A new mother is usually discharged from the hospital twenty-four to forty-eight hours after a vaginal birth, or two to four days after a cesarean birth. She may or may not have anyone to help her at home—chances are no one at the hospital has even asked. Her mate will probably return to work within the week, and she is left alone to make sure she has enough to eat, to teach herself to breastfeed, and to recuperate from birth. The people who gave her attention during her pregnancy are usually no longer there, and the people who do come to visit are often more interested in the baby than in the mother.

There is the unspoken understanding that she is not to bother her medical caregivers unless there is a medical reason. Is it any wonder that many women find the postpartum period extremely stressful? In one book written for new mothers, What to Expect the First Year, authors Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway, and Heidi Murkoff describe this transition as “the reverse Cinderella—the pregnant princess has become the postpartum peasant” with a “wave of the obstetrician’s wand” (Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway 1989, 546).”

OPTIONS FOR POSTPARTUM SUPPORT

Chances are it will be many years before care will be provided for new mothers through the U.S. health care system. But in the meantime, a grassroots movement has arisen to meet the needs of postpartum women. Those who take on this role are called doulas, from the Greek word for “servant.” A doula provides practical and emotional help to women before, during, and after birth and can be a friend, family member, or a woman’s partner. In some places, professional postpartum doula services are available. If you don’t have someone to provide hands-on, practical help after birth, and if you can afford it, we strongly recommend hiring a postpartum doula....

“We need to learn from other cultures and begin to change the way we think about the kind of care new mothers need. Care should ideally continue throughout the first forty days. The “I-can-tough-it-out” attitude our culture encourages in new mothers will serve neither you nor your baby well. A new mother needs help to recover from childbirth, to make the emotional transition to motherhood, and to breastfeed her baby.”

Excerpt From Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett & Jack Newman. https://books.apple.com/us/book/breastfeeding-made-simple/id411558220