One of the most common questions I hear from expecting and new mothers is:

“If I’m breastfeeding and I have to wake up with the baby anyway, how can an overnight doula really help me?”

It’s a great question.

When you’re exclusively breastfeeding, yes, you will likely still wake during the night to nurse your baby. But there is a big difference between waking to breastfeed and being responsible for everything that happens throughout the night.

With overnight postpartum doula support, your job can be much simpler:

You feed your baby. I handle the rest.

Breastfeeding Doesn’t Mean Doing Nights Alone

Newborn nights can involve much more than feeding.

Your baby wakes. You change a diaper. You nurse. Baby needs to be burped. Maybe there’s another diaper change. Then comes soothing, rocking and trying to get baby settled back to sleep.

By the time you finally climb back into bed, you may have been awake far longer than the actual feeding took.

And then, just as you fall into a deep sleep…

Baby wakes again.

An overnight postpartum doula can take many of those responsibilities off your shoulders so you can focus on breastfeeding and getting back to sleep.

What Does an Overnight Doula Do While Mom Breastfeeds?

When I provide overnight postpartum support, care is personalized to the individual needs of each mother, baby and family.

For a breastfeeding family, overnight support may include:

• Bringing baby to Mom when it’s time to nurse
• Changing baby’s diaper and clothing when needed
• Burping baby after a feeding
• Soothing and settling baby back to sleep
• Washing and preparing pump parts
• Preparing bottles of expressed breast milk when appropriate
• Safely storing expressed breast milk
• Tracking feedings, diapers and sleep if the family desires
• Keeping baby’s feeding and nursery areas tidy
• Providing reassurance, newborn education and emotional support

Instead of Mom staying awake for the entire process, she can concentrate on feeding her baby and then return to sleep while I take care of the rest.

Those extra minutes of sleep throughout the night can add up.

What If I’m Breastfeeding AND Pumping?

Breastfeeding doesn’t always mean exclusively nursing at the breast.

Some mothers nurse and pump. Others introduce bottles of expressed milk. Some families combination feed. And feeding plans can change as babies grow and family needs change.

There isn’t one feeding journey that works for every family.

If pumping is part of your plan, an overnight doula can help manage some of the work that comes along with it.

Imagine finishing your pumping session and simply going back to bed instead of standing at the kitchen sink washing pump parts in the middle of the night.

Sometimes postpartum support is found in those seemingly small things.

Overnight Breastfeeding Support Is Also About Caring for Mom

When a new baby arrives, there is understandably a tremendous amount of attention placed on the baby.

When did baby eat?

How much did baby eat?

When was the last wet diaper?

Is baby sleeping?

But there’s another person in the room who needs care, too.

Mom.

Your body is recovering from pregnancy and birth while simultaneously nourishing and caring for a newborn.

Part of my role as a postpartum doula is making sure the mother isn’t forgotten in the process.

That can mean making sure you have water nearby before nursing, helping you get comfortable for a feeding, bringing you a snack, encouraging you to rest between feeds or simply being a calm and knowledgeable presence when everything feels very new at 3 a.m.

Sometimes the most important question I can ask isn’t about the baby at all.

It’s:

“How are YOU doing?”

Can an Overnight Doula Help With Breastfeeding?

A postpartum doula can provide breastfeeding education, encouragement and practical support within her professional scope.

That might include helping you get comfortably positioned, talking through normal newborn feeding behaviors, helping you recognize feeding cues and supporting the feeding plan you’ve chosen for your family.

However, postpartum doulas do not replace your pediatrician, OB/GYN, midwife or an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).

When something falls outside my scope or breastfeeding challenges require clinical assessment, I encourage families to contact the appropriate healthcare or lactation professional.

Good postpartum care includes recognizing when additional support is needed.

“But I’m Going to Wake Up Anyway…”

You probably will.

But consider the difference between these two nights.

In the first, baby wakes and you get out of bed. You change the diaper, nurse, burp, soothe, rock, settle baby and clean up before returning to bed.

In the second, your overnight doula handles baby’s needs until it’s time to nurse. Baby is brought to you. You breastfeed. When the feeding is finished, your doula takes baby, handles the diapering, burping and settling, and you go back to sleep.

You’re still breastfeeding your baby.

You’re just not doing the entire night by yourself.

And that is the difference overnight postpartum support can make.

Better Rest. Better Days.

Hiring an overnight doula isn’t necessarily about getting eight uninterrupted hours of sleep with a newborn.

It’s about protecting the opportunities for rest that are available.

When someone else can take responsibility for many of the nighttime tasks, you may be able to return to sleep sooner after feedings and spend less of the night physically and mentally “on duty.”

And when morning comes, you’ve had support through the night instead of carrying the entire workload alone.

You Feed Baby. I’ll Handle the Rest. 💗

At Compassionate Care Doula Services, my approach to postpartum care is compassionate, knowledgeable and judgment-free.

Whether you’re exclusively breastfeeding, pumping, bottle feeding, combination feeding or still figuring out what works best for you and your baby, my role is not to decide what your feeding journey should look like.

My role is to support you through it.

Because breastfeeding your baby doesn’t mean you have to do nights alone.

If you’re expecting a baby in Bluffton, Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah or the surrounding Lowcountry, I would love to talk with you about what overnight postpartum support could look like for your family.

Rest. Heal. Bond. Let me help with the rest.

Compassionate Care Doula Services, LLC
Certified Postpartum Doula | Overnight Newborn & Postpartum Support
CompassionateCareDoula.com