{"id":271,"date":"2016-02-01T07:17:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T12:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nurturingroot.sifazey2-liquidwebsites.com\/?p=271"},"modified":"2016-09-05T13:42:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-05T17:42:23","slug":"when-your-friend-has-a-baby-10-ways-to-support-a-new-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/when-your-friend-has-a-baby-10-ways-to-support-a-new-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"When your friend has a baby: 10 ways to support a new mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my closest friends were having babies, I was just getting married.\u00a0 I was pretty clueless about most things regarding the postpartum period and since the last baby to be born in my family was my 22-year-old sister, I knew even less about babies. I hadn\u2019t a clue as to ways to support a new mother.<\/p>\n

My best friend, the first one of us to have a baby, had a long labor, which ended with a cesarean. When she returned home, I am sure she was incredibly sore, but she was also clearly frustrated with breastfeeding.\u00a0 When I think back to how painfully clueless and useless I was when she had her baby, I shudder.\u00a0 I mean, I brought her a plant.\u00a0 A PLANT!\u00a0 While plants are lovely and they brighten up a room, it\u2019s also one more thing for her to tend to and it isn\u2019t remotely helpful to her in any way.\u00a0 Oh, and that\u2019s not all.\u00a0 When lunch time rolled around, she heated up leftovers for us to eat.\u00a0 SHE heated up leftovers for ME. (**shudder**)\u00a0 It actually makes my stomach turn to think that I was that out of touch with what she needed.<\/p>\n

After my own postpartum experiences, coupled with lots of training on birth and the postpartum period, I think it\u2019s safe to say that thankfully, I\u2019ve learned a few things since then.\u00a0 Here are 10 ways to support a new mother, so the next time you have a friend have a baby, you\u2019ll know how to shower her with love (and clean laundry).<\/p>\n

\"way-to-support-a-new-mother-768x513\"<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Walk her dog.<\/strong> She\u2019s healing from birth and her partner deserves a break. Take Fido for a stroll.<\/li>\n
  2. Take her children outside.<\/strong> If mom has other children, take them outside to expel some energy. Playground, walk around the block, bike ride, whatever. Mom will appreciate the quiet and the kids will love the fun.<\/li>\n
  3. Fix her family a snack or bring her a meal (or 2).<\/strong> \u00a0Anything you can do to take some of the load off, please do. Make them a meal or a snack, and if you can, involve the kids. \u00a0The kids will enjoy the activity and mom will get a reprieve by\u00a0them being entertained. \u00a0If you won\u2019t be there long, bring a meal already prepared, but also one that is freezable, so they can enjoy it later if needed.<\/li>\n
  4. Bring her groceries.<\/strong> \u00a0When I had my first baby, a friend came to visit, and with her came 2 grocery bags full of food. \u00a0Some of the food was already prepared and the rest was perfect grab-and-go foods for snacking. \u00a0I was so touched and appreciated having new items in the fridge. \u00a0We sat around the table and noshed while she held and loved on my baby. \u00a0It was incredible and I appreciated it so much.<\/li>\n
  5. Hold the baby and send her upstairs for a long, hot shower.<\/strong> \u00a0It\u2019s amazing how much a hot shower can change a person. \u00a0Even if she doesn\u2019t need it, take the baby, and if she has one, the 3-year-old, and send her upstairs for a hot shower and some alone time. \u00a0She\u2019ll come down feeling grateful and refreshed.<\/li>\n
  6. Load her dishwasher and run it.<\/strong> \u00a0I\u2019m placing bets that when you go see her there will be a sink piled high with dishes. \u00a0Load the dishwasher and be sure to run it. \u00a0If you\u2019re there long enough, empty it on your way out the door.<\/li>\n
  7. Wash a load of laundry.<\/strong> \u00a0It\u2019s amazing how much laundry a 7-pound baby can produce. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s spit up on the onesie or breastmilk leaked on her shirt, there\u2019s bound to be a load of clothes waiting. \u00a0Wash a load for her. \u00a0If there\u2019s a load that\u2019s been done, fold it. \u00a0Laundry is one of those things that can get out of hand fast. Helping her stay in front of it will take a lot of burden off of her.<\/li>\n
  8. Take out the trash.<\/strong> \u00a0On your way out the door after your visit, take the trash with you.<\/li>\n
  9. Sweep.<\/strong> \u00a0Dog hair, cheerio crumbs, dried up play-doh pieces. \u00a0It\u2019ll take 5 minutes and will make a big difference.<\/li>\n
  10. Bring her something for just her.<\/strong> \u00a0Bring her something that will make her feel good. \u00a0Ok, so maybe that plant wasn\u2019t all bad. \u00a0I love plants, but whatever it is, make sure it\u2019s something that will make her feel warm and pampered. \u00a0Maybe bring some great shampoo, bath salts<\/a>, or handmade soap<\/a> for the shower she\u2019ll take during your visit. \u00a0Whatever it is, make it special.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are endless ways to support a new mother, these are just a few. \u00a0The bottom line is make her life easy, make her plate lighter, and let her know you love her. \u00a0Having a baby is hard, and sometimes the postpartum period is even harder. \u00a0New moms are all too often left unsupported in our hustle-and-bustle culture, but we were never meant to do it alone. \u00a0Be a good friend, show up,\u00a0and give her what she needs. \u00a0When she has a friend have a baby, she\u2019ll remember how you made her feel, and she\u2019ll pay it forward. \u00a0Little by little,\u00a0maybe our culture will begin to shift.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When my closest friends were having babies, I was just getting married.\u00a0 I was pretty clueless about most things regarding the postpartum period and since the last baby to be born in my family was my 22-year-old sister, I knew even less about babies. I hadn\u2019t a clue as to ways to support a new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"10 ways to support a new mother | The Nurturing Root | Baltimore, MD","_seopress_titles_desc":"When your friend has a baby, she is going to need support.\u00a0 We know you want to be a good friend, so here are 10 ways to support a new mother.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,125,18,19,7],"tags":[28,29],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":15,"label":"birth"},{"value":125,"label":"childbirth education"},{"value":18,"label":"postpartum"},{"value":19,"label":"Postpartum Doula"},{"value":7,"label":"pregnancy"}],"post_tag":[{"value":28,"label":"postpartum support"},{"value":29,"label":"village"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/how-to-support-a-new-mother-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Carmen Calvo","author_link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/author\/carmen_admin\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":15,"name":"birth","slug":"birth","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":15,"category_count":27,"category_description":"","cat_name":"birth","category_nicename":"birth","category_parent":0},{"term_id":125,"name":"childbirth education","slug":"childbirth-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":125,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":125,"category_count":20,"category_description":"","cat_name":"childbirth education","category_nicename":"childbirth-education","category_parent":0},{"term_id":18,"name":"postpartum","slug":"postpartum","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":18,"category_count":20,"category_description":"","cat_name":"postpartum","category_nicename":"postpartum","category_parent":0},{"term_id":19,"name":"Postpartum Doula","slug":"postpartum-doula","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":19,"category_count":9,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Postpartum Doula","category_nicename":"postpartum-doula","category_parent":0},{"term_id":7,"name":"pregnancy","slug":"pregnancy","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":7,"category_count":18,"category_description":"","cat_name":"pregnancy","category_nicename":"pregnancy","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":28,"name":"postpartum support","slug":"postpartum-support","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":28,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":29,"name":"village","slug":"village","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}