This blog is written by Amanda Delorme MSOT, one of our postpartum home visit therapist at Jade Integrated Health. Amanda received her Master’s in Occupational Therapy from University of Southern Maine in 2015. Amanda went on to receive additional training in pelvic floor therapy with an eagerness to serve women in such a transformative time in their lives. Amanda also holds her yoga teacher certification and teaches prenatal yoga at Jade Integrated Health in Portland.
I remember those early days of postpartum when everything seems like a blur. I just arrived home from the hospital with a newborn baby in my arms trying to navigate this new territory as a mother in addition to healing from the labor and delivery myself. It was a mix of overwhelm and joy. I was experiencing some common postpartum symptoms that I wanted to ask my doctor about; however, I was waiting for my 6 week appointment because I thought I just had to “deal with it” until then. I knew I wanted to get back to exercise but wasn’t sure just how to go about it. Not to mention the challenge of trying to get out of the house with a newborn, planning around feeding and nap schedules all the while being sleep deprived myself.
At that time, I did not know about postpartum home visits. I did not know there were resources available to new moms and that I did not have to wait for my 6 week postpartum visit to get my concerns addressed. Had I known, I would have happily welcomed an Occupational Therapist (OT) or a Physical Therapist (PT) to address my concerns and answer my questions on how to heal after labor and delivery and how to safely return to exercise. Here at Jade Integrated Health, we offer such services with the intention to support women during that early postpartum stage.
During a postpartum home visit, a trained perinatal therapist will come to visit you in that early postpartum stage anywhere from one to six weeks postpartum. Typically, visits last one hour with topics covering: how to properly care for your perineum and pelvic floor following labor and delivery, recovery from C-section, safe return to exercise, normal bladder and bowel function, support with positioning during feeding, checking diastasis recti, and preventing and reducing any pain while caring for your infant, among other topics.
The benefits of the home visits serve as an opportunity to empower women with at-home tools to speed up recovery after labor and delivery or C-section. It also provides the opportunity for our therapist to communicate any concerns to your provider before your 6-week follow-up and fosters an environment for new moms to ask questions and receive answers that they may have related to their new role as mother and in their postpartum body.
It is my mission, as a trained pelvic floor occupational therapist and mother, to support women in the best way possible following childbirth so that women can heal faster, feel empowered, and be set-up for future success.