Baby Due Over the Holidays? Planning Postpartum Support

A late-November, December or early-January due date means your first weeks at home overlap with the busiest time of year. The people you would normally lean on may be traveling or hosting, and the calendar fills with visits and plans. Deciding on support before the season starts means fewer decisions to make with a newborn in your arms.

Doulas of the Valley provides postpartum, travel and adoption doula support to families in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and across Maricopa County. Here is how each can fit around a holiday-season due date.

Before the holidays: make your plan

• Write down who will handle meals, nights, older children and visitors. Our guide explains why a postpartum plan matters and what to include.
• Stock the freezer in the fall with easy freezer meals that can be defrosted and heated in minutes.
• Decide how visits will work and share it with family early. Holiday visits often mean grandparents meeting the baby for the first time; read about how doulas support grandparents too.
• Talk to us about your due date and the support you are considering, so the conversation happens before the season gets busy.

Help at home in the first weeks

A postpartum doula supports the whole family at home. That can include:

• Meal preparation, light housekeeping and errands
• Sibling care
• Bottle and combination feeding support
• Newborn care instruction, soothing and comfort techniques
• Recognizing normal postpartum physical recovery and emotional responses
• Help with decisions and product recommendations as new choices come up

Overnight postpartum support means someone cares for your baby through the night so you can rest. Read what an overnight postpartum doula actually does, or how a night doula differs from a night nanny. For the everyday skills, our newborn care guide covers the early weeks.

Traveling to family with a newborn

If the holidays mean a trip, a travel doula can come with you for a few days or a few weeks, caring for your newborn and your older children so you can enjoy the time away. The schedule is flexible during the trip; the family provides the doula's accommodation, food and travel expenses, and there are minimum hours per day. Before you go, see our tips for flying with a newborn and ideas for celebrating baby's first holiday.

Adoption placements over the holidays

If you are expecting an adoption placement this season, our adoption doula support brings the same postpartum skills to wherever the delivery is. A doula can fly or drive to the location, stay with the newborn and teach you how to care for your baby.

Heading back to work in January

If your leave ends after the holidays, our guide to returning to work, pumping and covering the nights walks through the logistics.