Postpartum self-care: how to look after yourself after birth

The short answer

Self-care after birth isn’t bubble baths. It’s sleep, food, healing, and help.
Protect one longer stretch of sleep most days, by handing off a feed.
Eat and drink like it’s your job, especially if you’re breastfeeding or chestfeeding.
Move gently, when you feel ready. Walking is fine early. Wait for your provider’s OK before high-impact exercise [1][2].
Your checkups count as much as the baby’s. ACOG recommends contact with your provider within 3 weeks, and a full visit by 12 weeks [3].

You gave birth. Your body did something enormous. Recovery is a job, and it deserves time.

Sleep

Newborns wake every few hours, day and night. “Sleep when the baby sleeps” is easy to say and hard to do. What tends to work better:

One protected stretch. Hand off one feed, with pumped milk or formula, or let your partner bring the baby to you and take them away after. Then sleep 4 or 5 hours in a row, earplugs in.
Go to bed early, right after a feed, instead of using the quiet for chores.
Nap without guilt. The laundry will still be there.
Never feed or hold your baby on a sofa or armchair if you might fall asleep. Sofas and armchairs are among the most dangerous places for a baby to sleep. The safest place for your baby to sleep is always their own crib or bassinet, on their back. If you feed in bed and might doze off, take pillows, sheets, blankets, pets and any other soft items out of the bed first. Move your baby back to their own crib or bassinet as soon as you wake. The AAP says an adult bed is less dangerous than a sofa or armchair, but it still doesn’t recommend falling asleep with your baby in your bed. If your baby is under 4 months, take extra care not to fall asleep while feeding in bed [4].

Food and water

If you breastfeed or chestfeed, you need more food than before pregnancy: roughly 330 to 400 extra calories a day for well-nourished parents [5].
Ask your provider whether to keep taking your prenatal vitamin while breastfeeding or chestfeeding. Many recommend it [6].
Drink to thirst. A full water bottle at every feeding spot helps.
Caffeine: up to about 300 milligrams a day, around 2 to 3 cups of coffee, is generally fine while breastfeeding [5].
Alcohol: not drinking is safest while breastfeeding. If you have one drink, wait at least 2 hours before breastfeeding. More than one drink a day isn’t recommended [7].
Make food easy. Freezer meals, a meal train, groceries delivered. Accept every offer of dinner.

Your body

Healing

Bleeding, stitches, a cesarean incision, cramps and sore breasts are all part of the first weeks. What’s normal and what’s not is in postpartum recovery.

Moving again

Walking is fine as soon as you feel ready, and it helps you heal [1].
Gentle core and pelvic floor exercises can usually start a few days after an uncomplicated vaginal birth [2].
Get your provider’s OK before running, jumping or lifting heavy, especially after a cesarean or a complicated birth [2].
Work up to at least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, like brisk walking, spread over the week [2].

Your pelvic floor

Leaking when you cough, sneeze or laugh is common after birth. It’s not something you just have to live with. Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels) help many people [8]. If leaking, heaviness or pain lasts, ask your provider about pelvic floor physical therapy [8].

Your checkups

Book your postpartum visit before you leave the hospital. Bring a list: bleeding, pain, mood, sleep, sex, birth control, feeding, and anything that worries you [3].

Your mind

The baby blues are common in the first 2 weeks [9]. See the hormone crash.
If low mood, anxiety, rage or scary thoughts last longer, that’s not a personal failing. It’s treatable. Call your provider [9]. See postpartum depression and anxiety.
Get outside every day, even for 10 minutes.
Talk to other new parents. A group, a friend who just did it, a parent’s chat. Isolation makes everything heavier.
Do one small thing that’s just yours, every day. A shower without listening for the baby. A song. A walk alone.

Asking for help

Be specific. “Can you bring dinner Tuesday?” gets a yes. “Let me know if you need anything” gets nothing.
Make a list of jobs people can do, and keep it on the fridge.
Say no to visits that cost you more than they give. See visitors and family boundaries.
Paid help counts, if you can afford it: a cleaner, a postpartum doula, a night nurse for a few nights.

Call your provider for these

Get care right away for any of the CDC’s urgent warning signs after birth, including a headache that won’t go away, vision changes, a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, trouble breathing, chest pain, heavy bleeding, or thoughts of harming yourself or your baby [10]. In an emergency, call 911. For your mood, the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262), is free and open 24/7 [11].

Sources

MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine), “Vaginal delivery - discharge.” medlineplus.gov
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Exercise After Pregnancy.” acog.org
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Committee Opinion No. 736, “Optimizing Postpartum Care” (2018). acog.org
Moon RY, et al., “Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment,” Pediatrics 2022;150(1):e2022057990. doi.org
CDC, “Maternal Diet and Breastfeeding.” cdc.gov
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Breastfeeding Your Baby” (FAQ029). acog.org
CDC, “Alcohol” (Breastfeeding Special Circumstances). cdc.gov
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Urinary Incontinence” / “Pelvic Support Problems.” acog.org
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Postpartum Depression.” acog.org
CDC, Hear Her campaign, “Urgent Maternal Warning Signs.” cdc.gov
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), “National Maternal Mental Health Hotline.” mchb.hrsa.gov