You have arrived home with your newborn, and your sources of information have suddenly collapsed. Your prenatal visits are over. The hospital and delivery doctor, or midwife, did their job. Hospital care was highly focused on making sure you and your baby were healthy, but you received maybe 24 hours of interaction and medical instructions. Now you are tired, and emotions waiver between excitement, joy, and fear. The addition of a Newborn Care Specialist assists in the many areas new parents are simply unprepared for like the demands of regular feedings, how much the baby will cry, and their own lack of sleep. Any complications create an even higher need for attention for the baby or mother, and sometimes both. Parents must remember they cannot care for their baby if they don’t care for themselves; stumbling through the first months with little sleep soon takes the joy out of new parenthood.
A Newborn Care Specialist helps to make the transition from hospital to home a smooth and more memorable occasion for the whole family. They answer your questions, support, laugh, and enjoy with you the wonder of your baby, and are a great deterrent to postpartum depression or prolonged ‘baby blues’. They assist, educate, calm fears, and locate resources in your area. Breastfeeding is totally supported with the ‘trade secrets’ that help in the learning process. You may have had a caesarian delivery, multiple births, complications during or after delivery, or other small children to care for. The help of a Newborn Care Specialist allows you, the mother, to recover quickly, care for other family members, and settle in with comfort and confidence to new family dynamics.
Birth can be traumatic physically and mentally. In many cultures the first thirty days after childbirth women were kept quiet and confined, waking only to eat, attend to personal care, and feed the baby.
All other aspects of baby care and household chores were maintained by family or staff. This allowed the mother to recover faster. Postpartum Doulas can fulfill a big part of these chores while Newborn Care Specialists can focus solely on the baby so you can have that well needed rest. Generally, they work mainly at night so the parents can rest; however, some of them work 24/7 if requested. They keep a log of all that happens with the baby during the work shift and discuss this with you, to keep you informed, but also to provide opportunity for discussion and education. They can also sleep train your baby so that when their contract expires you can manage and continue to get your rest.
As a first-time mother, Newborn Care Specialists offers many daytime benefits as well. They help to establish good eat and sleep routines while creating a nurturing and stimulating daytime environment. Many parents enjoy changing, bathing and feeding the baby. But there may be physical limitations after birth, fatigue, or even apprehension or fear, where parents can benefit from hands on assistance. Specialists prepare bottles, pumps, baby laundry, keep the nursery clean, and monitor the baby supplies. Due to their experience they can provide good advice and insight on some of the products and supplies you may choose for your baby as well. They educate and support parents and can often offer referrals for other services, such as massage, chiropractic care, or even diaper linen services and play groups. Infant care specialists are part of the family, but with particular skill sets to best serve new parents. They are willing to travel with the baby and are great at helping to organize travel supplies for the baby’s trip.
The experience of a Newborn Care Specialist can also assist in more problematic or overwhelming tasks like post circumcision care, reflux and colic, jaundice, blocked tear ducts, monitoring of weight gain, and troubleshooting potential issues of concern parents may not be prepared for. Experience with a variety of situations allows them to also provide support to the whole family through observation and conversation.
Parents will develop a natural confidence when they don’t have to make decisions on their own, supported by the Newborn Care Specialist. Their guidance and physical presence transitions your home to a safe, stress-free new family. When parents have adjusted to the various changes a newborn brings into the household and they are ready to continue parenting on their own, then a Newborn Care Specialist’s work is done.
