By Hannah Schneider, Photo: Getty Images/LWA/Dann Tardif, Well+Good, September 25, 2022
hen you're pregnant, a full medical team is looking out for you and your baby. But after the baby arrives, most new parents go home with their newborn, some pamphlets and postpartum pads, and an ob/gyn appointment card for a few weeks. Support for new parents during the postpartum period—aka the "fourth trimester"—is far from robust. in the United States, postpartum medical care is "too limited to meet the health needs" of women and other people who give birth, according to a critical review from The Journal of Perinatal Education.
Having a postpartum doula can help new mothers adjust to the roller coaster of physical and emotional changes they're experiencing. "[My doula] was so pivotal in that first stretch when I first got home," says dancer and Lion Babe musician Jillian Hervey, who spoke about her postpartum experience alongside doula Latham Thomas at the Mama Glow Doula Expo. "My hormones were dropping, which is biologically normal but emotionally very difficult. There was all of this information to digest, but she was able to explain it so well and help me understand what was going on. At this point, I can't imagine what I would have done without that." That experience motivated her to spread the word about postpartum doula care. "You should not have to endure this 'fourth trimester' by yourself," she says.
What does a postpartum doula do?
"For both pregnancy and postpartum, doulas support the mother in three ways: we provide education and awareness, we advocate for them, and we support them emotionally," says Jernigan. "Doula care has shown to increase positive outcomes for the mother and child."
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