What IS postpartum?

July 17, 2023

Postpartum is FOREVER--and here’s why it matters to say that.

I get the sense that when a lot of people use the term “postpartum,” they mean your baby is under a year old.

But technically, linguistically, “postpartum” just means “after delivery.”

(So honey, your 90-year-old grandma is postpartum, okay?)

It’s important to remember once postpartum, always postpartum, and here’s why:

On the one hand, postpartum is a sweet and tender time—

You become a mother, and you are a mother for the rest of your life. Your heart, mind, and body are forever changed. It's a beautiful, wonderful miracle.

But here’s the other side of this coin.

Many women encounter issues in pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum that haunt them…for the rest of their lives.

Whether it's a traumatic birth experience, or maybe unresolved pelvic floor issues, these things can linger for decades.

Get informed, ask for help, find yourself a pelvic floor PT, and remember that there's a difference between what's "common" and what's "normal."

Check out my resource list (also linked at the bottom of every email I send!) for pelvic health PTs and other helpful, uh, resources (get it?).

Let’s let your “postpartum is forever” theme just be about the fact that you’re a mom now, not a mom who pees when she sneezes. (And if you are, I've got something for you, too. It doesn’t have to be this way!)