To call birth a profound awakening is an understatement. Imagine being in utero: floating around comfortably with all your needs met, receiving nutrition to grow and thrive without having to seek it, no need for physical or emotional support, comforted by the constant, familiar sound of your parent’s heartbeat. Then imagine being suddenly thrust into the world with no coping mechanisms–everything surrounding you and happening to you is foreign: gravity, lights, sounds, textures, smells. To complicate matters, your caregivers are sleep deprived, hormonal, physically sore, emotionally drained and utterly unfamiliar with you, despite the fact that you need their help around the clock to gradually acclimate to life outside the womb.

Whew. That’s a lot for *everyone* to contend with–which is why preparation for the Fourth Trimester is so important.

Understanding the newborn experience from baby’s POV helps everyone: Parents can bring a more compassionate, less frustrated self to their baby, and perhaps not take personally baby’s frequent crying/fussing/need to be held. And they may be able to give *themselves* the grace to remember that their new baby’s needs are normal and temporary. 

Here’s how we can help you traverse this tender transition with an open heart and mind, and bring your best self to new parenthood:

• Our New Parent, New Baby class helps expectant parents prepare for the physical, logistical and emotional rigors of those first tender weeks and months of baby’s life. Parents gain a boatload of tips, tools and resources to care for their babies *and* themselves, approaching the postpartum journey with an open heart and mind, rather than with fear, frustration and self judgment. (Since you took time to read this post, you get a 20% discount on the July or August class with the code BIRTH2022 at checkout!)

• Our postpartum doulas offer evidence-based in-home support to compassionately help parents meet their baby's needs, care for themselves, and ease their transition to parenthood, without judgment. Our goal is to help parents feel a sense of contentment, satisfaction and connection with their baby during those first few weeks after birth, through loving, professional care and guidance for both parents and baby. 

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you prepare emotionally and logistically for your baby’s birth and support you through this wondrous, complicated, life-changing event. 

 (Photo by Alex Hockett on Unsplash)