What home postnatal support would have helped you, and hourly rates?

[Postnatalnest]

Hi everyone 🤍

I’m looking into setting up a gentle, non-medical postnatal support service for new parents at home (help with feeding, light housework, emotional support).

I’d love to ask — what would have helped you most in those early days after bringing baby home? How much you think is acceptable to charge per hour.

No pressure at all, just trying to understand what parents really need 💛

I think it sounds like a great business model and I think you would have a lot of clients.

Good luck

As you’ll know from working in the NHS if you’re working with babies and families there are lots of requirements in terms of training- safeguarding, basic life support etc… I think this is why it’s a tricky offer with it not being a clearly defined role. It does seem like being a nanny or a doula would be clearer and then you could make sure you are covered to safely work in that role. Just thinking you’ll be working with families at a really vulnerable time and I think you need to be really clear on what you offer and what support you can safely provide. The families that may need this extra help could be the ones that have more complex needs and if you’re working independently what do you do if you go to a family and there’s challenges like PND, health concerns, domestic violence etc…I guess it’s thinking of worse case scenarios and how your role would safely manage these?
my kids are teenagers now but I got a lot of this support from baby groups, breastfeeding support groups and the friends I made there. Im not sure how much of this kind of thing still exists though

Hand on heart, unless you’re ridiculously cheap most mums from my experience want a post natal doula, night nanny or maternity nurse. I didnt need anyone to help with the dishes or shopping - that could wait or my husband did it. I needed help with the baby at night so I could sleep and actually then function. That’s where my money went and I expect most mothers who want to spend money on help would place it.

A cleaner, laundry and meal delivery service was what I found most helpful postnatally. I wanted to be with my babies and outsource all the other stuff. I hired a postnatal doula but ended the contract early as I found she just wanted to hold the baby and do nothing of practical use.

I would have liked someone to ve responsible for the baby so I could sleep solidly but I did not trust anyone (other than husband) so taking the baby out of my sight would be a no go. What I really wanted was someone to come in. Be like an authorities friend who took over the household jobs and was praised me excessively to help me feel better and stop crying. I had csections for both and have problems moving and bending and getting pain relief. I would have liked someone to come in, say nice things, checked if I needed food or drink, asked if there were any jobs need doing and if I said no, say righto well im going to run the hoover round/wash up/do washing/clean bathroom anyway. Whilst constantly reassuring me that that is what they were there for and that its not a big deal. Then after this sit down and spend time chatting or being the one in charge of the baby whilst I zone out but in the same room. As the guilt and intrusive thoughts would never have allowed me to leave a baby alone with anyone. The tasks are nice but its the personality that helps. The being asked a few questions but not constant is this okay, should I do this, when should I do that as being a new mum is overwhelming and you need someone to mother you a bit. Price is an issue. Unless you are asking for apprentice wages this is something that can't be had by many. I always think there should be some kind of funding for this type of thing. Im sure I've heard that other European countries have scheme like that. Sorry about the typos, its not letting me go back up to correct anything.