Women are offered support, love and care throughout pregnancy. However, as soon as we give birth all that focus is diverted to the baby. Whilst our baby is worthy of this attention, our society has forgotten how to nurture the postpartum mum; this leaves them exhausted from birth, sleep-deprived and sometimes physically or emotionally traumatised.
Meg Murray Jones launched Postpartum Plan to change this. Postpartum Plan is a holistic online programme for new parents, laying the emotional and physical foundations for a lifetime of parenthood. It brings together a support team of experts that all new parents should have access to; women’s health physio, yoga and breath-work instructor, nutritionist, postpartum doula and more.
Here, Meg explains the 5 pillars of postpartum recovery within Postpartum Plan and how you can support yourself as you prepare for birth and the Fourth Trimester…
MINDSET
This is an often neglected pillar of recovery in all aspects of our life but even more so postpartum. Our emotional health impacts not only our mental state but our physical well-being, in the short and long term. Invest in your emotional health and you will be amazed at how it affects your physical health, healing and recovery.
We recommend daily breath-work. Isn’t it amazing that the one thing that we do subconsciously has the power to heal us from the inside out? Yet how many of us really pay attention to our breathing? Try the simple breathing technique of breathing in for 4, hold for 4, breath out for 4 and hold for 4. Do this for 5 minutes every day for a week and notice the difference in your outlook, stress levels and sleep patterns. Our breath-work teacher Emma provides 3 different techniques that really support your own healing.
RECOVERY
When a professional athlete injures themselves they get a structured recovery programme; when mothers give birth they leave the hospital with their beautiful baby but little else to support their own healing.
Our recovery pillar provides you with the information you need; how to sit, how to go to the toilet (believe me, this is crucial!), how to support your body after an abdominal and vaginal birth and how to begin your recovery journey. We also provide exercises from our expert women’s health physio to protect, stabilise and, finally, rehabilitate.
But it isn’t just physical recovery; we also provide emotional recovery too. Whether you suffered with pregnancy insomnia, experienced birth trauma or are finding the adjustment to motherhood difficult, we are here to help.
Next time you go to the loo, can you sit there for 20 seconds longer than usual? New mums don’t realise that they rush going to the toilet and, therefore, don’t empty their bladder properly. This will really help your body relax and heal.
MOVEMENT
We fundamentally disagree with the current mindset that you do no exercise until the 6-week check and are then signed off to do whatever you want. We also believe that postpartum exercise has been distorted to create a ‘bounce back’ culture that is damaging physically and emotionally to a new mother. Our Movement pillar is all about connecting back to your body, restorative movement and low impact exercises to heal the body from the inside out. It links movement with mental health, empowering you to become aware of your body and honouring its beauty postpartum.
Try mindful movement with a child’s pose. It seems low impact but that does not mean low results. Reach your arms forward and as you breathe in feel your ribs expand outwards; as you breathe outreach your arms gently forward so your fingers move further away from you. You should feel a gentle stretch through your shoulders (stiff from feeding and lifting) and your back which has been under immense pressure in pregnancy and birth.
REFLECTION
As mothers, we rarely get time to reflect on who we are and what we are doing postpartum. But as Linda Finlay describes, reflective practice is ‘learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self’. Reflection leads to self-awareness and writing leads to creative release.
Our reflective practice takes form in writing down past experience, daily gratitudes and planning for the future. Our doula Thando teaches you how to plan for your postpartum period and how to create compassionate boundaries to protect your and your baby’s health. I also teach you how to journal so you can express your feelings safely and release them from your mind.
Can you try writing how you are feeling today? It doesn’t have to be long or neat; real emotions are neither of those things! Writing encourages the body to process emotion in a way that typing on a phone or computer just can’t do. I promise you that journaling is one of the best forms of free therapy out there.
NUTRITION
Did you know that labour burns 100 calories an hour? And that the process of pregnancy and birth can deplete the mother’s body of vital nutrients to ensure your baby’s health?
Food provides the fuel your body needs to recover and restore post-birth. The right nutrition postpartum is vital for your physical and emotional recovery and your long-term energy levels. However, it is hard to find the right answers when there is so much information on Google.
Our nutritionist Jess provides delicious, nourishing meals, snacks and smoothies that are quick to make but rich in the nutrients you need postpartum. We provide recipe cards that you can put on your fridge or send to friends and family to make for you. We also provide a nutrition FAQ and shopping list to make eating the right food easy to do.
One great bit of advice from our nutritionist is to reach for dark chocolate and green tea together when you have a sugar craving. The mixture of the two help to balance blood sugar and reduce the need for more sugar later on. Plus, dark chocolate can increase endorphins which helps with tiredness and with your own breastfeeding.
If you want to find out more about Postpartum Plan go to www.postpartumplan.co.uk or @postpartumplan
Meg is offering all members of Kensington Mums 10% off membership with the code KENSINGTON10.
