Postpartum Mental Health, Mood & Anxiety Disorders (PMAD)
Family Planning / Contraception
Managing relationships after childbirth can be difficult. For postpartum partners, the 4th trimester can be filled with joy, fulfillment, and excitement as well as sadness, loneliness, and resentment. Adjusting to a new family life, managing sleep deprivation, and supporting your partner through recovery and emotional fluctuations can strain any relationship. It takes extra patience, communication, and grace to not only get through those early days but strengthen your bond and navigate this new chapter together. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help and take things one day at a time. Your relationship is the foundation that will help you both thrive as partners and as parents.
This section offers information about managing relationships, parenting and co-parenting, intimacy and sex (or lack thereof), family planning, and ways to ensure you are both feeling cared for.
Topics in Family Planning / Contraception
Your Hormones
Your Hormones
During pregnancy, your placenta cranks out the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Some of that progesterone changes into a hormone called allopregnanolone, which binds to a receptor in the brain called GABA. The GABA receptor relaxes you – it’s the same receptor that alcohol and medications like valium bind to. During pregnancy, moms are essentially swimming […]
Postpartum Support Plan for New Parents
Postpartum Support Plan for New Parents
Like a labor and delivery plan, this is a fillable, custom plan for mom and families to share how they want to be supported after childbirth
Birthing Parent Health Information One-Pager
Birthing Parent Health Information One-Pager
Postpartum recovery red flags and important health information after childbirth page
Postpartum Health & Recovery Video Reel Series
Postpartum Health & Recovery Video Reel Series
Short videos on postpartum health & recovery FAQ
Taking Care of You
Taking Care of You
Postpartum Recovery Booklet on a variety of health and self-care topics
Your Postpartum Healthcare Plan
Your Postpartum Healthcare Plan
Fillable, custom medical care plan for mom to understand recovery and health information from their provider
Birth Control After Baby
Birth Control After Baby
Information about contraception and birth control options
Postpartum and Intimacy Checklist
Postpartum and Intimacy Checklist
Tips for health care teams to use while speaking with new moms about sex and intimacy
Birth Spacing
Birth Spacing
Some women have very clear ideas about the number of children they hope to have and the amount of time they would like to have between their children. Others are unsure about birth spacing, and others prefer to go with whatever happens. And there are many shades of grey in between! Clinical recommendations for birth […]
Contraception
Contraception
Birth control may be the last thing on many new parents’ minds. Whether women feel that their family is complete or there are more babies ahead, if sex with a man is in the near future, then contraception is something to consider. For women who are breastfeeding, exploring options for contraception in relation to milk […]
Physical Pain with Sex
Physical Pain with Sex
A lower sex drive after childbirth is common. More than 50% of women at 3 months postpartum and 30% at 6 months postpartum experience less interest in sex than they did before. Being tired, stress, lack of time, infant care needs, feelings around body image, plus physical discomforts often doesn’t result in feeling sexy! Pain […]
Childbirth Trauma and Maternal Near-Miss
Childbirth Trauma and Maternal Near-Miss
Childbirth Trauma Giving birth is a powerful experience and the journey often unfolds in ways we might not expect and cannot control. Sometimes women feel that their transition to motherhood is traumatic. This may result from unexpected or unwanted medical interventions during labor and birth and/or postpartum, the speed at which they labored, the way […]
Ready for Sex
Ready for Sex
You may or may not feel ready to have sex again shortly after delivery. However, it is recommended that couples wait for the postpartum visit and exam with a health care provider before they have sex. Time for postpartum healing reduces the risk of infection. Of course being cleared to have sex and WANTING to […]
Partner
Partner
WELCOME TO PARENTHOOD! Welcoming a new baby into the world changes almost everything – including your partner. For postpartum partners, the 4th trimester can be filled with joy, fulfillment, and excitement as well as sadness, loneliness, and resentment. Adjusting to a new family life, managing sleep deprivation, and supporting your partner through recovery and emotional […]