There are many things you can do to help build a safe, stable, and nurturing relationship with your child. These Essentials for Parenting will help you handle some common parenting challenges, so you can be a more confident parent and enjoy helping your child grow.


Diet In Postnatal

If you are breastfeeding, the food you eat helps your baby grow strong and healthy, too. Good eating habits and exercise will help you lose the weight you gained.

Healthy Eating Tips

If you are breastfeeding, the food you eat helps your baby grow strong and healthy, too. Good eating habits and exercise will help you lose the weight you gained.

Try to eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, grains, protein foods and diary each day.

Your body needs lot of fluid (about 6-10 glasses a day) especially if you are breastfeeding your baby. Drink mostly water, milk, and fruit juice.

Try to make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have vitamins and minerals that keep you healthy- They also have fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Make sure to wash fruits and vegetables under running cold water before eating them.

Talk to your doctor about safely losing weight after your baby is born. Do not take diet pills. They contain harmful drugs that can be passed to your baby through breast milk.

Soda pop, cookies, donuts, potato chips and french fries are okay sometimes, but don’t let them take the place of healthy foods!

Avoid these Foods when Breastfeeding

There are some foods and other substances that can be harmful to both you and your baby if you are breastfeeding.

Wine, wine coolers, beer, drinks like hard lemonade and other malt liquor beverages, shots and mixed drinks contain alcohol that passes to your baby through your breastmilk and can harm your baby’s brain and body development.

Caffeine is a stimulant that passes through breast milk to the baby and may affect growth. Caffeine is found in tea, coffee, chocolate, many soft drinks and over-the-counter medicines.

These fish have high levels of a toxin called mercury. Mercury is harmful to your growing baby’s brain. If you eat tuna, it is okay to eat up to 6 ounces of canned tuna a week but make sure to choose light tuna.


Postnatal Massage therapy

Massage has long been used as a therapeutic way to promote relaxation, pain relief, and stress reduction. Postpartum massage has all of these same benefits, along with helping any new mom experience a quicker recovery and overall better health after giving birth.

benefits of postnatal massage

Postpartum massages usually include many of the same elements of regular massages. Women who get a massage after giving birth will likely notice numerous benefits to their body and mood that are associated with massage in general.

Postpartum massage relaxes muscles, increases circulation, and lowers stress hormones, bringing both physical and emotional relief.

It's normal to experience achy muscles after childbirth. A postpartum massage can help relieve pain, especially in areas that are prone to getting sore like the arms, shoulders, and back. Massaging the chest area also opens up the shoulders and relieves breast pain.

Hormones like estrogen increase at a significant level during pregnancy and then decrease after delivery. Postpartum massage can help balance your hormones, as well as your mood.

During pregnancy body fluids typically increase by about 50%. After pregnancy, a postpartum massage can help increase circulation and lymphatic drainage so that the body can effectively process excess fluid and restore balance.

Better sleep- It’s common to feel exhausted after giving birth and especially as you take care of your newborn. Massage can help ease fatigue, support relaxation, and improve quality of sleep.

Improved breastfeeding- Postpartum massage has been shown to increase a lactation hormone known as prolactin, which increases milk production.

Why You Might Need Postnatal Massage

After delivering a baby, a woman may experience a postpartum phase known as “baby blues.” This experience could involve depression, postpartum psychosis, stretch marks, and vascular problems:

New mothers can experience the "baby blues," which often involves symptoms including mood swings, increased feelings of anxiety and sadness, reduced appetite, and difficulty sleeping.

This is a severe type of depression that affects some women after giving birth. Symptoms include mood swings, withdrawing from friends and family, loss of appetite, and difficulty bonding with the baby.

After giving birth, women will often notice stretch marks on their stomach, and may experience pain throughout the body as well as residual muscle aches.

Pregnancy causes an increased pressure on the leg veins, causing some women to experience varicose veins (twisted enlarged veins).


Postnatal Yoga and Acupuncture

Yoga in the postnatal period is all about honoring your post-baby body and calming your mind. Giving birth and sustaining life is quite a journey. Acupuncture has a history of over 3,000 years in helping women recover after childbirth, and can be extremely helpful for common postpartum conditions.

Benefits of Postnatal Yoga

After having a baby, your body needs time to heal and rest — and so does your mind. postnatal yoga can help with both. This form of yoga focuses on recovery and restoration and can alleviate stress and depression after giving birth.

Yoga is a wonderful tool for becoming better acquainted with your body, says Jyothi Larson, author of Yoga Mom, Buddha Baby (Bantam).

Yoga's emphasis on breathing and moving simultaneously helps you breathe more deeply, says Larson. For some women, it triggers feelings of deep relaxation and well-being. Some new moms also swear by yoga for postpartum depression.

Pregnancy can cause even the straightest arrow to slouch. Then you start nursing, pushing a stroller, and lifting a baby and your posture may really suffer, says Larson. Some of the best yoga benefits are increased back and shoulder strength, which improves posture. Yoga also opens up your chest, making it easier to stand up tall.

Joining other women in a postpartum yoga class is a great way to make new friends, all of whom are facing the same challenges you are. Even if you prefer to practice at home, an occasional class at a studio lets you tap into this network.

Acupuncture for Postnatal Care

Acupuncture aids in the body maintaining homeostasis (the body in it’s most optimal health) which creates a healthier, stronger, more supported and happier mama!

Acupuncture helps to calm the nervous system and allow for a sense of calm in the body and mind. This sense of calm can support a women with the many demands of newfound parenthood.

This is a severe type of depression that affects some women after giving birth. Symptoms include mood swings, withdrawing from friends and family, loss of appetite, and difficulty bonding with the baby.

root cause of symptoms that are manifesting, such as postpartum anxiety and depression. Acupuncture points to lessen the root symptoms to allow the body to heal from birth and prepare for the new journey of parenthood.

Being a mother is a powerful experience. The Love for a child is fierce and consuming. Aside from the physical and mental support, acupuncture creates a time and space for you to employ self-care. You are alone in a room healing for 30 minutes. Taking care of yourself and restoring homeostasis in your body are essential for your well-being.


Postnatal Mental Health

The first few days and weeks after your baby is born are often filled with many emotions. Feelings of excitement and joy are often mixed with feelings of worry and tiredness. Your sense of who you are may have changed throughout your pregnancy and the birth of your baby.

Self-care

Practicing these self-care tips may help your mental health by reducing stress and giving you the energy you need to cope with change, solve problems and manage your feelings and emotions.

  • Take things one step at a time and one day at a time.
  • Drink plenty of fluids, eat regularly and follow Canada’s food guide.
  • Be active. Even going for short walks can help boost your energy and mood
  • Take a nap or rest when your baby sleeps.
  • Talk about how you’re feeling with someone who will listen without judging and who can offer you support.
  • Write down your thoughts or feelings in a journal.
  • Take time for yourself, even if it’s just for short periods of time to help you feel refreshed.
  • Practice simple relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and distraction. Taking short relaxation breaks throughout the day can be really helpful.

Relaxation technique

Get comfortable. Lie down with your feet up. Then:

  • Take 4–5 deep breaths—in through your nose and filling up your abdomen, and out, slowly through your mouth. This is like pretending you’re blowing on a candle, and trying to flicker the flame, but not blow it out.
  • Think about sending the tension out of your body each time you breathe out.
  • Starting with your toes, relax each part of your body. Relax your way up, from your toes to your head.
  • When you get to your head, breathe deeply 4–5 more times. Let go of all of your tension.
  • Now, imagine a favourite place. Imagine you’re in that place and stay there a while. Enjoy the feeling in your body and the calm in your mind.
  • When you’re ready, slowly bring yourself back to the present. Take a moment to enjoy how you feel.