A Season of Healing: Why is the postpartum period just 6-8 weeks?
We’re told that at 6 weeks, we can go see our doctors and they can give us the ok to go back to our regular tasks, our jobs, the chaos of the outside world. Juggling work, friends, partners, maybe even other children. A lot of jobs will give you 12 weeks off, but some only offer 6 weeks of paid family leave. So that means there is so much pressure to be fully healed, to have fully processed your birth experience and reconnect with our identities enough to seem like we have it all “together” in just six weeks. That’s not even two months for our bodies to heal after bringing a human into the world, let alone manage our mental health. We’ve just added a whole new identity to our list of who we are and that’s a lot to unpack! We barely have time to sleep! And we know from research that:
It takes 6-12 months for our hormones to regulate again, maybe even longer
Our pelvic floor generally takes 6-12 months to heal
Especially after a vaginal birth
Your abdominal muscles can separate and take up to 12 months or more to recover
You can bleed for up to 8 weeks during the postpartum period
Postpartum hair loss can start at 4 months and last for 6-12 months
Your mental health can change within the first two years
Anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts
See this blog post to learn all about Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders
And let’s not even open the can of worms on how your identity shifts after giving birth
The media portrays moms as being superhuman, being able to do it all while still looking fabulous. Social media is a highlight reel that makes it seem like everyone else has their shit together or knows exactly what to do, creating a divide and a heavier sense of loneliness during a time that can already feel so heavy. The pressure to know how to feed your baby, to know how to heal your body, to know how to get your mental health back in order is extremely taxing and overwhelming. Most of the time we don’t even feel like ourselves. How are we supposed to put on a mask and “snap back” into work mode?
What if we re-framed, redefined, the postpartum period from 6-8 weeks to a season of healing. Your body and mind just did something so incredibly powerful and difficult. Let’s first take a moment to cheer you on and celebrate you, that’s amazing. You shouldn’t feel pressured to bounce back right away. Our bodies don’t heal overnight, so why are we putting so much focus on these 6-12 weeks. Seasons come and go. So, lets think of healing after giving birth like a winter season, a period of rest, that takes time. We can think of it as taking time to rest and heal, to recharge for the next season of spring.
But it can be hard to rest, we often feel guilty when we take breaks. It’s hard to remind ourselves that breastfeeding and healing is a huge task when it feels so small in comparison to everything around you and what you used to do on a daily basis. It’s hard to reframe that mindset and have self-compassion to rest and take care of yourself. Winter is 12 weeks long, that’s the baseline of healing, but you’re allowed to have your wintering season be longer. If this is a season of your life, it can be a year or more. Looking back on our timelines this will feel like a season.
Thinking about seasonal living, there are things that we can apply to the postpartum period:
Slowing down and being more present
Having this be a time of reflection to look at what is working and not working in your life
Turning towards things that bring you comfort, warmth, and safety
Aligning with your body so that you can feel nourished for your period of Spring
Romanticizing this next season – all the things you are excited about and what is to come
And there may be times, similarly to winter, where you will be sick of this period and dream of spring. That’s okay. Healing and recovering from giving birth can be draining, you can get annoyed with it. There are ways we can work together though to make going through this season of postpartum a little easier. If this is something you are interested in hit the button below to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
