Postpartum

We asked the talented LaShanda Dandrich, IBCLC, a boober provider and the driving force behind Uptown Village Cooperative, to shed some light on what she does day-to-day to help families, how she got here and what keeps her going. This week is Black Breastfeeding Week and boober also wanted to hear her thoughts on why it is important to proactively show support to bring about change in black families. ...

Did you read the latest news on preventing the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth? Back up…do you know what the most common complication actually IS? Diabetes? Nope. Preeclampsia? Try again. Believe it or not, perinatal (loosely defined as the time from pregnancy to postpartum) depression and anxiety are actually the most common ailments that women face during this time. Between 11 and 17% of pregnant and new moms suffer from depression and/or anxiety. The good news is that perinatal depression and anxiety are treatable AND, as we now know, preventable....

Over the past thirteen years, I’ve gotten used to blank looks and confused reactions when I tell people that I’m a postpartum doula. After all, even with increasing attention to the importance of the postpartum period (both in terms of physical and mental health), the unconscionable health crisis in the black community around birth and the postpartum period, and articles like this one, most people still don’t know what a postpartum doula is. ...

November 17 is World Prematurity Day—part of an entire month devoted to Prematurity Awareness. In recognition, we’ve compiled some critical tips and information about NICUs. More babies than ever are spending time in NICU—up to 15 percent—potentially due to higher rates of cesarean birth, more screening for things like gestational diabetes and Group B Strep infection (meaning more mothers will test positive for these conditions), and more epidurals (which may lead to more fevers in mothers). ...

The Postpartum Period. It’s finally getting the attention it deserves! At least in writing. We were thrilled to see Zoe Greenberg’s article recently in the NY Times – “If Only Everyone Had a Postpartum Doula”. We couldn’t agree more. ...

This year, ACOG—that’s the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists—came out with recommendations for optimizing postpartum care. There are lots of specifics, but the main takeaway is that new moms should get postpartum care sooner and more consistently than most do currently. That’s great news, of course....

Preparing for postpartum, in our culture which focuses heavily on pregnancy and birth preparation, may seem unusual, but along with the sweet newborn cuddles and overflow of well wishes comes very real challenges, adjustments and a need for deep healing. Even when your pregnancy, birth and early postpartum period is going “well,” it can be overwhelming for some people! And of course there can be concerns for the birthing parent or baby—expected or unexpected—that leave a family needing even more support. .“Nothing could have prepared me for this!” is a common and (oftentimes) exasperated refrain from new parents. ...