A postpartum doula’s role during daytime support involves a variety of tasks aimed at supporting new parents as they adjust to life with a newborn. The focus is on providing practical assistance, emotional support, and guidance to help parents navigate the early days or weeks of parenthood. Here’s a breakdown of what postpartum doula daytime support typically includes:

1. Infant Care Support:
Feeding Assistance: Help with breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, including ensuring proper latch, positioning, and offering guidance on establishing feeding routines.
Diapering: Change diapers and offer suggestions on infant hygiene.
Soothing and Comforting: Assist in calming a fussy baby by offering different soothing techniques (rocking, swaddling, holding, gentle motions).
Sleep Guidance: Provide advice on safe sleep practices and assist in creating a gentle sleep routine for the baby.
Monitoring Baby's Well-being: Observe the baby’s behavior, feeding, and sleep patterns to help guide parents on normal infant development.

2. Emotional and Mental Support:
Listening and Reassurance: Offer emotional support and active listening, helping parents process their birth experience and adjust to the challenges of parenthood.
Encouragement for Parents: Provide a comforting, non-judgmental space where parents can ask questions and express concerns.
Partner Support: Facilitate communication between partners, helping both feel supported and encouraged during this adjustment period.

3. Physical Recovery for Parents:
Postpartum Care Guidance: Provide information on physical recovery, such as managing postpartum bleeding, perineal care, or cesarean recovery.
Breastfeeding Positioning Support: Help with breastfeeding techniques to prevent nipple pain and ensure the baby is latching well.
Gentle Stretching or Relaxation Techniques: Suggest light exercises or relaxation techniques for the parent’s well-being, especially if the mother is healing from childbirth.

4. Light Housekeeping and Household Help:
Meal Preparation: Prepare light meals or snacks for the parents, ensuring they are nourished and able to rest.
Cleaning Up After Feedings: Wash bottles, breast pump parts, or cleaning up any baby-related messes.
Tidying Up: Assist with light household chores such as folding laundry, organizing the nursery, or keeping common areas tidy. 
Errands (if agreed upon): Running short errands, like picking up groceries or baby supplies.

5. Infant Care Education:
Breastfeeding Support: Provide education on breastfeeding challenges like latch issues, milk supply concerns, and positioning.
Baby Care Guidance: Offer advice on baby care basics such as diapering, umbilical cord care, bathing, and soothing techniques.
Newborn Sleep Education: Educate parents on newborn sleep patterns and strategies for helping the baby establish healthy sleep habits.

6. Supporting the Transition to Parenthood:
Sibling Support: If there are older children in the family, help them adjust to the new baby, or even entertain and engage them while parents care for the newborn.
Providing a Listening Ear: Many parents experience emotional ups and downs in the postpartum period. A doula provides a space for them to talk about their feelings and navigate any challenges they face.

7. Breastfeeding or Lactation Support:
Addressing Feeding Issues: If trained in lactation support, the doula can assist with latch issues, nipple pain, engorgement, or managing milk supply.
Referrals to Lactation Consultants (if needed): If the doula is not a certified lactation consultant, they will refer the parents to one if there are more serious breastfeeding concerns.

What a Postpartum Doula Does Not Typically Do During a Day Shift:
Medical Care: A postpartum doula is not a healthcare professional and cannot provide medical assessments, administer medications, or treat medical issues.
Deep Cleaning or Heavy Housework: The role focuses on light housekeeping and assisting with tasks that allow parents to rest, but it doesn’t involve heavy chores like deep cleaning, yard work, or extensive home organizing. *Your doula is not a housekeeper. Please save your toilets for Merry Maids.*
Childcare for Older Siblings: While doulas can help support siblings, they are not typically hired as caregivers for children other than the newborn.
The primary goal of a postpartum doula during the daytime is to ease the transition into parenthood by providing practical, emotional, and physical support. This allows parents to focus on bonding with their baby, recovering from childbirth, and adjusting to their new roles.