5 Ways to Thrive with a New Baby In a Pandemic

by Brita Johnson, Bridgetown Baby

It’s a crazy time to have a baby, with shorter hospital-stays, family visits cancelled, many businesses and services closed, and normal family-friendly activities on hold. The postpartum period, also known as the 4th Trimester, can feel lonely and isolating under normal circumstances; during a pandemic everything is amplified. Here are 5 tips to help you not just survive but thrive, despite social-distancing.

1. Embrace the ancient tradition of “Lying-In”  

You and your family are stuck at home. Indefinitely. That may feel limiting, but you can also look at it as an enforced opportunity to take part in the beloved practice of “lying-in.” Viewed as a critical time for the family unit to rest and bond, the lying-in period supports physical recovery, regulation of temperature and breathing for baby, and connection for parents. Several books and podcasts (see Resources) provide valuable guidance in celebrating this time-honored tradition, and may help you see this unexpected slow time at home as a gift in our otherwise busy, distractible world.

“The early weeks were unquestionably the most isolated I have ever felt. At the same time, I have had so much more time to recover physically from pregnancy and birth, as well as bond with this beautiful new life. I have not needed to be anywhere other than at home, tending to my babies. I’ve had the ability to be fully present with my child who came into a world that is radically shifting. I hope that this precious time together builds a solid foundation for us to navigate whatever the future holds.” -Jessica Blaschke gave birth to her fifth child in April, 2020

2. Find Your Trusted People

Of course, “lying in” traditionally includes plenty of hands-on support – this can be hard to come by when your loved ones are also socially-distancing. In this case, seek out a postpartum specialist you trust, such as a Certified Postpartum Doula, Certified Lactation Consultant, Infant Sleep Consultant and/or other qualified professionals (see Resources for suggestions). In-home care is still available from many providers who have modified their practice to provide extra reduction of COVID risk. Feel free to ask lots of questions about their safety protocols to make sure you find someone you trust. Here are some suggested questions you might ask when considering a provider to work with in-person:

• How many families are you working with?
• How are you preventing illness in your own household?
• What steps are you taking to keep clients safe?

3. Zoom, the New Coffee House

The pandemic has at least offered one silver-lining to postpartum families – we now know we don’t necessarily need to leave the house to find connection and support! Many new-parent support groups have transitioned to virtual platforms, making it easy to access communities of other new parents on just about any day of the week. Bonus: you don’t even have to change out of your pajamas to attend!

Of course it’s also easy to become Zoom-weary. Who wants to look at themselves all day? When that happens, consider a good old- fashioned phone call with a dear friend or family member. Connecting across the distance will likely bring comfort and perspective to both of you.

4. Rethink Support Systems

Even during a pandemic, postpartum families need help. With very real restrictions on friends and family dropping in, it’s time to re-think how loved ones can lighten your load.

• Meal trains: Friends and family can still deliver nourishing meals to your doorstep! Out of town friends and family can order food delivery through a local meal delivery service (See Resources), or support your favorite local restaurants by purchasing gift certificates you can use to order just what you’re craving.
• Virtual story-time: If you have older children, let your friends and family entertain them on Zoom, FaceTime or Google Hangouts with stories or shared activities. This is a gift for everyone involved and a great thing partners can be in charge of scheduling.
• Laundry fairy: Ask a friend who has been careful about social-distancing to help with your laundry. Nothing like setting out a bag of dirty laundry and finding a neat stack of folded clothes the next morning!

5. Prioritize your Mental Health

Even in non-pandemic times, many postpartum parents feel anxious or depressed. According to Postpartum Support International (PSI), 1 in 7 moms and 1 in 10 dads suffer from postpartum depression. When you layer on the additional isolation, economic unknowns and health concerns of a pandemic, these numbers are bound to rise. Which is why it is especially important that parents reach out to find support – whether from a loved one, a trusted counselor, or a free, peer-to-peer group like Baby Blues Connection. Mental health and well-being is just as important, if not more so, than the physical needs of a postpartum family. 

None of us planned to be parenting through a pandemic, and it can be daunting to consider the prospect. The good news is that with some grace, creativity and a good resource list (see below), the ‘pandemic postpartum experience’ can still be supported, sweet and successful.

Brita Johnson is a Certified Postpartum Doula with Bridgetown Baby. She lives and parents in SE Portland. During the pandemic, Brita has learned (more than she wanted to know) about homeschooling her two kids, cooked lots of new recipes, and maybe even discovered a few new favorite cocktails.

Bridgetown Baby is Portland’s premier postpartum doula group, providing comprehensive postpartum and feeding support to help families grow with strength & confidence. During the pandemic, Bridgetown Baby is doing everything possible to minimize risk to families and doulas. All doulas work exclusively with one family at a time with breaks in between families. To learn more go to: www.bridgetownbaby.com

Resources:

Virtual Support Groups

Support for the whole family – Bridgetown Baby offers a free, weekly virtual support group: www.bridgetownbaby.com/nurturing-circle-for-growing-families

La Leche League USA offers virtual meetings in response to Covid-19. Join parents locally and around the country. https://www.facebook.com/pg/LaLecheLeagueUSA/events/

Classes

Bringing Home Bébé: Newborn Care 101 –  Learn from an experienced postpartum doula how to care for your new baby including diapering, swaddling, soothing, infant bathing, babywearing, and much more. https://www.birthfirstdoulas.com/blog/events/newborn-care-101-the-first-month-june17/

Newborn Feeding Basics – An experienced International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) covers the basics to get you and your baby off to a great start. https://www.birthfirstdoulas.com/blog/events/newborn-feeding-basics-june18/

Postpartum Nutrition/ Meal Delivery

Alavita Perinatal Nutrition Associates –  comprehensive, online nutrition program for the perinatal period, based in science and written by health professionals in it with you. www.alavitanutrition.com/

Full Belly Fare – Handcrafted Dinners Delivered. http://fullbellyfare.com/

Seed to Health – Provides in-home cooking service and virtual support via recipe collections/meal plans/consultations all at www.seedtohealth.comwww.seedtohealth.com

Lactation/Infant Feeding Support                         :

Bridgetown Baby offers skilled lactation & feeding support for all families as well as a free feeding support warmline: feeding@bridgetownbaby.com for all of your infant feeding questions.  www.bridgetownbaby.com 

Kindred Mother Care provides integrative lactation care and believes it is critical to have lactation support during this pandemic both virtually and in-person as breastmilk is fierce enough to fight a pandemic. http://www.kindredmothercare.com/

Luna Lactation & Wellness provides safe, personalized infant feeding care when you need it. Providing in-person care and secure telehealth. https://www.lunalactation.com/

Natural Latch – Lactation consultants Meg Stalnaker, Sejal Fichadia, and Rosemary Ragusa offer personalized, virtual and at-home lactation care. www.naturallatch.com

Opus Lactation focuses on inclusive and body positive care for families searching for help in feeding their babies. Offering limited, in-home visits that start with an initial virtual visit. http://www.opuslactation.com/

Doula Support

Birth First Doulas offers virtual and in-person birth doula support. www.birthfirstdoulas.com

Bridgetown Baby offers comprehensive postpartum doula care and feeding support, both in-home and virtually.  www.bridgetownbaby.com 

Sacred Roots Doula offers culturally specific doula care for Black and Multi-Ethnic families, both in-person and virtually.  “The families in our communities need continuous support especially in COVID-19 as we already are suffering health disparities across the board.” -Linda Bryant-Daaka, Doula Manager

Mental Health

Baby Blues Connection offers virtual support groups for moms and dads. www.babybluesconnection.org

Sankofa Center for Healing- ZaDora Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Sankofa Center for Healing, LLC.  She is a therapist, speaker and advocate for children and families.

www.sankofacenterforhealing.com

The Mother Birth offers trauma-informed psychotherapy support for women and their families, focusing on the postpartum period and transition to motherhood. www.themotherbirth.com

Donnella Wood is a counselor and somatic therapist whose experience includes helping mothers heal from trauma, navigate the complexities of the parenting journey, and develop the capacity needed to feel more ease and connected to themselves. www.donnellawood.com

Postpartum Support International offers virtual support groups. https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/

Multnomah County Mental Health Call Center in Portland: (503) 988-4888

Clark County Crisis Line In Vancouver: (360) 696-9560

National Suicide Prevention Hotline Toll-Free: 1-800-273-8255

Body Work

Portland Pediatric Acupuncture offers virtual and in-person care for adults and kiddos. www.acuforkids.com

Alice Palmeri, LMT offers pediatric and postpartum virtual consultations and will offer in-person treatments in SE and NW Portland locations when massage therapists are phased back in. alicepalmeri.com

Other Services

Adjoyn offers virtual car seat checks and babywearing classes for parents and perinatal professionals. www.Adjoyn.com

Full Circle Sleep helps families find better rhythms around resting, beyond traditional sleep training methods (i.e. Cry-It-Out). www.fullcirclesleep.com.

Print Resources

The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother

Build Your Nest Workbook: a self-paced workbook to help you create a detailed outline of how you will get the rest, support, and care you need when your baby comes. https://www.buildyournestworkbook.com/