09/20/2025
After 3 years of supporting newborn families during the day and overnight, here are some of the things I love about daytime care! 🌞
1. Care for the whole family.
Moms get social support, compassion, listening, hands-on help, a place to vent and ask questions, etc.
Dads get peace of mind in taking a little time for themselves, without leaving their partner alone.
Babies get care from another safe adult.
Siblings get parents who are refreshed, and maybe some yummy treats, too!
2. Supports maternal sleep and breastfeeding.
In the early days of breastfeeding, it’s important to build supply through regular expression of milk. That means night wakings - whether pumping or having baby at the breast.
Daytime doulas can help moms recover some of that sleep by caring for baby while mom naps in the midday.
3. Nourishing food.
Adequate nutrition is essential for healing after birth, and having the energy to care for a little one! But it can be so hard to feed yourself in the newborn period.
Having a doula cook in your home is awesome! You get to have a say over what you eat, it’s healthier than takeout, and the smell of food being lovingly cooked in your home is nourishing on a soul level.
Meal planning together can also be fun, because food connects people. It’s a chance to remember who you are and what you love, outside of baby.
4. It feels like a luxury.
I often hear new parents’ concerns about sleep in the newborn period, and concern about how life will look upon returning to work. Getting help in the daytime can feel like a “luxury” for some, that needs financial justification.
But what if honoring yourself, feeling nourished, and thriving was enough? Societal norms have changed, but our need for postpartum support has not. In today's fast-paced world, we need community care more than ever.
