21 - Postpartum Recovery in Four Easy Steps!

Why Postpartum Recovery Needs More Attention (And How to Do It Right!)

Most new parents spend all their time preparing for birth, but what about after birth? The exhaustion, the physical recovery, the “why does my body feel like I ran a marathon while also being hit by a truck” phase—yeah, that part.

In this episode of Doula Talk, Deb is bringing back a must-listen episode from her previous podcast, The Birth and Baby Podcast, because postpartum recovery does not get enough attention, and trust me—you’ll want to hear this.

Deb and guest Lindsee break down postpartum recovery week by week, sharing their personal stories and real-life strategies to help new parents recover without overdoing it (because if you do, postpartum hormones WILL remind you who’s boss).

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• ✅ Why staying in bed during week one is non-negotiable—seriously, your body needs it.
• ✅ How to gradually ease back into movement without setting your recovery back.
• ✅ The red flags to watch for (like bright red bleeding) that mean you need to slow down.
• ✅ How to set boundaries with visitors so you’re not playing host when you should be resting.
• ✅ Why “letting go of expectations” is the secret to a smoother recovery.

If you’re pregnant, currently in the postpartum trenches, or just like being ultra-prepared (respect), this episode is full of the wisdom you didn’t know you needed but will absolutely thank me for later.

So grab your tea, find a comfy seat, and hit play! Your postpartum self will love you for it. 🎧💜

FREEBIE: Click here for my free download of these steps in a PDF! Enjoy! 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Postpartum Recovery
• 2:20 Personal Experiences with Postpartum Recovery
• 5:51 Week One: The Importance of Rest
• 8:50 Week Two: Gradual Movement and Nutrition
• 11:28 Week Three: Easing Back into Life
• 12:43 Week Four: Transitioning to Normalcy
• 14:09 Key Takeaways and Setting Boundaries

Transcript

Doula Deb (00:02.83)
Welcome to Doula Talk, where we talk about all things postpartum, babies in the battle for sleep. I'm Doula Deb, here to guide you through parenthood, where sleep feels like a long lost friend and everything from diapers to developmental milestones keeps you on your toes. Whether you're tackling sleepless nights, newborn quirks, toddler antics, or just trying to find what works for your family, I got you. With years of experience, real talk advice, and a dash of humor, I'm here to help you find your rhythm.

So grab your coffee or your toddler's leftover snack, settle in and let's get into it. Hey there, welcome back. This is Deb. This episode might sound a little familiar because it is a repost from my other podcast, the Birth and Baby podcast. But trust me, this is one of the episodes that's just too good not to share again. Today we are diving deep into postpartum recovery. And let me tell you,

This is something that does not get enough attention. Everyone focuses on birth, which is important. Don't get me wrong. But what about the weeks after birth? The bleeding, the exhaustion, the why does my body feel like I ran a marathon while also being hit by a truck face? Yeah, that part. So in this episode, I'm breaking it down week by week. We're gonna give you a simple, realistic plan to help your body recover without overdoing it. Because guess what?

If you push too hard, your body will remind you who's boss. And spoiler alert, it's not you. It's postpartum hormones. So we are going to cover today why staying in bed the first week postpartum is non-negotiable, how to gradually ease back into movement without setting your recovery back, the big red flags to watch out for that tell you, nope, you're not ready yet. And of course, how to set boundaries with visitors.

so you're not entertaining guests when you should be resting. So whether you're currently pregnant and prepping in the thick of postpartum or just like to be the most prepared person in the room, stick around because this episode is packed with postpartum wisdom you didn't know you needed, but will absolutely thank me for later. All right, let's get it.

Doula Deb (02:20.718)
I'm Dula Deb and my co-host is here, Lindsay. And today we're diving into a crucial topic, postpartum recovery. How are you today, Lindsay?

I'm doing well, I'm super, super excited to talk about this. And before we get into it, I do want everyone to remember recovery is not a one size fits all process. But with a little planning and pacing, you can support your body's healing journey. So let's dive in.

So first I want to share about my own experience. When my son was born, my first born, I didn't take very good care of myself in those first few weeks. I thought I could handle it all and I didn't realize I was running on adrenaline and cortisol. I specifically remember telling my husband, we're actually doing really good. You know, are you doing good? Yeah, we're doing fine. Everything seemed super manageable until around week two when I felt like I was hit by a freaking brick wall.

I was so exhausted and overwhelmed and my recovery was significantly delayed. It lasted a full eight weeks. Fast forward to the birth of my second child. I knew I had to do things differently. So this time I followed a plan of progressive bed rest and I paced myself very carefully. I didn't really even leave my bedroom for a week. I stayed upstairs, meals were brought to me. My baby was with me the whole time and we just slept and nursed.

and slept and ate and slept. The difference was remarkable. I was back on my feet in just four weeks. Here's what I did to improve my postpartum recovery and I want to share that with you so you can too.

Lindsee McDonald (04:00.482)
Yeah. So my story is very similar to yours, Deb, but with my first baby, my postpartum period, I was like, you know, again, like I've told this story in episode two, I was very young and I feel like we had so many people come visit us all the time that I always felt like I was being a host and like I was being a host in my early postpartum period. was constantly up constantly in my living room, constantly moving around my house. And I felt terrible. Like you said, I had a long recovery time.

And I just felt exhausted. remember my mental health was not great either. and with my second one, I had a very similar story because I had two under two at that point. So I was chasing around a toddler while also having a newborn at home. And it was a lot, but similar to your second story with my fourth born, I stayed in the bed for a week. I actually remember I got up one time because

my son's birthday was the day after my baby was born at home. And so I walked out into the kitchen, saying happy birthday to him, let him have his cake and presents. And I watched my butt back to the bed. I stayed there. My food was brought to me just like you said, it was beautiful. And I the most amazing recovery time with her. And I was back up and feeling totally fine in four weeks, my mental health never better postpartum. okay.

I want to talk about specifically the first week postpartum. This period is all about focusing on rest and recovery. So like we said, with our good recovery process, we sit in bed for a whole week. So I to call this phase week one in the bed during the first week home with your baby, prioritize staying in the bed. This helps you recover from pregnancy, birth, whether that be vaginal or C-section and the demanding newborn care schedule.

Aim to stay horizontal in bed as much as possible. So keep your baby, food, water, and any other necessities within arm's reach, or have someone, a partner or a postpartum doula, right? Bring them to you. So your goals during this first week should simply be to feed your baby in whatever way works best for you and don't hesitate to ask for help. So if you are breastfeeding or you're pumping or your bottle feeding formula, whatever that looks like,

Lindsee McDonald (06:20.32)
You can also still ask for help in these things. Your second goal is to eat nutritious meals. Warm meals are usually best for postpartum healing because they're easier to digest. And again, people can bring you these meals in bed. So stay in bed, stay your butt in bed, drink plenty of fluids, water, electrolytes, things like that. And most importantly, rest. They, you have a newborn baby and they sleep like all the time. So sleep and rest and just chill and don't worry about the world.

going on around you, it'll still be moving when you are ready to get out.

Yeah, yeah. And a little caveat, we're not saying you can't get up to walk around to the bathroom. Like you got to go to the bathroom. You got to get your circulation. Yeah, don't. You know, don't do that. Bedpans, I guess. But like you still need to walk around. You still need to get blood flow. But what we see often is these moms who are like, it's OK, I can do dishes. I feel bad. can still cook.

P. N.

Doula Deb (07:21.676)
My husband doesn't really know how to cook very good. Don't plan ahead for this. Just know that you're going to be in bed for a week. If your spouse really can't cook well, then we plan ahead. We have meal prep. We have somebody coming in bringing meals. You have family bringing. So like plan ahead so you know you're spending a whole week pretty much stationary going to the bathroom and back in bed. So once we've done that,

We got into week two. This is the week where you're on the bed. You're still focusing on rest, but you get to begin to move around a little bit more. No strenuous activities. Don't start your day until you felt well rested, whether that's 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. That's perfectly fine. All you need to do is only go with what the energy you have. And if you feel like getting out of bed, taking a shower and getting

out of bed for a little bit to do a few things, then you're just going to go right back to bed as soon as you feel tired, which may be like 30 minutes to an hour. Yes, yes. So your goals for week two is continue feeding your baby as needed and with any necessary assistance that you need. Maintain your healthy diet. Again, focusing on those warming warm foods that are broken down, highly nutritious and

Literally all the time.

Doula Deb (08:50.454)
Another note here is any food is better than no food. if you can't, if you can't possibly bring yourself to eat another bowl of seaweed soup, which is one of those, can't have one more slice of lasagna. You know, like I don't care what you eat, but you just have to eat. So do your best. stay hydrated drinking.

because everyone has

Doula Deb (09:17.95)
so much water, you usually are very thirsty if you're nursing or lactating. So making sure that you have either ice cold water or a warm cup of tea or what, just switch it up so that you don't get bored. And then of course, obviously rest. You go with your body's need for rest because again, you are also recovering from the pregnancy, the birthing experience and your placenta healing.

or the splinter wound healing. If you do feel ready for visitors at this time, I say limit it to one to two people for the whole week and definitely not on the same day. Make sure that they come with meals and or offer to help with tasks like holding the baby while you rest or doing a load of laundry or if they can just tidy up the kitchen. Sometimes it's nice to have a list of things that would be helpful to do around the house. I say if

someone isn't willing to do any kind of chores while they come visit, especially in week two, then they probably should wait to come visit.

Yep, they shouldn't be coming to see you and your baby anyways. But also, like, I think people want to help, you know, like everyone kind of has that, like, at least most people have that in them where they want to be helpful, they want to be helping. So like, don't feel bad about saying, Hey, do you mind doing this? And hopefully they offer and if they do offer, don't say, don't worry. Okay, it's okay. No, can tell them what you need or want. Like that's

Absolutely and if they offer to bring you some coffee or a snack like welcome that you like yep, bring it on

Lindsee McDonald (10:58.808)
Bring it on. Okay, so that brings us to week three, which is around the bed. So it's time to start slowly easing away from the bed rest while still keeping close to home and prioritizing rest. So by now you should start feeling better each day, even though sleepless nights can still take a toll, right? You still have a newborn. We understand that, but your goals should again be continue feeding your baby. That's always like first and foremost, eat well to help your body recover, drink plenty of fluids.

So get creative with tea, smoothies, soups and broths. And yes, again, lots of rest. Your goals are very similar. It's just that your body is now able to be moving around and be around the bed and close to it. So you're always able to go sit back down or lay back down whenever you feel like you need to. So if you haven't had visitors yet, this might be a good week to invite one over. So don't overdo it, of course, right? Still limit them. Don't have a whole party, but.

they can still come to you in bed if needed. That's something else, like with my fourth, I totally, people who came just came in my bedroom and I was laying my butt down and sitting on my bed while they came and visited. And of course, you can also like rest and sit on your couch in your living room. So there's that.

Yep, great. So finally, there's week four, you are released from the bed, but only if you are feeling ready for that. By this time, you might feel ready to get out of the house for some fresh air and a gentle, easy walk with your baby. But please take it slow and take it day by day. If at any point in this recovery of this last four weeks, you notice an increase in bright red bleeding or return to bleeding, that is a huge red flag. Red bleeding.

red flag, a normal postpartum blood is going to be a dark color. And you will be familiar by then what a normal bleeding looks like. If that is bright red all of a sudden, guess what? You get to go back to bed for 24 to 48 hours. That means you have a, yeah, your body's not ready. You have a fresh opening of bleeding and that means your body, you overdid it. And you know what? It's probably going to happen at some point. It is okay, but

Doula Deb (13:13.102)
What we need to recognize is that if that happens, you recognize that you need to go back to bed. And typically your body just bounces back within 24 to 48 hours, you're right back on track. So don't worry if this happens to you, just know, okay, that was too much. I went and did the laundry, my bad. I'm not ready for that. know? Yeah, yeah, so.

you

I'm going to go over the goals for week four and guess what? There's a theme here. Feed your baby. Keep nourishing your body with healthy food. Obviously stay hydrated and then always rest as much as you can until you feel like you can can move on from that. And those first few months, even after these first four weeks, that is going to be a theme. Listen to your body.

Thanks.

Doula Deb (14:09.858)
get the rest that you need, because that baby's not sleeping through the night by four weeks. hate to bring it to you.

No, and do not expect that. go of expectations. I say that for everything, both all pregnancy, birth, postpartum, let go of your expectations because that's when you get let down. So don't expect your body to be back to normal in four weeks. Don't expect your baby to be sleeping through the night. Don't expect it to be horrible either.

We're just gonna go along for the ride.

Go with the flow. Give yourself grace. So just remember these are just general guidelines and the most important thing is to listen to your body. Every recovery journey is unique. They're all different. So share this podcast with your family and friends so they know what to expect and how to support you and tell them that we said no visitors until after three to four weeks unless you're feeling up to it and only if they bring you food or do chores around your house. Okay, you can blame it on us. We don't care.

Exactly. I blame my doula for a lot of things. And my kids, I was like, my doula said I can't, I'm sorry. And we all had a laugh about it, but it was an easy way to set some boundaries and some expectations. But guess what? We were ready to have visitors before we told everybody we were going to be ready. So I said three to four weeks.

Doula Deb (15:26.38)
By week, you know, with my second, by week, I think it was about two, two and a half. I was like, actually, I really could use a visitor. I could use a mental break and have tell my birth story and get that that relational. And then the person I chose was someone who was going to be able to come over. They brought a meal. They were super helpful. They even took my my oldest to the park for a while and gave us a break. It was a wonderful experience. But because we had set some really clear boundaries about it.

So reflecting back on that experience, can't emphasize enough how important it is to follow these steps or guidelines. The difference in my recovery with my second child was like night and day. And by pacing myself and prioritizing rest, I was able to recover more quickly and fully. I hope that you find these tips as helpful as I did. As a note, this concept was adapted from the great Penny Simkin.

whose wisdom has guided many through their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journeys. Unfortunately, she's no longer with us and we like to keep her principles alive and honor her in that.

Doula Deb (16:37.12)
All right, so let's do a quick recap because postpartum brain is real and I know you're probably forgotten half of what I said already. So take the notes, slow it down, write this down, okay? Here are your takeaways. Week one, stay in the bed. Seriously, stay put, keep baby food and water close. Rest, rest, and then more rest. Week two, on the bed. You can start moving around a little but no big activities.

Try to keep those visitors to a minimum still and only if they're bringing food or helping you with the laundry. Week three, around the bed. You might start feeling better, but don't get cocky because rest is still a priority and listening to your body is key. And week four, go ahead and gradually get back into your life, but start slow. If you start seeing bright red bleeding, that's your red flag to go right back to bed.

 for 24 to 48 hours. Your body is still healing. And one last thing, setting those boundaries. I'm giving you full permission to tell your family and friends that Doula Deb says no visitors unless you're actually helpful. No extra stress. No, let me hold the baby while you get up and do chores. Nope, nope, nope. We don't do that here. We want people who are going to help with our recovery, maybe bring us some food.

help out with some chores, but we don't need to listen to your instincts of whether or not to let them hold the baby is completely up to you. All right, well that does it. So if you love this episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow moms who might need this information as well. And if you have any questions, shoot me an email at info@douladeb.com

Doula Deb (18:34.958)
Feel free to submit and I might be able to cover your topic next time. Until then, take care of yourself, stay in bed, and remember, your only job in postpartum is to rest and recover. You got this.