Self-Care for New and Expecting Parents

Emma Reyes-Ramirez:Self-care is very important for a brand new parent.Kind of having some time where you get to regroup just for you is really important.Fiona:It was so hard to shift all the attention and self-care from me to mylittle one.I used to be a type-A person and I used to thrive of taking care of myself and excelling in my career and having everything in its place. When my baby came, I lost all of that and I didn't know how to cope.Michelle Gebhardt, MD:One of the most important things I talk about in terms of self-care, as a new parent, is setting boundaries.It's so important to let your friends and family know what you need. Do you want visitors? Do not want visitors, for example. The other important thing when it comes to self-care is actually finding some enjoyable activities for yourself.These activities might be going for a walk, listening to some music, or even taking a nap. You can also go to kp. org/mentalhealth to find other ways that you can achieve self-care.Kaiser Permanente has many self-care apps such as Calm and Headspace Care free at no cost.Emma Reyes-Remirez:Something that I find that's really important that I want my patients to know is that they have the right and the permission to take time for themselves, to take care of themselves and to honor their process as they adjust to being new parents.Fiona:Sleep is very, very important.If you have family members who are willing to take your baby just for an hour or two, just to let you sleep, take it.Olivia:What I think is very important is to sit down with yourself, think to yourself, get to know this new person that you are, this new parent that you are.Kourtney:For me, it was finding time to, you know, take a bath or a shower knowing that my twins were cared for in peace and just really advocating for that and advocating for time with friends to kind of rekindle that part of yourself that may have been, you know, ignored for the duration of your pregnancy or soon after.If it's talking on the phone to your best friend, if it's venting, if it's going for a walk, but pouring into yourself every day for just a little bit of time goes a long, long way.And I didn't do that soon enough. And now can really feel the benefits of pouring into me for just a bit.