119: The fourth trimester: preparing for birth and postpartum PCOS

The PCOS Nutritionist Podcast

As I’m sure you can imagine having been pregnant with PCOS, I’ve had a raft of questions from other expecting mothers with PCOS and enquiring minds on how I’m preparing for birth and what the heck happens to PCOS postpartum.

As you’re listening to this podcast, I’m actually right in the thick of the newborn stage. I’m sure I’ll reflect back on this podcast with some things I wish I’d known, but hey hindsight is a wonderful thing!

As I’m recording this episode though, I’m a few weeks away from giving birth and I’ve been thinking a lot about how drastically life will change. While I help women and birthing people day-in-day-out with understanding their PCOS (and for some trying to conceive), I haven’t lived that postpartum experience in the first person yet — only through a more scientific lens.

Because I know it can be such a whirlwind and an unpredictable time, I wanted to take a moment to pause and touch on what I’m doing to prepare for birth and postpartum PCOS in these final moments of this pregnancy.

There are so many unknowns in the fourth trimester and what I always say to my patients and protocolers is to ‘focus on what’s within your control’. So that’s exactly what I plan to do in today’s episode — share with you what’s in my control right now that will help future Clare not run around like a headless, sleep deprived chicken (or new mother hen should I say)!

While my journey will likely be a bit different to some of yours — hello leading and running a business meaning no traditional maternity leave, I know you’ll probably think I’m crazy. I think that having this honest, open conversation about how I’m preparing for birth, postpartum life and my PCOS postpartum will have so much value to so many of you, whether you’re planning to have children or not.

This episode is for you if:

• You’re currently pregnant with PCOS
• You are curious as to how PCOS changes postpartum
• The fourth trimester is worrying you
• You want to know how I’m managing PCOS, a new baby and a business all at the same time

Some things we cover in this episode:

• My support systems: it takes a village to raise a child (they’re not wrong!)
• What I’m doing to prepare for and after birth
• My approach when it comes to medicated / unmedicated
• Understanding all the options
• Birth plans — do I have one? What does it look like?
• Birthing courses
• The mental pressure of being a new mum — how I’m preparing
• Antenatal classes
• Building a community of other mothers with similar aged babies
• The things that’ll be harder to do postpartum and how I’m navigating that
• Nursery plans
• My postpartum survival kit
• What to expect in the first few hours, weeks and months
• Lactation consultants and breastfeeding with PCOS
• How I’m managing the judgements from other people on how you look after / raise your baby

Resources and References:

• Postpartum course
• My Book: Getting Pregnant with PCOS

Links to our programs:

• The PCOS Protocol
• Eggducated