Giving Birth is easily the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do in your life. However, it’s also the most rewarding. Bringing a new life into this world is just, well, you can’t find the words to describe how amazing it feels when you first hold your newborn baby in your arms. Amongst all the thrill of giving birth and having a child, many parents struggle to figure out what to do next. Sure, the hardest physical part is over, but there is still a tough battle that lies up ahead.
Ideally, you want to bring your child into the world as smoothly as possible, with very few hiccups along the way. To do this, you need to know some important things to do after you’ve given birth. These things include advice for keeping you and your baby healthy, along with other essential things that you simply need to do as well. You can find all these crucial tips listed below, so have a read of them if you’ve just become a new mother!
Rest!!!
First and foremost, you need to rest! Don’t try and be superwoman by attempting to leave the hospital as early as you can. Generally speaking, the people at the hospital will do everything they can to ensure you leave the hospital feeling good, with a healthy baby. If there are complications with the birth, then you could stay for an extra couple of days after. In a dream scenario, you’ll give birth, your baby will be healthy, and you can leave on the day. But, only leave if you are 100% ready to leave. If you don’t feel right, and could do with another night in the hospital, then ask for it. Then, when you do go home, don’t try and do everything you used to do before being a mother. I know, you’re used to being the head of the household, the person who deals with everything and is constantly running around. Don’t take on this role right away, get some bed rest, and ease yourself back into a normal daily schedule. Remember, you’re still on maternity leave, and now is also a good time to get your partner on paternity leave too. Having two people around the house is much better than one. They can look after the baby while you rest, and vice versa.
Book An Appointment For Your Baby
One of the first – and most important – things to do as you leave the hospital is to book an appointment for your baby. You must book them in to see a doctor just so they can check on your baby’s health and ensure they’re doing well. Most of the time, they try and book you in about a week or two after you leave. During this appointment, they’ll run tests, check your baby’s weight, and tell you if they’re on the right path or not. Don’t be frightened if your baby is a little underweight or not 100% of course. The whole point of this appointment is to identify issues early on, so you can correct them easily and ensure your baby grows healthily without any major problems.
Book An Appointment For Yourself
Your baby isn’t the only one in need of a follow-up appointment after birth. There’s no subtle way to say this, so I’ll just come out and say it; your body takes a battering during birth. You’ve just squeezed out a mini human, it’s not pretty, and things are not going to be the same for a long time afterwards. There are still all kinds of problems you may experience down there, and you must get a checkup soon after birth. Ideally, you should speak to a doctor while you’re still in the hospital, and try to book yourself in as soon as possible. The latest you should leave it is six weeks, but hopefully, you’ll get seen way before them. This appointment will be used to assess your physical situation, and you’ll receive treatment for any problems you may have.
Get Your Hands On Baby Skincare Products
No doubt you will have a pretty thorough skincare routine as you look to get rid of stretch marks after pregnancy. But, did you know that your baby’s skin is prone to all sorts of problems as soon as they’re born? It’s easy for them to develop issues such as cradle cap, nappy rash, and dry skin. As a consequence, you need to stock up on skincare products for your child. It’s those final three words that are key here; for your child. Look for brands like Mustela that sell moisturizers and creams that are specifically designed for newborn babies. This is very important as you want to ensure you’re using products that aren’t too harsh on their skin. Remember, they’re a lot more delicate than you are, so don’t assume your personal moisturizers and creams will work on them. Once you’ve got the best products you can find, make sure you apply them regularly to keep your baby’s skin nice and healthy.
Start Exercising Again
I mentioned stretch marks in the above point, and it reminded me of something else you should do after giving birth. Now, this is strictly something for your personal benefit, it doesn’t do anything for your baby. Essentially, you need to start exercising again. Don’t go too crazy and start lifting massively heavy weights or training too intensely. Start off with light exercise, just anything to get the blood pumping and your muscles working. Why? Because as you exercise, you can tone up your muscles, which will tighten the skin around them. So, if you train things like your thighs, bum, and hips, you can help tighten the skin and get rid of your stretch marks. Do this, along with a rigorous skincare routine, and you can banish your pregnancy stretch marks for good.
Deal With The Boring Legal Things
There are plenty of boring legal things you have to concern yourself with after giving birth. This mainly revolves around registering your baby, getting them a passport, and filling in the birth certificate, etc. Basically, it’s a lot of form filling in, and just lots of stuff you can’t really be bothered with after giving birth. But, it has to be done, so you may as well get it over with. Normally, the hospital supplies you with all the documents to fill in, so don’t worry about needing to contact the government or anything extreme like that.
Look After Your Mental Health
I’ve spoken a lot about physical things so far, but giving birth is also very taxing on your mind. So many mothers end up with mental health issues after bringing a baby into the world. This mainly comes in the form of postpartum/postnatal depression. Women experience feelings of depression after giving birth, sometimes because they’re struggling to cope with their newborn baby and feel like they’re an awful mother. It’s highly common, which makes it essential that you take care of your mental health. If you have any feelings of sadness or depression, then don’t be afraid to seek medical help with a mental health professional. If you don’t know where to go, then your best bet is to visit your doctor again. They’ll know who to refer you to, ensuring you get the right treatment and take care of your mental health as well as your physical health.
Capture Lots Of Memories
Normally, I’d tell people to get off their phones and put their camera away so they can just enjoy life with their family more. However, when you’ve got a new baby on the scene, then all your photo-taking devices should be brought out! You simply have to capture as many memories as possible when they’re young. After all, they’ll eventually grow into grouchy teenagers that hate being in photos or videos! Plus, taking pics and videos is a great way of documenting the progress of your baby. This gives you visual comparisons that show if they’re actually getting bigger or not. Also, who doesn’t like cute baby photos? Like, cmonnnnn!
Document Your Birth Story
Finally, I believe it’s important for mothers to document their birth story. If you have a blog like me, then that’s the perfect place to put together a big post about your journey through pregnancy. If not, then posting on Facebook or Instagram are also good ideas. The reason I think this is a good idea is that it tells other people about pregnancy. Your experience can help someone else who’s maybe going through the same situation as you. It’s good to have loads of different stories out there, so people know that there are many different experiences as you go through pregnancy.
Okay, so, that’s pretty much all I’ve got for you today. There are loads of things you should do after giving birth, but these nine things are arguably the most important. Hopefully, there’s enough advice in this article to ensure you have a healthy postpartum experience, and that your baby stays healthy too. I’ll leave you with one bonus tip: never be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s a doctor, a friend, a family member – even me! Do not be afraid to ask others for help during this time, as it’s a lot harder to cope if you try and do it all alone.
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