look after you as well as your baby. Here are our top tips for taking care of yourself as a new mum.
Rest
After pregnancy and birth your body goes through some rapid and impressive changes. This, coupled with newborn baby sleep, plus any problems from pregnancy or birth such as anaemia – can feel absolutely exhausting.
Rest is so important – you might not be getting the quality chunks of sleep you’ve been used to, but it’s important to grab some rest while you can.
There is a saying “sleep when the baby sleeps” – this is a great idea, although a lot of young babies don’t sleep well unless they are on the move, or being held. It’s not recommended to sleep while holding your baby – they aren’t able to clear their mouths and noses to breathe and it can be dangerous. If you can enlist the help of friends or relatives to hold your baby or push the pram while you get some much needed rest, this will all help.
Your body has done so much – it needs rest to heal and recover.
Nutrition
After pregnancy it’s important to nourish your body to make sure you’re replacing any nutrients you might be low on after your pregnancy and giving birth. The best way to do this is by eating regular, healthy meals making sure you contain all of the major food groups, to include carbohydrate, fruit and vegetables, fats and protein. If you follow a special diet, it’s worth having a look at ways you can make sure you’re not missing out on valuable nutrients as you recover from birth and if breastfeeding, nourish your baby.
Why is it important to eat well?
- It can speed your recovery – a well nourished body heals more quickly, and having a healthy balanced diet can protect your bone health, help you recover from low iron stores, and help improve or avoid haemorrhoids
- It helps you produce breastmilk – both the quality and quantity – certains foods are proven to help with this more
- It gives you energy for your new job as mum!
If you are breastfeeding, you need about 400 extra calories per day. By eating a normal healthy diet, you can help shift any excess weight you might have gained in pregnancy. However if you’re not trying to lose baby weight, it’s important you consume more calories when breastfeeding your baby. You will need extra calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is contained in dairy foods such as cheese, milk and yoghurt, and it’s recommended that all breastfeeding mums take a supplement of vitamin D at a minimum of 10mcg. Some people are entitled to free vitamins via the healthy start scheme – check if this applies to you via the NHS Health Start Website.
There is no evidence to suggest avoiding certain allergens in your diet will prevent your baby from developing a food allergy. In fact the opposite has been shown, that breastfed babies who are exposed to lots of different foods (including those that can cause allergy such as nuts and fish) can reduce their risk of developing food allergies in the future. If you’re worried that something you are eating is making your baby unwell, it’s worth speaking to your GP or health visitor to talk it through before cutting any major food groups out of your diet.
Safe exercise
For many new mothers, particularly those who were active before pregnancy, getting back to activity is something you’ve been looking forward to after the pregnancy finishes. Whilst being active can help you recover quickly and avoid many complications after giving birth, it’s important to take a slow return to activity, listening to your body as you go.
In the first couple of weeks after giving birth, examples of appropriate exercise would be pelvic floor exercises, gentle core exercise such as tilting your pelvis forward and backwards, and gentle walking. As you get closer to 6 weeks you might find you’re able to walk a bit further and some women feel able to try some very gentle body weight exercises such as a squat, whilst brushing teeth etc. Any more than this, for most women, will be too much too soon.
Join Mumie for more advice on how you can return to activity in a safe way, taking care of your body after the last 9 months of hard work.
Community
“It takes a village to raise a child” an old African proverb but beautifully highlights the need for support and community for new parents. Still in many cultures today there is a practice of “postnatal confinement” whereby it is an expectation that the mother and baby will stay home to rest, recover and have all their needs taken care of by family and friends after the birth.
Your community might change over time. Immediately after birth, new parents will often support of their families and close friends, but as the weeks pass this becomes less for many, particularly as partners return to work.
Building your community can involve meeting other parents with similar age children; you might have a network of parents you met during the pregnancy, or friends with similar age children.
However you create it, community and knowing you’re not on your own in motherhood can be hugely helpful.
Boundaries
Saying that about community, it’s also essential that you as a new family set your own boundaries. As soon as news is out that your little one has arrived you will no doubt be inundated with requests for visits and cuddles with your precious bundle.
It’s ok to say no. It’s ok to limit time people are with you. For many parents the arrival of a new baby is a steep learning curve themselves, and getting to grips with changing nappies and feeding routines is tricky enough without having to fit in hordes of visitors. Make sure you see people on your own agenda – it’s ok to say no.
And finally, don’t forget to focus on your own recovery from giving birth. Motherhood does not mean the loss of you as you were beforehand. Mumie offers a wealth of advice and tips to help you recover from pregnancy and birth, and redefine your new role as mum. Join using the links at the top of the page.