Linda Bando discusses self-care after having a baby.
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Self-Care at Home After Baby
Featured Speaker:
Linda Bando, BS, RNC, CBC
Linda M. Bando, BS, RNC, CBC is a childbirth educator for BayCare. She worked for 29 years in the Labor and Delivery Department as a labor and delivery nurse, mother/baby nurse, clinical nurse educator and nurse manager. Previously, Ms. Bando was a member of the local Ohio Childbirth Education Association, church speaker bureaus and has done mission trips to Mexico and Ukraine. Ms. Bando has been married for 27 years and she has 9 children, three stepchildren, 31 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Transcription:
Self-Care at Home After Baby
Introduction: Here's another edition of the BayCare Health System’s podcast series, BayCare HealthChat with Melanie Cole.
Melanie Cole: Welcome to BayCare HealthChat. I'm Melanie Cole and today we're discussing self care at home after baby. Joining me is Linda Bando. She's a Registered Nurse and a Childbirth Educator with BayCare. Linda, I'm so glad to have you with us today. So let's start with what new moms can do in preparation for baby to make their lives easier once they get home. Is there some things you'd like to recommend that they do that will just help them out a little bit once things start ramping up.
Linda Bando: Moms, take a walk around your home and look and see how you can make it comfortable and easy for yourself bringing new baby home. Find a comfortable chair, a place where you feel that you can safely nurse your baby or bottle feed your baby. You're going to need some extra pillows. You need a chair, or a stool so that you can put your legs up, something to put a drink on, or perhaps some music, a notepad so that you can sit undisturbed feeding your baby. One of the other things that you're going to want to be doing is changing your baby frequently. So you might have a changing station in your baby's bedroom, but you probably want to have something close by, where you're also going to be feeding your baby because babies as we know, do lots of pees and poops. And you're going to be spending the bulk of your day, especially that first month feeding, burping and changing your baby. I'd say the other big thing is just meal preparations. You're going to have lots of friends and family and neighbors that offer. So be specific with them. Let them know what those things are that you could use help with. Laundry, cleaning, cooking. Because I can guarantee you're going to have days where you get to the end of the day, five o'clock, you're still in your nightgown, you haven't had a shower. And it's just nice to be able to pull something out of the freezer that you can have warm for when dad comes home to sit down and eat.
Host: That's really great advice. And what are some of the more important aspects of self care as we're doing that? It's good advice that you told us to set up our space and to really, you know, look at food and things that we stock up in advance. But what about taking care of ourselves? As you said, maybe it's five o'clock, you haven't even gotten a shower yet. What do you want women to know about that?
Linda Bando: One thing is to just watch your blood flow, you're going to continue to bleed two to four weeks. Typically the flow should get lighter over time as well as the color. You might even need to use some panty-liners. But you're not going to menstruate again until typically one two three months afterwards. Perhaps longer if you're exclusively breastfeeding. If you are saturating a pad an hour or you're passing blood clots larger than a golf ball, lay down and rest, see how you feel after a nap. And if you're still continuing to flow like that or passing the clots, you need to contact your provider. Don't be taking you know, getting into hot tubs or swimming. You need to wait for a good four weeks before you start doing that. No bubble baths. If you've had stitches they're going to dissolve by themselves over a few weeks, but you might, be able to pick up some extra Witch Hazel pads to put on your perineum that's going to make you feel a whole lot better and be prepared to be constipated for about three to five days. That is normal for all moms, even if you were really regular. So have a stool softener on hand. Make sure you're drinking lots and lots of water and eating lots of fiber.
Host: That's great advice. I know I went through that myself. So now as we're talking about infant feeding, how can mom make it a little easier on herself? Just give us some basics and what you'd like us to know about being comfortable, seeking help when we need it.
Linda Bando: Well moms are going to be feeding their babies 24/7. Babies eat around the clock. If you're breastfeeding, that's going to mean every two to three hours. And if you're bottle feeding, typically every three to four hours in the beginning, your baby's going to just be learning how to train, whether it be on the bottle or on the breast. And so you want to make sure that you're comfortable again. If you're breastfeeding, definitely make sure you have comfortable clothing, two piece outfits. If you're not breastfeeding, make sure that you have a tight fitting bra that you wear 24/7 for at least three to four weeks. You want to keep stimulus down to the breasts so that you're not producing milk. If you are breastfeeding, I heartily recommend that you join a mother's group. There's oftentimes feelings that you're floundering, you're overwhelmed, you feel lost, unsure. You know, we're talking about women that you know, are leading really productive, active lives. So, you know, babies can wreck havoc with us and there's always some chaos with bringing a new baby home. So get into a support group, so that you know that you're not the only one that's having these feelings.
Host: Again, really great advice. And now getting rest is not so easy because it seems like baby doesn't sleep. Or if they do sleep, you lay down because you're like, okay, they may wake up at any minute. How do we get enough rest?
Linda Bando: Getting enough rest is really something that's pivotal for all new moms. I put that at the top of the list for all new moms going home. It's really your number one job in the first month that you're home. When the baby is resting, you should be resting. When the baby goes and lays down at night, that's when you should lay down. Your focus that first month should be rest. When the baby rests, eat, feed and change the baby and then rest again. We mom's try to do it all and I can't emphasize enough. You know, if it needs to be said to visitors, we just need a couple of days to get adjusted to one another. It might take you know, talking to friends and family and just recommending that they give you a little bit of time to adjust with the baby, bringing the baby home. But rest is going to be absolutely something that you really want to focus in on. And perhaps even if you've got a baby that's fussy and crying, your partner and you can decide who's going to take which shift. So that one of you can sleep a couple of hours, a couple of straight hours of sleep is going to make you feel like a brand new person.
Host: It certainly, definitely does. And on the other end of the spectrum is exercise. Linda, how do we make time to exercise and how soon can women get back to doing something? You mentioned, you know, bleeding for a couple of weeks. Where does exercise fit into that picture? Cause women are worried about losing their baby weight and you know, it all kind of goes together.
Linda Bando: The best exercise is walking. And I would start walking right away. We have you walking in the hospital right away after delivery, even after our surgeries. Make sure though the first couple of times that you go out, you have somebody with you just in case you get to the point where you feel like, gee, I don't feel like I can get back. If you're someone that's been doing a regular exercise routine, you can start back doing your routine in two to three weeks, just have whatever it was that you were doing as a workout and listen to your body. Your body's going to tell you what you can and can't do. If you notice that you start having increased bleeding, you've got to pull back. If you notice that there's any kind of pain whatsoever, stop immediately. Let your body tell you what it can and cannot do. But exercise is absolutely wonderful to get back your figure. Weight loss wise, you're probably going to lose about half of the weight that you've gained by six weeks. And then the remainder of it over a three month period or perhaps less. And one of the things too is just eat well. Particularly if you're breastfeeding, you can actually eat an extra 500 calories a day. But again, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and protein and water is going to help you get that baby weight off.
Host: Tell us some signs briefly of postpartum depression. With everything you've told us today, what are some signs or red flags? And if a woman really does think that she or a loved one thinks that she has baby blues or postpartum depression, to whom does she turn?
Linda Bando: Great question. Because we're seeing a rise in postpartum depression. Most moms are going to experience some postpartum blues, which is just hormone levels. Your progesterone and estrogen go to post-menopausal woman's levels after the baby's born. And you're also not getting sleep. And so it's very common to just have feelings of, you know, being cheerful, being happy. Going back and forth. But if you find that you can't eat, you can't sleep. You're unusually anxious and worried. You're having thoughts certainly of hurting yourself or your baby or you're having irrational thoughts. Like you think dad's going to take off with the baby, so you're going to beat him to the punch. Now you're pushing more into a postpartum depression. And surprisingly enough, one out of seven moms will push into a full blown postpartum depression and dad's actually, about three to 5% of dads will have postpartum depression as well. A lot of that plays into you're taking on a new role. You've got new responsibilities. There's a lack of sleep, you're irritable because of that. You find that you can't control your environment because babies are crying or you know, everything is thrown out of whack. And so again, the best way to solve that is with rest, talking to your partner and more rest.
Host: Great information. And as we wrap up, give us your best advice for simplifying our lives at this really exciting, hectic, a little bit scary time for new parents to be and really what you want them to know about that self care, about after baby comes home and what we can do to take care of ourselves at this time as well as baby.
Linda Bando: I think the biggest thing is try and relax, babies pick up your moods. And if you're anxious, baby's going to know that and baby's going to respond in like kind. So make sure that you've got good communication going with your partner. Make sure that when there are people that are reaching out that want to help, that you're taking them up on that help, but in ways that you need them to give you that help not in just ways that they want to come over and hold the baby for you. You're really going to need help with the laundry, with cleaning, and activities like that. And I can't emphasize enough, just good nutrition and rest. And just take deep breaths, nice big, deep breaths. And things will turn around. But it's going to be a good month or six weeks. We call it a postpartum period for a reason. And it takes that long, not only for your body to recover from childbirth, but for you to feel your footing that you're really on good solid ground with your new baby.
Host: Thank you so much Linda, for joining us. Really great information today, thank you again. And that concludes this episode of BayCare HealthChat. To learn more about BayCare's maternity services, please visit BayCareMaternity.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please also remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. Share this with your friends and family on social media because you got great information today. And that way we learn from the experts at BayCare together. I'm Melanie Cole.
Self-Care at Home After Baby
Introduction: Here's another edition of the BayCare Health System’s podcast series, BayCare HealthChat with Melanie Cole.
Melanie Cole: Welcome to BayCare HealthChat. I'm Melanie Cole and today we're discussing self care at home after baby. Joining me is Linda Bando. She's a Registered Nurse and a Childbirth Educator with BayCare. Linda, I'm so glad to have you with us today. So let's start with what new moms can do in preparation for baby to make their lives easier once they get home. Is there some things you'd like to recommend that they do that will just help them out a little bit once things start ramping up.
Linda Bando: Moms, take a walk around your home and look and see how you can make it comfortable and easy for yourself bringing new baby home. Find a comfortable chair, a place where you feel that you can safely nurse your baby or bottle feed your baby. You're going to need some extra pillows. You need a chair, or a stool so that you can put your legs up, something to put a drink on, or perhaps some music, a notepad so that you can sit undisturbed feeding your baby. One of the other things that you're going to want to be doing is changing your baby frequently. So you might have a changing station in your baby's bedroom, but you probably want to have something close by, where you're also going to be feeding your baby because babies as we know, do lots of pees and poops. And you're going to be spending the bulk of your day, especially that first month feeding, burping and changing your baby. I'd say the other big thing is just meal preparations. You're going to have lots of friends and family and neighbors that offer. So be specific with them. Let them know what those things are that you could use help with. Laundry, cleaning, cooking. Because I can guarantee you're going to have days where you get to the end of the day, five o'clock, you're still in your nightgown, you haven't had a shower. And it's just nice to be able to pull something out of the freezer that you can have warm for when dad comes home to sit down and eat.
Host: That's really great advice. And what are some of the more important aspects of self care as we're doing that? It's good advice that you told us to set up our space and to really, you know, look at food and things that we stock up in advance. But what about taking care of ourselves? As you said, maybe it's five o'clock, you haven't even gotten a shower yet. What do you want women to know about that?
Linda Bando: One thing is to just watch your blood flow, you're going to continue to bleed two to four weeks. Typically the flow should get lighter over time as well as the color. You might even need to use some panty-liners. But you're not going to menstruate again until typically one two three months afterwards. Perhaps longer if you're exclusively breastfeeding. If you are saturating a pad an hour or you're passing blood clots larger than a golf ball, lay down and rest, see how you feel after a nap. And if you're still continuing to flow like that or passing the clots, you need to contact your provider. Don't be taking you know, getting into hot tubs or swimming. You need to wait for a good four weeks before you start doing that. No bubble baths. If you've had stitches they're going to dissolve by themselves over a few weeks, but you might, be able to pick up some extra Witch Hazel pads to put on your perineum that's going to make you feel a whole lot better and be prepared to be constipated for about three to five days. That is normal for all moms, even if you were really regular. So have a stool softener on hand. Make sure you're drinking lots and lots of water and eating lots of fiber.
Host: That's great advice. I know I went through that myself. So now as we're talking about infant feeding, how can mom make it a little easier on herself? Just give us some basics and what you'd like us to know about being comfortable, seeking help when we need it.
Linda Bando: Well moms are going to be feeding their babies 24/7. Babies eat around the clock. If you're breastfeeding, that's going to mean every two to three hours. And if you're bottle feeding, typically every three to four hours in the beginning, your baby's going to just be learning how to train, whether it be on the bottle or on the breast. And so you want to make sure that you're comfortable again. If you're breastfeeding, definitely make sure you have comfortable clothing, two piece outfits. If you're not breastfeeding, make sure that you have a tight fitting bra that you wear 24/7 for at least three to four weeks. You want to keep stimulus down to the breasts so that you're not producing milk. If you are breastfeeding, I heartily recommend that you join a mother's group. There's oftentimes feelings that you're floundering, you're overwhelmed, you feel lost, unsure. You know, we're talking about women that you know, are leading really productive, active lives. So, you know, babies can wreck havoc with us and there's always some chaos with bringing a new baby home. So get into a support group, so that you know that you're not the only one that's having these feelings.
Host: Again, really great advice. And now getting rest is not so easy because it seems like baby doesn't sleep. Or if they do sleep, you lay down because you're like, okay, they may wake up at any minute. How do we get enough rest?
Linda Bando: Getting enough rest is really something that's pivotal for all new moms. I put that at the top of the list for all new moms going home. It's really your number one job in the first month that you're home. When the baby is resting, you should be resting. When the baby goes and lays down at night, that's when you should lay down. Your focus that first month should be rest. When the baby rests, eat, feed and change the baby and then rest again. We mom's try to do it all and I can't emphasize enough. You know, if it needs to be said to visitors, we just need a couple of days to get adjusted to one another. It might take you know, talking to friends and family and just recommending that they give you a little bit of time to adjust with the baby, bringing the baby home. But rest is going to be absolutely something that you really want to focus in on. And perhaps even if you've got a baby that's fussy and crying, your partner and you can decide who's going to take which shift. So that one of you can sleep a couple of hours, a couple of straight hours of sleep is going to make you feel like a brand new person.
Host: It certainly, definitely does. And on the other end of the spectrum is exercise. Linda, how do we make time to exercise and how soon can women get back to doing something? You mentioned, you know, bleeding for a couple of weeks. Where does exercise fit into that picture? Cause women are worried about losing their baby weight and you know, it all kind of goes together.
Linda Bando: The best exercise is walking. And I would start walking right away. We have you walking in the hospital right away after delivery, even after our surgeries. Make sure though the first couple of times that you go out, you have somebody with you just in case you get to the point where you feel like, gee, I don't feel like I can get back. If you're someone that's been doing a regular exercise routine, you can start back doing your routine in two to three weeks, just have whatever it was that you were doing as a workout and listen to your body. Your body's going to tell you what you can and can't do. If you notice that you start having increased bleeding, you've got to pull back. If you notice that there's any kind of pain whatsoever, stop immediately. Let your body tell you what it can and cannot do. But exercise is absolutely wonderful to get back your figure. Weight loss wise, you're probably going to lose about half of the weight that you've gained by six weeks. And then the remainder of it over a three month period or perhaps less. And one of the things too is just eat well. Particularly if you're breastfeeding, you can actually eat an extra 500 calories a day. But again, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and protein and water is going to help you get that baby weight off.
Host: Tell us some signs briefly of postpartum depression. With everything you've told us today, what are some signs or red flags? And if a woman really does think that she or a loved one thinks that she has baby blues or postpartum depression, to whom does she turn?
Linda Bando: Great question. Because we're seeing a rise in postpartum depression. Most moms are going to experience some postpartum blues, which is just hormone levels. Your progesterone and estrogen go to post-menopausal woman's levels after the baby's born. And you're also not getting sleep. And so it's very common to just have feelings of, you know, being cheerful, being happy. Going back and forth. But if you find that you can't eat, you can't sleep. You're unusually anxious and worried. You're having thoughts certainly of hurting yourself or your baby or you're having irrational thoughts. Like you think dad's going to take off with the baby, so you're going to beat him to the punch. Now you're pushing more into a postpartum depression. And surprisingly enough, one out of seven moms will push into a full blown postpartum depression and dad's actually, about three to 5% of dads will have postpartum depression as well. A lot of that plays into you're taking on a new role. You've got new responsibilities. There's a lack of sleep, you're irritable because of that. You find that you can't control your environment because babies are crying or you know, everything is thrown out of whack. And so again, the best way to solve that is with rest, talking to your partner and more rest.
Host: Great information. And as we wrap up, give us your best advice for simplifying our lives at this really exciting, hectic, a little bit scary time for new parents to be and really what you want them to know about that self care, about after baby comes home and what we can do to take care of ourselves at this time as well as baby.
Linda Bando: I think the biggest thing is try and relax, babies pick up your moods. And if you're anxious, baby's going to know that and baby's going to respond in like kind. So make sure that you've got good communication going with your partner. Make sure that when there are people that are reaching out that want to help, that you're taking them up on that help, but in ways that you need them to give you that help not in just ways that they want to come over and hold the baby for you. You're really going to need help with the laundry, with cleaning, and activities like that. And I can't emphasize enough, just good nutrition and rest. And just take deep breaths, nice big, deep breaths. And things will turn around. But it's going to be a good month or six weeks. We call it a postpartum period for a reason. And it takes that long, not only for your body to recover from childbirth, but for you to feel your footing that you're really on good solid ground with your new baby.
Host: Thank you so much Linda, for joining us. Really great information today, thank you again. And that concludes this episode of BayCare HealthChat. To learn more about BayCare's maternity services, please visit BayCareMaternity.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please also remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. Share this with your friends and family on social media because you got great information today. And that way we learn from the experts at BayCare together. I'm Melanie Cole.