5 Ways My Postpartum Tampa Doula Helped Our Family
Just before giving birth to my daughter, my husband and I decided to invite a postpartum doula into our family. This was a last minute decision that we arrived at due to the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus. We’d be unable to have family around to help most of the time, so we decided to hire external support.
What I thought would be someone coming in to hold the baby and support me while I was clueless became something much more. I think I’ll always hire a postpartum doula. So much so that I hope they don't change careers and stop being a birth and postpartum doula!
Here are five ways my postpartum doula helped our family:
They reminded me it’s ok and normal to not be ok.
When I had my daughter, I expected to have physical pain but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional cluster f*ck of postpartum hormones and pre-pregnancy trauma to collide. I cannot imagine the torture I’d have continued to endure if I hadn’t had broken down and shared what I was experiencing. I thought I was going crazy, but when I finally let it out she told me it was normal, then told me I should talk to a therapist.
Taking on the burden of cooking meals - more help than you can imagine!
This is a no brainer, but often forgotten about! Cooked meals are a huge help, especially when you don’t have the energy or time to make them. The fact that my doula was a health nut like me and used clean ingredients was also a huge plus.
3. They reassured me that I was made to be a mother.
This was our first baby, I had no idea what I was doing. Yet somehow, I managed to be doing the right thing most of the time. When my doula would come over, I’d ask her to inspect different things - the way the baby was latching, how I was holding her, and so on. She reassured me that I was a natural and it didn’t even seem like it was my first time.
She was also great at getting my husband to relax. She was actually great at helping him build confidence about being a dad. To this day, she is one of our family's favorite people. Her postpartum support and encouragement meant the world.
You need a neutral third party to support your family after birth. My family was very much into doing things their own way, but what I really needed was for someone to give me emotional support and give me the confidence to do my own thing.
4. Postpartum doula services organized my life so I could focus on the baby.
When you bring a baby home, there are tons of things unopened and unpacked - which just creates stress in the household! We had no time to put our lives back together. Our postpartum doula supported us by organizing our baby’s clothes and baby products. Washing, folding and creating a system for us was a game changer and helped us get back to business as usual.
5. Postpartum support helped me to focus on the moment.
As the pain of birth subsides, it’s easy to feel like you’re ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of real life. My postpartum doula reminded me that I just had a baby and that 3 weeks postpartum was too soon to be focusing on anything other than my daughter.
I should’ve been lying in bed most of the day, but I’d try to do things around the house and moved around too much. She could always tell. It was nice to have someone besides my husband tell me to sit my butt down and sniff baby scent 24/7.
After reading about these different tips you may be thinking, “Where can I find the best pregnancy and birth doula near me?” When looking for the best doula Tampa, Florida is home to One Love Doula Services - which offers a full suite of different doula services including placenta encapsulation and our own expert birth photographer in Tampa!
Check out our different doula service packages or contact us online for quick responses on any of your questions! Visit us on Instagram for updates on our amazing practices and wonderful staff of trained doulas in Tampa!
We provide doula support, birth, and postpartum care all around Tampa Bay, including:
Tampa, St Petersburg
Land O' Lakes
Lakeland
Downtown Tampa
... and more!
Virtual services also available, let's plan for your amazing birth and postpartum journey.