Postpartum Wellness Plan Infographic

Pregnant? Have a partner, friend or family member who is pregnant? You might be interested in my super simple tips to start planning for postpartum wellness!

When I was pregnant, my husband and I were focused on 3 main things – childbirth classes, our son’s nursery and buying way more baby stuff than necessary. Seriously, I know this might fall on deaf ears (because we ignored this advice too), but you don’t need everything you think you need! Anyways, I remember casually considering whether or not to take a parenting class and we both decided we knew how to change diapers and we had friends who were swaddling experts so we could probably skip that class. Cool. We were totally ready to be parents! Well, not so much…we were right about one thing – changing diapers and swaddling weren’t that difficult. And I actually don’t regret skipping the parenting class.

What I wish we had known was how much our lives were about to change. I wish we spent a tad less time planning for the birth and a lot more time planning for the impact that sleep deprivation, stress and life as parents were going to have on our (my) mental health and well-being. I’m not sure how I could have fully prepared – mind, body and spirit – for the intense transition to motherhood but I think there are certain things we can do to plan for better wellness during this time in our lives. I’ve drafted a quick postpartum wellness guide that will hopefully get you thinking and help you feel more prepared so that when life gets crazy post-baby – you at least have food, healing support and people to call when you need extra help.