What your baby is doing
Your baby just left a warm, dark, sound-muffled world. Everything is new — gravity, breath, hunger, cold, light. The job of week 1 is gentle re-entry, on you.
Source: Moore et al., Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2016) — Early skin-to-skin
Your healing body
Watch for postpartum haemorrhage signs (soaking a pad/hour, large clots), worsening pain, fever, vision changes, severe headache, shortness of breath — call your provider same day. When safe, the 2025 Canadian Postpartum Guideline encourages early light mobilisation (short room walks, sit-to-stand) — bed-rest carries known adverse effects.
General info — not personalised medical advice.
Maternal mind
Up to 80% of birthing parents experience tearfulness, sensitivity and mood swings as oestrogen and progesterone plummet. Peaks day 3–5, eases by day 14. If it doesn't — call your midwife or GP.
Source: O'Hara & Wisner, Best Practice & Research Clin OB/GYN 28 (2014) — Perinatal mental illness
You & baby
Early skin-to-skin and unhurried contact regulate oxytocin and shape the attachment system. Long looks, slow voice, warm hands — that's the work.
Source: Feldman, Hormones and Behavior 77 (2016) — Neurobiology of attachment
For your partner
Filter visitors, hydrate the birthing parent, change nappies, run logistics. Touch the baby every day — fathers' brains reorganise around hands-on care (Abraham 2014).
Source: Abraham et al., PNAS 111(27), 2014 — Father's brain & childcare
Milk, bottles & beyond
First days produce tiny volumes of colostrum, packed with secretory IgA and antimicrobial proteins. It is exactly enough for a marble-sized stomach.
Infant sleep this week
Newborn sleep is polyphasic and contact-led. Safe-sleep basics: on the back, on a firm flat surface, no loose bedding, room-sharing for the first 6 months (AAP 2022).
Source: AAP Task Force on SIDS — Safe Sleep Recommendations 2022
60-second prompt
List three concrete supports you can ask for this week. Send one message today.
Developed and curated by perinatal psychologists, family & couples counsellors, doulas, perinatal health & fitness specialists, and IBCLCs / lactation consultants. Educational — not a substitute for medical care.