"While we call a woman a mother as soon as she has a child, it will be some time before she herself begins to feel like a mother..." - Andrea Boroff Eagan
Another great quote from Mothering the New Mother: Women's Feelings & Needs After Childbirth: A Support and Resource Guide
Basically, your needs as a new mother would seem simple to define: rest so you can heal; gentle education and reassurance as you gain confidence in your mothering skills; nourishing food and drink for yourself; a relinquishing of practical chores to someone else so you can withdraw into yourself and your baby; knowledge about what is going on with your body and spirit; some realistic images and guideposts about the range of feelings other women have experienced postpartum; a place to "debrief" and talk about the birth itself and your emotions; and most especially, some mothering for yourself, so you can feel protected and honored and continually replenished at a time when many women say they feel as if they are forgotten, peripheral, or "running on empty."
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