cocooned
verb. to envelop in a protective or comforting way.
"birth is not the finish line"
- Dr Oscar Serrallach
I wish someone had told me this as I spent hours researching car seats and prams, or deciding what I should pack in the hospital bag. Birth is not the finish line, it is the beginning of a new transition, a new cycle, a new life, a new you. And we must prepare for and acknowledge it.
“The moment a child is born, the mother is born also. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother never. A mother is something absolutely new” - Osho
After birth, you enter a sacred window of time where both you and your baby are finding your way in a new world. Whether this is your first baby or your fourth, each experience will be different and needs to be supported to ensure the optimal wellbeing of mother, baby and family.
I wrote this guide to help you create a postpartum experience that nourishes and supports you, and to bring intention and respect to this important rite of passage you’re entering. In this guide you’ll find ideas, tools, resources and recommendations I have gathered as I dove deep into the motherhood journey, fuelled by my own desire to have a more supported postpartum experience next time round.
After years of supporting mothers, listening to their stories and my own research, I created the Dear Mama Postpartum Pillars © a formula to achieve a more peaceful and supported experience.
Dear Mama Postpartum Pillars ©
Cocooned is broken into six sections, with each section addressing one of the Dear Mama Postpartum Pillars.
1. REST
We look at rest beyond the throw away "sleep when the baby sleeps!" comments, talking about:
- What kind of rest you need postpartum
- How to prepare for sleep with a newborn (including how to get on the same page with your partner or support people and avoid 3am fights)
- Guest interview from Fiona Weaver from Mama Matters about what to expect for baby sleep in the first year and how everyone can get some more shut eye.
2. REPLENISH
Your body will require nourishment and time to rest and recuperate. In this section we talk about practical strategies for staying well in the newborn haze, including:
- Guest interview from Laura Callea aka Physio Laura chatting about physical rehabilitation from pregnancy + birth.
- Guest interview from Nutritionist Bek Ford chatting about postpartum nutrition
- Recipes for postpartum including some one handed snack ideas.
3. RITUAL
Rituals help us move between one way of being and another, and allow us to feel more steady and grounded during change. In this guide we explore:
- Motherhood as a rite of passage
- How to host a mother blessing (or have someone host one for you)
- How to use daily rituals to feel more grounded and supported through change.
4. SUPPORT
Many mamas underestimate how much help they will need postpartum, or feel funny about asking for support. In this pillar we chat about:
- The kind of support you need postpartum and how to ask for it without feeling awkward
- Instructions for setting up a meal train
- Tips on setting boundaries and sample scripts for asking for help
- List of questions to work through with your partner and support person (great date night activity!) to prepare for postpartum
- Printable postpartum support plan for you to work through with a partner
5. SELF-CARE
Self-care (alongside community care) is really important postpartum, to keep us feeling 'like us' amongst the disrupted sleep, this section includes:
- A chat about matrescence and how we can feel during postpartum
- Easy postpartum self-care routines
- Postpartum journalling prompts to help you unpack your experience
- Tips for overcoming resistance to spending time on you
6. SURRENDER
Postpartum is a big shift from our "normal" days, and requires a degree of surrender to what is, rather than what we think it should be. In this section we chat about:
- How to release control and perfection and embrace acceptance and surrender for this stage of your journey
- The importance of lowering your expectations and redefining productivity
- How to build awareness of the perfect mother myth and avoid getting sucked in to comparison
- How self-compassion can help you adjust to postpartum
PLUS: Hospital bag check-list, list of Australian support services, postpartum supplies checklist, postpartum shopping list, recommended reading and listening lists and more.
This is for you if:
- You're a first time mama to be, not sure what to expect postpartum and want to give yourself the most peaceful and nourishing experience possible.
- You are a newly postpartum mama (first 3 months) and are looking for practical support for your journey.
- You have had an unsupported postpartum in the past, and want to have a better experience this time.
- You don't want to spend hours looking through books, podcasts and workshops researching and want a quick and practical guide you can implement easily.
- You want to prepare your self with practical support, as well as emotional and self-care support.
Expert Interviews
Guest articles from some of my favourite women's and babies health experts.
Physio Laura
Laura Callea aka Physio Laura is a women’s health physiotherapist with a passion for helping women during pregnancy and after birth. She is motivated to empower and educate women to understand their bodies better and make informed decisions. She believes that many of the common complaints during pregnancy and after birth could be prevented and as such she places a strong emphasis on a preventative approach to women’s health. Her goal is to improve pelvic health during the pre and post natal years so that women can enjoy the wonderful experience of motherhood so much more.
Fiona Weaver
Fiona is a Social Worker and the founder of Mama Matters. She provides early parenting and sleep support to responsive and reflective parents, by empowering them to find their flow in new motherhood. Fiona is an advocate for understanding babies as unique little humans and spreading the word about biologically normal baby sleep and attachment behaviour.
Bek Ford
Bek is a Nutritionist with a strong interest in nutritional psychology. She provides individual holistic support to her clients. She works with individuals with a range of concerns, from preconception to autoimmune disorders, gut issues and endocrine dysfunction. When Bek became a mother herself, she began her journey into nutritional psychology, as she noticed her relationship with her own body had been neglected. Now, Bek implements this into her consultation framework to ensure that her clients have a positive relationship with food and their bodies to ensure sustainable habits are formed.
"I binge read this in a couple of hours. It covers everything you need to know about early motherhood. I wish I had this resource last time. I feel like I'm walking into postpartum with a plan that supports not only the baby - but supports me. I would really recommend this for any one expecting a little one, or in the early stages of motherhood. "
Petra
Expecting second baby
A practical and easy to use e-book loaded with information, templates and tips to help you have a more peaceful postpartum.
Practical, simple + efficent
Cocooned is designed to make your postpartum prep simple, but address the common 'pinch points' of postpartum - like lack of sleep, support, self-care, nutrition, communication and boundaries. All of the training is simple, practical and time efficient. When you purchase Cocooned you receive:
- A pdf e-book which you can save to your computer or device
- Seperate pdf postpartum support plan to print and complete with your partner or support people
- Printable pdf journal prompts, shopping lists, self-care routines and affirmations for you to print and place around your home for easy access
Invest in a peaceful postpartum
Get instant access to Cocooned now and begin preparing your peaceful postpartum
$39
Cocooned pdf guide
Printable postpartum support plan
3 guest interviews
Printable checklists, templates and reminders
I wrote this guide for you, to help you have a peaceful postpartum
My name is Nikki and I am a Matrescence Educator, Women’s Life Cycle Guide and host of the top iTunes podcast the Dear Mama Project.
When I had my son in 2016 it took me by surprise how unprepared I was for the realities of postpartum. I had spent a lot of time preparing the nursery and picking a pram, but not a lot of time preparing my life and picking a postpartum support team. It seemed like there was a lot of focus on pregnancy and birth, but very little focused on supporting the new mama to rest and recuperate from pregnancy and birth, or help the new family adjust to their new normal.
After my son was born and I recovered, I went on to start a national mum meet-up community, and heard the same thing from thousands of mums - there needs to be more focus on supporting postpartum. Our postpartum experience impacts us for the rest of our lives - we will never forget how we felt and how we were supported at this time.
I've since gone on to study womens health, specifically matrescence and combined that with my 10 years experience in adult learning and development to create a resource that I know would have helped me, and will definitely help you.
I will leave you with the advice I wish I had, if you want your family to be well - you need to be well. As a mama you will set the energy for your home, investing in yourself, your recovery and wellbeing is the best decision you will ever make.
Nikki xx
FAQs
Both! Ideally you would start the guide when you're pregnant, so you have time to implement some of the support practices, however if you are a newly postpartum mama (first 1-12 weeks) you will still find it super useful.
You can expect honest, compassionate and practical advice and tools to help you prepare for postpartum. You will need to implement everything to get the results (of course!) but the scaffolding for a more peaceful postpartum lies within these pages.
Based on the nature of the work and resource I do not offer refunds. All sales are final.
All of the resources are downloadable pdfs. upon purchase you will be given access to a platform to download your resources. You will have access to the platform for 12 months, so please ensure you download your resources in this time. If you forget, just send me an email with your receipt and I will forward them to you.
No. You are purchasing a single user licence, that can only be used by one person. All sales are subject to the terms and conditions on www.nikkimccahon.com including single user licence and copyright. By purchasing you agree to the terms and conditions of sale and are responsible for any breeches.
I produce a high volume of free content on my podcast which you are welcome to, my paid content supports my free work and my family.
Please respect my work and do not share the material with anyone else.
Anyone found to be sharing my paid content without permission will be removed from the course without warning and will be subject to damages.
No. You are purchasing a single user licence, that can only be used by one person. If you would like to use my resources in your practice, please contact me [email protected]
All sales are subject to the terms and conditions on www.nikkimccahon.com including single user licence and copyright. By purchasing you agree to the terms and conditions of sale and are responsible for any breeches.
I produce a high volume of free content on my podcast which you are welcome to, my paid content supports my free work and my family.
Please respect my work and do not share the material with anyone else.
Anyone found to be sharing my paid content without permission will be removed from the course without warning and will be subject to damages
Cocooned does not include 1:1 support. If you would like 1:1 support, please visit the 'coaching' section of my website.
"The most difficult part of birth is the first year afterwards. It is the year of travail – when the soul of a woman must birth the mother inside her…
It is a private and silent birth of the soul, but it is no less holy than the event of childbirth, perhaps it is even more sacred."
- Joy Kusek