Resources That Helped Me During the Perinatal Period
There is so much information out there to support us in our journeys into parenthood. Below are the ones that I found most helpful and why. I had my moments in early postpartum where I did general Google searches and I found that it made me doubt myself and feel more anxious. Once I stopped doing that, I felt like I was able to gain more confidence and better follow my intuition.
Hypnobirthing by Marie F. Mongon
I didn’t take any classes during pregnancy, but I did read Hypnobirthing by Marie F. Mongon. The approach helped me tremendously during pregnancy and labor. Hypnobirthing is a combination of positive thinking, visualizations, and breathing exercises. It reminded me of a cognitive behavioral therapy technique because it plays off the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. If we are thinking more positively about labor, we feel more relaxed when it comes, and we can have a more empowering experience.
The First Forty Days by Heng Ou, Amely Greevan, and Marisa Belgar
While I was pregnant, I wanted to begin to prepare for the postpartum period. The book The First Forty Days by Heng Ou, Amely Greevan, and Marisa Belgar proved to be really helpful. It talks about healing during the postpartum period from a Chinese perspective and how in the West we often rush back into things without giving ourselves enough time to rest and recover. There are wonderful tips and recipes that really helped me ease into motherhood during the newborn period.
La Leche League International
When I started breastfeeding my daughter, La Leche League International, provided me with much needed resources and support. There is information about breastfeeding on their website and they have groups you can join both online and in-person all over the world. The first outing I had with my daughter when she was around 8-weeks-old was to a La Leche League group meeting in NYC. It felt so good to connect with other mothers who were trying to figure out breastfeeding and the group leader provided us with really helpful resources.
Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff
My favorite parenting book is Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff. It was recommended to me by a couple I was working with when it first came out. I often recommend it to parents who are struggling during the toddler period because it really helps shift perspectives around the way we may be approaching parenting. I like that the tips are intuitive and grounded in the fact that we as parents have lives and things we need to do. Why not integrate our children into our lives instead of change our lives completely to accommodate our children? The approach makes so much sense, but in modern day parenting it definitely can be hard to integrate.