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Welcome to the birth prep podcast. I'm Taylor, your birth bestie, who's here to support you as you plan and prepare for the unmedicated birth of your dreams. If you're ready to ditch the fear, conquer the hospital hustle, support that bum and bod, and walk into the delivery room like the HGIC you were born to be, then buckle up, babe.
This is where it all goes down. Hello, hello, and welcome back to the birth prep podcast. Today, we are diving into some very important questions that you're going to need answers to before the big day, so you are not going to want to skip this one.
We're talking pain management techniques that actually work because suffering is so not the vibe, what your birth partner should actually be doing so they're more than just a glorified water fetcher, and how to prepare for your postpartum experience so it doesn't hit you like a freight train. If you're new here, these questions are submitted by listeners just like you. If you have questions or something you'd love to get my thoughts on, feel free to submit yours in the show notes.
There's a link for you, and I could answer yours on a future episode of the birth prep podcast. What? If you are ready to feel prepared, empowered, and totally in charge of your birth experience and your postpartum experience, grab your notes, settle in, and let's get into it. Amanda wants to know, are there any pain management techniques that actually work? The answer is yes, but you know I've got way more to say than just that.
Not only do they work, they actually can make the difference between barely surviving your labor experience and actually thriving throughout it. The key to effective pain management in an unmedicated birth, at least in my humble opinion, is understanding how your body works during labor and using techniques that support it, not fight against it. The first one that is not typically seen as a pain management strategy for most people is movement and positioning.
Lying in bed the whole time you're in labor is actually counterintuitive to your body's design. Your pelvis is not a rigid bone structure. It's designed to open and shift, so moving helps get baby into an optimal position, and it also keeps your labor progressing.
Do you guys remember those commercials was like the old people running on the beach and walking up the stairs and stuff, and it's like a body in motion stays in motion, and it was for some pill or something probably, but the message stands true today. A body in motion stays in motion. If your body stays in motion, the motion will continue.
I am not saying skip rest if you feel like you need to rest. With my last two births, I quite literally went to sleep during my labor because I needed a rest. With my fourth baby, I had started contracting around 2 in the afternoon.
They were getting pretty intense, and they were right around that 5-1-1 rule that typically you would be told to go to the hospital, and I was like, you know what? I'm not having a baby tonight, so I went to sleep. I was like, I'm just going to go to sleep, see how it goes, and my contractions subsided until the morning, and then they picked right back up where they were. With my last baby, I took a nap on the couch because I knew that I was going to have a baby that night because my waters had been broken since 11 a.m. I'm like, okay, at some point, I'm going to be having this baby, and I just wanted to get some energy for it, so I took a little nap on the couch, and when I woke up, my midwives had gotten there because I called them based on a contraction that I had before that nap.
They took their time getting there, and then I asked for a cervical check just to see if they were staying or not. I didn't want to know the number, and they checked me, and later on, I found out that I was 9 centimeters, and obviously, I had my baby pretty quickly after that, so I could assume, but I gave my body what it needed. It's not always about progress, progress, progress, but when you're in the hospital and you're on their timeline, it's good information to have.
If I keep moving, my body's going to keep progressing. The baby's going to keep coming down. Everything's going to be aligning for this experience.
Some movement you might want to consider is walking, obviously, swaying back and forth, rocking your body, sitting on the birth ball maybe, doing some hip rotations, spending some time on your hands and knees. This is a great position, especially in transition, doing some lunges, some squats, opening up that space for your baby. Depending on what's available to you in your birth space or what you bring, you obviously have the birth ball.
We just chatted about that. Rebozo scarf, you could do a bunch of different techniques for that. You can Google it and lots of different positions and ways to do that.
Squat bars, some beds have squat bars for you, so look into those and make yourself a little ... I'm like, put them in your little labor toolbox, all your little things that you want to try that day, and then also practice these things in advance. I like swaying and rocking with my husband, so you could practice that with your partner. Practice with contractions in mind, so I don't know, every minute, just be like, oh, contraction, pause, or lean up against the wall, piece of furniture, lean on your husband for support, put your body weight on him for a minute.
That can be helpful for actually preparing for the experience. Number two is breathing techniques. The way you breathe affects how your body handles pain.
That sounds super simple and dumb, but it's true. Think slow, deep belly breaths. You can even figure out a counting strategy and practice that, so that's ready to roll.
That's not my cup of tea, but it can be really helpful to have the numbers and somebody counting with you to keep you on track. My problem is, I don't like people counting at me. I get real mad real fast.
Think horse lips, loose, fluttery lips up top can release tension from your pelvic floor. This isn't necessarily pain related, but I'm going to mention it because it's breathing related. I don't think we should be holding our breath while we're pushing.
There, I said it, and so does evidence. Evidence tells us that coach pushing, purple pushing, holding our breath while we're bearing down, it's not helpful. Breathing through those contractions can really help letting your body do the brunt work, not you.
I literally breathed my last baby out. I didn't push one time, not one time, and I'm not saying that should be your goal. It just was a really nice experience compared to what I've experienced in the past.
Your girl's got data. She's got a lot of kids. Know your options, educate yourself on the options, and make the decision that you feel best about.
Next one, counter pressure, hands-on support, the right touch at the right time is game-changing. Here's some things that I think that you should look into, educate yourself on. You can look up quick little YouTube tutorials.
The first one is hip squeezes. These are my favorite. They are my favorite, especially if you're experiencing back labor and stuff.
Hip squeezes can relieve pressure, and they can also open the pelvis, which can help baby engage, progress your labor. They're just wonderful. Another awesome thing for back labor is sacral counter pressure.
It's just pressing firmly on your lower back. I have my husband do this. I'm like, he's usually the strongest one in the room.
My midwife was like a tiny little thing. I'm like, I need this man to just like, ugh. Please really get in there, and also please expect me to yell at you to do it harder the whole time.
One more that's not necessarily always considered a pain management technique, but it absolutely does work as a pain management technique because of the hormones that are at play, which is oxytocin and endorphins, your body's natural painkiller, light touch, or massage. Now, massage, obviously, if we get in there, that can do some damage on the pain stuff. That can help a lot.
Those light touches, those little kisses, those obviously preferably from your partner, but those can really make a huge difference in your hormones that day. Same hormones, the same positions, the same vibes that get baby in, get baby out. Next, we have hydrotherapy, which is just a fancy word for getting in some water.
Water is a natural pain reliever. Whether it's a warm shower or hopping in the birth tub, that water can really help reduce the intensity of the contractions and make your movement easier too. Next, we have mindset and mental strategies.
Fear equals tension. Tension equals pain. It's a fear, tension, pain cycle.
If you don't know this by now, you probably haven't been following me for long, but this is a self-fulfilling cycle because pain usually brings more fear, and it just goes around and around and around again, and then you're all of a sudden begging for that epidural you swore you wouldn't get. But if you train your brain to stay relaxed, your body will follow. So some things I like to do for this, during your pregnancy, answering any what-ifs that are coming up because your brain is like spiraling, trying to figure out, well, what if we have to have a c-section? What if we have the baby in the car? What if we have to be induced? What if babies breach? What if, what if, what if, what if? Answer the questions, figure it out, get yourself some information so your brain can stop running around with the fears.
If you have information, you can then make confident decisions if those things arise. The big word, key word, if. It also might help your brain to give you some evidence of, hey, this actually only occurs in 3% of birth experiences.
I'm not giving an actual statistic or anything, but like, that's really helpful information to have when you're sitting there thinking it's a 99.999% chance that it's going to happen to you because you saw a video about it. So answer the what-ifs. Birth affirmations, or what I call practice positive thoughts.
You can also use scripture here for this. Truths that you can feed your brain when your brain inevitably starts getting all up in its feelings about, oh, you can't do this, or what if something bad happens, and what if this happens? In the moment, your brain is probably going to go there because your brain is probably just really, really trying hard to keep you safe because that's its job. But you're going to have things that you've been practicing for a couple weeks, couple months, whatever.
We love a couple months if you can. But you're going to be ready to say, hey brain, I'm not dying. I can do anything for a minute.
I could get through this contraction. I can definitely do anything for a minute for my baby. Are you kidding me? I would die for that thing.
So really just getting into the energy of giving yourself some actual truths, things that you can actually get behind. I'm not trying to say like pick these crazy, crazy things like I'm going to have no pain during my birth experience, which is totally possible. I've done it.
But it's like I'm trying to give you things that you can actually cling to, that you actually believe, that can shut your brain down that day. And then finally, some things just need to shift sometimes. Even things as simple as, oh, birth happens to me versus I'm an active participant.
I have so much more control than I've been led to believe. You can reframe your contractions. You can completely call them something else.
Waves, power surges, whatever is going to make them feel less scary, less evasive, less painful. Basically taking them from something that you have to just survive to something that's actually productive and getting you closer to your baby, which is the truth by the way. So work on your mindset.
No one wants to think of that as a pain management technique. And it is probably the most important thing that you can do to manage your pain that day. It's just something that has to be prepared for in advance.
Okay, the next one is rhythm. Find a labor rhythm and stick to it. Laboring women often move in very repetitive and instinctual ways like rocking, swaying, tapping, humming, because this keeps your nervous system in check.
If your nervous system is off the rails, it is really hard to keep everything else on track. So this might seem silly and simple, but it can be really impactful. And then finally, the power of sound.
Low, deep sounds equal relaxation. High-pitched screaming equals tension in your body. So think of moaning, humming, or even singing can help relax your jaw, which fun fact, relaxes your cervix.
So those are my seven tips. I'll breeze through them again really quick. Movement and positioning, breathing techniques, counterpressure, hands-on support, water therapy, hydrotherapy, whatever you want to call it, mindset and mental strategies, rhythm, and the power of sound.
And my advice for you in this, do not wait until you're in labor to try these practice. Get your partner involved. Start testing these techniques now so they feel second nature when the big day comes.
Okay, great question, Amanda. Thank you. Next up is from Celeste.
What should my birth partner be doing to support me when I'm in labor? Let's chat about it. Your birth partner is not there to just watch. They have a job to do.
And that job is to be your protector, your coach, your hype squad, your physical support, all wrapped into one hunky man, right? Here is what that actually looks like. First and foremost, protecting your birth space. Now, I don't know if you've read any of my favorite book, The B-I-B-L-E, but the Lord says that one of the man's most important jobs is being a protector of his family.
As you are welcoming literal life into this world, that is the perfect opportunity to be walking out that God-given calling. So how's he doing this? He's keeping the environment calm, dark, and quiet because this supports oxytocin flow. He is ensuring that you are the focus, not the beeping monitors, not the hospital staff rushing in and out, you.
He's dealing with any pushy people so you don't have to fight any battles while you're mid-contraction. This can simply look like asking for more time. If you guys haven't even had a chance to discuss it, just be like, listen, come back later.
She's going through something. I'll ask her, we'll chat about it, and we'll get back with you. And we'll let you know if we have any questions.
Thank you very much. So, protecting your birth space. This is something that you guys can talk about.
What does that look like? Discuss it, set expectations, make a game plan for it. This is important. The second thing, knowing your birth plan.
They should be familiar with your non-negotiables, what you do and do not want. They should not need to reference a sheet of paper for this, but obviously, if they need it, bring one so that they have it. But the point is, be having discussions about this well in advance so that both of you are on the same page, so that he knows what's going down, what he needs to do to support you, what you're actually trying to accomplish that day.
Because everybody's job in the room, including your partner, is there to support you in the goals that you are pulling off. Yeah, they all have vastly different roles, but that's the main gist. Everyone's there to support you in achieving the goals you've set.
If they know your plan and you're in the zone, or if you just don't want to do it, they can step in and communicate with the hospital staff. They should be ready to advocate for you if things start going sideways. It is very important for them to know the plan.
Next, which we just chatted about, is hands-on support. We've got those counter-pressure techniques, hip squeezes, sacral pressure. We've got physical touch, massage, rubbing your back, applying some warm compresses, whatever's need to be done, helping with position changes.
I'm like, your girl's nine months pregnant. I need some help off this bed. I need some help off this ball.
I need some help off this floor. Help a girl out. With my last birth experience, I had woken up from a nap, went to the bathroom, got a quick cervical check just to know if my midwives were staying or not, and they decided to stay.
I got hands and knees on the floor and then was leaning on the birth ball for support. I was on the ground and then I had a contraction. My second contraction that I actually was like, whoa, that was a real labor contraction.
My eyes got really wide. I'm like, oh my gosh, Matt, this baby is coming. He scooped me up off that floor so fast and got me in the tub because we were not prepared to deliver a baby on our living room rug.
It was great, but he had to step in and do that for me. There was no way I was getting out. My baby was crowning.
We got in the water, breathed that baby out. It was all wonderful. He caught my baby.
He was awesome. I loved it so much. Honestly, that's his claim to fame.
That's his favorite story to tell. I have a couple podcast episodes if you guys are interested back in season one with him that we did together, talked about our birth experiences, what his experience was like, and with some tips on how to prepare your partner and stuff. Anyways, next one is emotional and verbal support.
They are reassuring you, babe, you're doing amazing. This contraction is almost over. You've got this.
You're so awesome. I'm so proud of you. All the things we want to hear, duh, but they're there to help you keep your mindset strong, telling you, hey, girl, your body was made for this.
You've got this. They can help you with those breathing cues, relaxation techniques, anything that you want help with that requires them talking you through anything, talk about it, set the expectations, practice together. You guys are going to make a great team.
The next one is staying attentive and flexible. Anticipating your needs before you have to ask sometimes comes with practice. If you've done it a few times, they can know, oh, I know exactly what she wants, but honestly, that also just comes with them being your partner and knowing, okay, does she need water? It's been a while.
Let me offer her some ice chips on a spoon. She looks like she's getting hot. I'm going to grab a cool cloth, dab her forehead, make sure she's good.
Okay. Totally off topic, but from someone who literally had people fanning her with the hospital information pack for hours, bring a little rechargeable fan. It could change your life.
Like those little ones that like people walk around Disney world with. I'm a Florida girlie. Can you tell? Like those little fans, bring them, bring the charger and make sure you stay cool because that, that can be a lot of work that day, you know? Okay.
Back to the show. What if you need to change positions? Has it been a while? And he can anticipate, okay, she's been in this position for like 15, 30 minutes, whatever it's been. Let's offer, hey girl, do you want to change? I can help you.
Let's get up and do some walking and do some swaying, whatever. And then the flexibility to adjust to what's working in the moment. If counter pressure from him was amazing 10 minutes ago, but now you literally hate it.
And if he tries it again, you might punch him in the teeth. He needs to be willing to pivot to something else. He needs to be on it, like ready to go.
We love our partners, but also, um, birth, birth can be pretty primal. Okay. Next keeping you nourished and hydrated, offering sips of water between contractions, encouraging you to eat when possible because labor is a marathon, not a sprint.
And sometimes your body needs some fuel to get to the next step. I never ate in the hospital because I believed them when they said I wasn't allowed to eat. And I didn't know any better.
Now I know the evidence and I would never not give my body food if my body was asking for food, but my last birth, you best believe that man went and got me some chicken wings from down the street. I had other stuff too, but a girl needed dinner. Okay.
And that's what the baby wanted. Their, her last meal before breast milk for a hot minute, which is valid, you know, but in all seriousness, there are foods that are great for supporting energy and things like that, that you can look into and pack in your hospital bag and have ready to go. Honey sticks are great fruits, granola bars, things like that.
And final way that they can support you is by being mentally ready for the unexpected. If things go off plan, they need to be able to stay calm and focused because they're there to support you, not to make sure the plan goes accordingly. Obviously we try to make sure the plan goes accordingly.
Like that's literally what I teach you guys how to do, but if things go off track, be ready to pivot. He can advocate for you when you are deep in labor land. And again, he knows your plan.
He knows your non-negotiables. He can do this work. And also by helping you stay present and confident in every single decision, if a new thing pops up and you need to make an informed decision in the moment, he's like, Hey girl, remember, use your brain.
What are the benefits? What are the risks? What are the alternatives? What does your intuition say? What if we just watch and wait for a little bit and do nothing yet? Brain is an acronym. If you miss that B R a I N benefits, risks, intuition, alternatives, no alternatives, intuition, nothing. She knows how to spell.
Okay. It's been a long day. It's But all of this to be said, please practice all this before your labor begins, have them practice those hip squeezes, rehearse your affirmations, role-play advocating scenarios so that they are ready to step up when it counts.
I'll zoom through these again real quick for you guys. If you're taking notes, protecting your birth space, knowing your birth plan, hands-on support, emotional and verbal support, staying attentive and flexible, keeping you nourished and hydrated and being mentally ready for the unexpected. And last question of the day is how can I prepare for postpartum from Andrea? I believe that preparing for postpartum is so important.
Over the years, I've worked with lots of women who were putting so much thought and effort and time and energy into their birth experience, and then totally neglected their postpartum experience. Not even that, they never took the time to educate themselves on what to expect for their newborn and how to take care of that and how to navigate those first few weeks and months of life, which is exactly why inside my birth prep course, I have postpartum prep and a newborn crash course, because all of this stuff is incredibly important. But here are some things that I will recommend for preparing for your postpartum experience.
Number one, set up like a little postpartum nest, a space where you are going to be spending the most of your time. Cozy, very low effort, keeping all the essentials within arm's reach, water, snacks, burp cloths, baby supplies, pumping supplies, whatever you need. I make my bedroom my postpartum nest, and then right outside my bedroom is the living room.
And I have my husband every single time bring my big rocking chair from the upstairs to the downstairs, so I don't have to walk up any stairs to rock baby. And that's just, I navigate from the bed to the chair and back again. And that's just my space, especially during those first couple weeks.
Another thing that I do is I set up an Ikea table, like those, you know, I don't know, they used to be like 20 bucks. I just have some from back in the day. They're probably more than that now.
But just the ones that have like the screw in legs, if you don't know what I'm talking about. And I bring one of those, I put it right next to my chair in the living room. So I have a space to put anything that I need.
Even when I'm working and stuff, because your girl runs a business and, and I'm the only employee. I do take time off when I have babies, because I did not always have that option. But it's more of a time where I get to work versus I have to work.
And sometimes that just really gets the creativity flowing, you know. And also I really like to watch chick flicks when I'm postpartum. And I don't know why, because normally I'm not interested and I'm not a movie girl.
But there's something about postpartum, it must be the hormones, because I just want to watch cheesy, corny, like so over the top chick flicks. I want to have a good cry. I want to laugh it up.
I want to just have a really great time. So I have a nice table spot for that. I have can set food there, water, pump, whatever I need, it can all go there.
Typically, we have changing areas up in their bedrooms upstairs. But I set up a changing station in my bedroom during the postpartum period, so that I have everything that baby needs, all their clothes are down there, wipes, diapers, and swaddle blankets, whatever I need. So set yourself up a little postpartum nest, you can create a pumping station, a changing station, a feeding station, whatever you want.
I also keep like a little pumping station in the, like pumping and like milk collection station on the kitchen counter when I'm newly postpartum too. But I don't really access it that much, except when I'm like putting my milk away, because I like to handle the milk, because I just I took a lot of work. Okay, I like to be the one handling it.
And my husband just does all the rest, like washing everything and bringing me what I need and all that stuff. But the point is to make it easy for everybody that's involved. Okay, next one, you're going to prepare for physical recovery.
The hospital is going to give you supplies for this, but you might want to get different supplies or extra supplies. This would look like pads. I know a lot of you like to do adult diapers.
That's not me. I'm more of a, I wear those big pads for like two or three days, and then I'm switching to my period panties, like that's my preferred way of doing it. There's a peri bottle for rinsing things, especially if you've torn.
I am like, I don't love those. Again, I use it for like a day or two, but I haven't torn the last two times. So I haven't really needed it as much as like I, I used that thing for weeks with my first birth.
To be fair, there was a lot of trauma going on down there because my doctor gave me a husband's stitch. That's a different story for a different day. And yes, it was without my consent.
I've got like those little circular tux pads, this witch hazel. Um, those are nice for hemorrhoids if you have them and any tearing that's occurred. I know some people make like padsicles, like little popsicles for your lady bits.
There's like tutorials and stuff on the internet. Give it a nice Google. Some women choose to do like a nice little sits bath.
And then if you are going to be breastfeeding nipple bomb, I like to just use coconut oil. I'll be really honest with you, but linoleum, um, whatever you choose to use, you can do that. And then absolutely rest and hydrate your body.
Just did something huge. Treat it very well. Next.
You're going to want to line up your support team. Is anybody going to be bringing you meals? If it's you bringing you meals, freeze them in advance. Be like, Oh, thank you.
Past self. I love you so much. Thanks for taking awesome care of postpartum me, but if you can get a meal train going, you can even stock up on restaurant gift cards, whatever, make sure that you are taken care of during your postpartum experience for food.
Who's going to be coming over set the boundaries early. Only people who help not stress you out. Okay.
You are allowed to say no to people who just add stress. You do not need stress. They can wait their turn.
I am like very strict on my boundaries. Now it took me a lot to get here though. I had to learn a lot of things the hard way.
So listen to me when I say set the boundaries, have the conversations set expectations, people coming over to hold your baby while you do dishes is not helpful. That's honestly barbaric in my personal and humble opinion. So figure out who you want to come over.
Your postpartum space is sacred. Honestly, it's such a huge deal. No one is entitled to your birth space.
No one is entitled to your postpartum space and no one is entitled to your baby. Talk with your partner, make sure they are on board with everything in advance. There's no surprises that way they can help you uphold those boundaries and you guys can be a united front, a team as you navigate your first few weeks of parenthood or your first few weeks of having this new life added to your family.
And then consider lining up some postpartum care. You might want to consider pelvic floor therapy or lactation support, whatever you're going to need during that time, line it up in advance, look into it, make decisions that you feel good about and set it up. Number four, prepare for the emotional side.
Postpartum hormones are no joke. Expect some mood swings, expect some tears, absolutely expect exhaustion. It just comes with the territory.
Now I'm not saying it is bad. It is a beautiful, wonderful time, but also these kinds of things can really catch you off guard and create a really difficult experience if you're not prepared to navigate those things. Give yourself grace during this time.
You do not need to be productive. Let me just tell you what, holding your baby, making sure they're fed and alive is productive enough, girlfriend. Your only goal right now is to heal and to bond and to care for your baby.
During this time, make sure you are watching for signs of postpartum depression or anxiety. If something feels off, reach out, get help, talk with your people about it. Do not just carry it by yourself and think, oh, I shouldn't feel this way or I feel guilty for feeling this way.
No, get the support that you need. Even if it's just talking to your partner at first, come talk to me about it, pop in my DMs and say, hey girl, this is what I'm dealing with. These are my thoughts and feelings right now.
And knowing me, I'm probably going to send you a nice little voice memo with lots of encouragement and resources if you need them, maybe a little prayer, but absolutely all the love. Number five, know your newborn decisions. You're going to be asked a lot of questions right after birth for vaccinations, circumcision, vitamin K, the erythromycin eye ointment.
If you haven't grabbed my birth plan guide, all of those are in there. Grab it, educate yourself, make informed decisions. Some of these are lifelong decisions that you're going to be making for your baby.
Do not let anybody else make them for you. Arguably, they are the most important decisions that you will be making in this time. If you can learn how to make informed decisions now, you will already have that skill, that super important skill for motherhood when you're navigating future doctor's appointments with your child and choosing how to school them or where to school them.
This skill is so important for the rest of your motherhood experience, I promise. Learn it now while you were preparing for birth, absolutely implement it in your postpartum journey, and continue to do this work. You are making decisions for another life now, and that is not something to take lightly.
So decide these in advance so you are not making decisions when you're exhausted and you just gave birth. They know that you just gave birth. They know that you're in a vulnerable state, and some people take absolute advantage of that.
I have seen healthcare professionals post videos about how they manipulate women into making the decision that they feel is best for their baby. I say it all the time, if you're not the one making decisions, someone else will make them for you and they're not going to make them for you, they're going to make them for them. And then finally, set up a feeding plan.
If you are choosing to breastfeed or formula feed or a little bit of both, just understand what that entails and how to set yourself up for success. If you're breastfeeding, know where you can find help if and when you need it, like an IBCLC, a lactation consultant, support groups, you name it. There are lots of resources for this.
And if you are formula feeding, have the correct supplies on hand and understand baby's feeding needs. And please do not solely depend on your pediatrician for this information because most of them have no clue what baby's nutritional needs actually are supposed to look like, and they definitely don't know what breastfeeding is supposed to look like. So educate yourself, make informed decisions and learn how to listen to your baby.
Your baby gives you so much information. Your baby communicates with you. They have their own language.
And when you learn that language and learn what their needs are and how to read those needs, it is so much easier. I say it all the time. The newborn phase is my favorite phase because it's so simple and easy.
And some people just look at me like I have 17 eyeballs, which is fair because I understand how difficult the newborn experience can be when you don't have that education. So start educating yourself about this. Set yourself and your baby up for success.
If you have the birth prep course, the newborn crash course is in there for you to watch and consume and start implementing. So those are my tips for setting yourself up for postpartum success. We'll run through them again real fast.
Set up a postpartum nest, prepare for physical recovery, line up your support team, prepare for the emotional side of things, know your newborn decisions in advance, and then set up a breastfeeding or formula feeding plan or a combination, whatever you're doing. Set up a feeding plan for your baby and educate yourself on how your baby operates. That is a wrap for today.
As always, it's a pleasure hanging out with you. The link to submit questions for the HGIC hotline is in the show notes for you. You can also check out the birth prep course there and grab that free birth plan guide that I talked to you about.
Thank you for being here. I'm so proud of you for putting in this work. Truly, honestly, not a lot of moms do this and you are doing it and that is awesome.
Until next time, as always, happy prepping.
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