7-point survival guide for all parents-to-be by Rosewalk’s birth prep team

Nothing prepares you for that moment when a wailing newborn child is placed in your arms. You are, after all, a newborn parent. Here are 7 tips on how to survive pregnancy, birth, and baby.

1. Workout for body and mind
While pregnant choose a program that focusses on strengthening as much as stretching. A balance of these two will give you good posture during your pregnancy, which will help keep a lot of pesky aches and pains at bay. Always choose a fun class! If it ain’t fun, you are not likely to stick to the program.
After the baby, try postnatal classes which focus on re-establishing a connection with your pelvic floor muscles and strengthening the deep core muscles of the body- which will go a long way in toning up your abs.

The mind-body connection is real, and taking out some time for yourself like this, will go a long way in keeping you sane and feeling in control during those nine months.

2. Tips on coping with labor
Breathe. Just breathe. Studies have shown that if you maintain long, deep breaths through your contractions, not only is the sensation of painless, but the contractions are less exhausting over time. Even if you land up in a cesarean procedure, breathing can help to stay calm and relaxed through it.

3. Starting to prepare for the arrival of your baby
At some point in your last trimester take some time to plan your time and what you would need help with when you come back from the hospital. Women end up needing help on a range of things including building confidence, keeping up with visitors, sleeping, and others.

4. Know Your baby’s first hour
Ever wonder what happens to your infant in the hours after he’s born– and before you bring him home? Just five minutes after he arrives, he is poked, pricked, measured, tested, cleaned, and swaddled. And then there are some key milestones in the first hour of birth itself including baby opening his eyes and efforts to suckle

5. Baby blues is the most common emotion
Witnessed by most mothers post-delivery. A few days after birth, you may feel elated one moment, and the next moment feels very overwhelmed and anxious.
The baby blues usually disappears after a few days and you feel more “yourself” again.
Here are a few helpful tips for new mums to keep in mind during that period.

6. Know the Essentials of Breastfeeding
What are the 3 factors absolutely essential for breastfeeding?

1. KANGAROO MOTHER CARE
As soon as possible after your baby is born, you will be encouraged to have some skin-to-skin time with your little one. Research shows that when your baby is held upright or lying down clad in a diaper, directly against your skin, your warmth, your smell, and familiar heartbeat will feel like a warm “womb” to your baby. She will be soothed and calmed which will aid in her development. Skin-to-skin contact stimulates milk production and is highly recommended by WHO & UNICEF guidelines.

2. CORRECT POSITIONING AND ATTACHMENT
A mother’s position (the way she sits and feeds her baby) and a baby’s position (the way it latches on to the breast) are both are very important to establish breastfeeding. Therefore, it is crucial to get it right within the first 3 days. Our aim in Rosewalk is to establish 100% correct and pain-free breastfeeding.

3. FREQUENCY OF FEEDS
How often should you breastfeed? How long? How much? These are common questions. The more the baby nurses, the more signals are sent to your body to produce more milk. This frequent feeding helps in building up your milk supply. (Newborns have small stomach capacity and human milk is rapidly digested.)
For mothers, breastfeeding is partly to be learned and partly innate. Therefore, antenatal education is extremely important to lay a solid foundation upon which successful breastfeeding can be built.

7. Know your newborn’s poop
Meconium is the baby’s first poop. It’s dark green/black in the first 48 hours.
Most babies have an active gastro-colic reflex that causes them to have a bowel movement immediately after feeding — or even while feeding — for their first few weeks of life. This is especially true for breastfed babies and is perfectly normal.Every month Rosewalk hosts an early interactive session with parents on the 7 points Survival Guide. Click Here To Book

ROSEWALK TEAM