What Every New and Expectant Mom Needs to Know

What every new Mom needs to know
Seven ancient secrets to restoring happiness and vitality after childbirth:

Childbirth — a turning point in a woman's life. But there is often a big gap in the care that is available to new mothers during the first 6-7 weeks after giving birth -- the postpartum period. Usually the first medical check up is after 6 weeks. But this is a time when the new mother can be quite delicate and vulnerable and faces innumerable challenges. It is also during this time that the “baby blues" and postpartum depression often occur.

Having a wonderful new baby is a great turning point in a woman's life. You — the new mother —can make the choice. Will it be a turning point toward greater health and happiness for you and your family — or the opposite? Everything that you do from the beginning of pregnancy sets the stage for your post partum health and happiness.

Getting adequate rest, exercise, fresh air, proper food and loving attention from your partner, family and friends is important. This will go a long way to ensure a happy, healthy transition into new motherhood. This should be a very blissful and fulfilling time in a woman's life.

What you will learn
New moms will get a revolutionizing new plan for your care after childbirth. You will find tips on breastfeeding your baby. You will find tips on a healthy diet for new moms. You will love learning how to do a revitalizing warm oil massage — both for Mom and baby. Doing this baby massage is a wonderful way to bond with the new baby — for Dad. Postpartum depression can have devastating effects on the new mother, the new baby, and the whole family. When the mother is depressed, the whole family suffers. You will quickly understand why it is important to stay out of depression by staying healthy and happy. When Mom is happy, your baby will be happy, too.

Mothers hold the key to happiness in the family. The truth is that by taking care of your own health and well-being, your happiness and confidence as a mother will grow stronger. You strengthen your own foundation of energy, love, and strength so you have more to give to your new baby and your family. Mothers give to others all the time. So be sure not to forget about giving to yourself. It is a necessity, not a luxury and nothing to feel guilty about. The whole family will benefit.

A special window of opportunity for new mothers
The time just after childbirth should be a very happy and joyful time. This is also the most vulnerable time in a woman's life, psychiatrically speaking, according to Diane Dell, Duke University psychiatrist and obstetrician. A new mother can take advantage of this opportunity in time to create a new life for herself and for her family, a life of deeper meaning and greater health and happiness. This program was conceived as a means to help new mothers regain vitality and energy rapidly after childbirth and strengthen harmonious family life.

How common is postpartum depression?
Did you know that the cruel facts of life show that 80% of new mothers experience the "baby blues" after childbirth and 10-15 % suffer from postpartum depression? The baby blues usually start about 3 - 5 days after childbirth. Postpartum depression starts later, but lasts longer — in some cases up to 2 years after childbirth. The signs are usually depression, anxiety, and great mood swings, crying for no apparent reason. The new mother does not feel capable of caring for the new baby or for herself; she feels overwhelmed with the household chores, loses normal interests, etc.

It is extremely tragic that this could happen at a time in a woman’s life that should be her happiest time. Do whatever is in your power to avert the danger before it happens. Taking good care of yourself is a prevention technique that goes a long way to stay happy, healthy and out of postnatal depression..

What does it feel like to have postpartum depression? The famous TV personality, Marie Osmond, experienced a case of deep and long lasting postpartum depression. Her book Behind the Smile: My Journey out of Postpartum Depression (Osmond, 2001) says: “Postpartum depression is a heartless invader that holds over 15 percent of new mothers hostage. It floods them with self-doubt, anxiety, and feelings of shame that can lead to isolation." In this state of depression she handed her baby over to the nanny and told her that there was something very wrong with her and that she needed to take care of it. She drove away and checked herself into a roadside motel. Later she was fortunate to find a good doctor who was able to help her get back on track again. Not every woman is that fortunate. The new e-book New Beginnings for New Moms - A Postpartum Workbook gives you many valuable tips on good care for new moms.

Unfortunately, in our society, time and attention for the care of new mothers has been reduced over time. Hospital stays have been shortened. There is less time for new mothers to learn how to care for the baby and herself from trained health professionals in the hospital.

Many cultures outside of Western society have preserved fascinating traditions of care for new mothers from ancient times into our time. The new book New Beginnings for New Moms - A Postpartum Support Workbook by Rannie Boes, Ph. D. will share these secrets with you, see www.newmothercare.com :

Tips for staying rested, healthy and happy after childbirth:

1. Take Time to Rest at Home after Childbirth. Getting plenty of good rest is a major step in your recovery after childbirth. Try your best to take time to rest at home for four to seven weeks. Doing so could be the most important thing you do for your own postpartum recovery. It usually takes about six weeks for the internal organs and tissues to heal after childbirth according to modern medicine. Being on a restful routine while this healing is taking place will help the healing process and you'll feel better. Staying in for this period of time is one of the secrets that new mothers practiced in ancient cultures.

2. Whenever your baby is sleeping, take the opportunity to take a nap yourself. Do not frantically try to get all your household chores done during this time! You won't get the sleep you need during the night, so it is very important that you take the time to get your rest during the day.

If you would like to get the most out of your rest-time, getting a deeper and different quality of rest during the time you have available, then consider a well-researched relaxation and stress reduction technique such as Transcendental Meditation.®

This is a simple, mental technique for deep inner relaxation, stress reduction, and development of consciousness that is easy to learn and easy to practice. It is practiced sitting comfortably in a chair with eyes closed morning and evening for 20 minutes; it was introduced in the West by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.50 These 20 minutes may give your body a deeper and different quality of rest than you get in a good night’s sleep. When the mind relaxes, the body relaxes. You gain greater mind/body coordination that is accompanied by health benefits, that have been explored in many research studies worldwide. They include improved sleep quality, less anxiety, less depression; this would certainly be beneficial to most new mothers.51
Meditation is completely main-stream these days. Oprah does it, wrote a special article about her experience, and had her company learn, too http://www.tm.org/oprah-on-tm David Lynch does it, so does Paul Cartney, Russell Brand and Russell Simmons. They all do the Transcendental Meditation technique and they love it.http://www.tm.org/blog/meditation/oprah-magazine/. Do be sure to consider seriously this well researched technique. Being easy to learn and practice, it is well suited for a new Mom, she can do it by herself practically anywhere she happens to be.

3. Go to bed early at 9:30 PM or earlier. Due to the natural rhythms of the body, the sleep you get before midnight is particularly valuable. Going to bed early helps strengthen your physiology and psychology and will accelerate your regain of energy and vitality after childbirth. Simple and natural.

4. To have a restful sleep, engage in simple, quiet, and enjoyable activities in the evening. Don't watch a violent TV movie or anything else that is emotionally upsetting. Quietly reading a book or listening to soothing music or other settling activities is an excellent way to settle the mind and make sure that your sleep is deep and peaceful. When the mind relaxes, the body relaxes and settles down.

5. Regulate visitors. It is important to regulate the number of visitors to protect the mother's rest time. Of course you'll love to see your friends and loved ones after the baby's birth. Just be sure to regulate the traffic, so that you are not overwhelmed. Try to have a girlfriend with you to help during visits. Try to keep visits short, 10 to 15 minutes in the beginning.

6. Create your own little "nest" at home. To facilitate your rest at home, be sure to make your home a lovely and comfortable place where you love to rest, recover, and rejuvenate. Before going to the hospital, arrange a wonderful “nest” for you and your family to enjoy life with the new baby. Think of everything that makes you feel happy, including your favorite music. Have a couple of CDs ready; listening to music that you enjoy does a lot to lift your mood and spirit.

7. Create a strong support system. As part of your pre-planning, make your partner or spouse an active partner in this. He or a female friend can help a lot by arranging for a group of friends to take turns cooking meals to bring to the new mother and help her with the other household chores — shopping, cleaning and baby-sitting, etc.
Consider seriously hiring home help for the first few weeks, if you do not have family or friends who can step in and help with household chores.

We hope you have enjoyed this article.
See also www.newmothercare.com with the new E-book: New Beginnings for New Moms - A Postpartum Support Workbook by Rannie Boes, Ph. D.

Your comments are welcome. Please e-mail them to: rboes108@yahoo.com Notes:
Dell, Diane. (2oo2). In US News & World Report, 3/18/2002. Vol. 132, Issue 8, p. 12,1p.
Osmond, Marie, (2001). Behind the Smile. My Journey out of Postpartum Depression. Warner Books, N. Y., New York.

50. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1994, p. 260). Maharishi Vedic University. Maharishi Vedic University Press, Holland.

51. www.tm.org/research/home.html Scientific Research on The Maharishi Transcendental Meditation® Program and TM-Sidhi® Program, Volumes 1-5.