In partnership with Not Safe For Moms Group (NSFMG)
Hey Mom Group,
“I have a question for the group: [my] first postpartum period — it caught me totally off guard and I wasn’t ready! It felt like the end of a liminal period that I was very attached to. I floundered around thinking of any mention of it in literature or baby books so as to anchor myself to ways in which others had made meaning of it before me, but found nothing. Was it also a big deal for others?” – M.
Not so long ago, the Not Safe for Mom Group community received the above message from a member, underlining just how rarely we talk about postpartum periods. When (nsfmg) talks about the first postpartum period, we often hear moms speak about feeling caught off-guard or about how they didn’t know how it might feel. But why is something that occurs to nearly every postpartum body such a shock and surprise? Why are we not discussing the emotional changes, as well as the physical ones that accompany this drastic shift to our lives? The topic of what to expect when your period returns after pregnancy would be much less of a mystery if we had more open, honest conversations with one-another about it.
Exactly when your first menstrual cycle will happen after pregnancy varies from mother to mother. For non-breastfeeding mothers, it typically can return anywhere from six weeks to three months postpartum. It is normal for breastfeeding and formula moms to not get their period for weeks, or months. In fact, some exclusively breastfeeding moms do not get their periods for up to a year. For some women, the first postpartum period can affect milk supply (taste, texture, amount) and even cause discomfort during breastfeeding.
But even knowing the approximate timeline of when your first postpartum period will arrive (or other facts) does not take away the anxiety around the event. Some women talk about a feeling of not being “ready” for their first period after birth — and all that a period can imply: Does this mean I have to start planning for another baby? Am I ready for another baby? Do I even want to be pregnant again? Some women (especially those who fought hard to conceive, or who have experienced miscarriages) can feel triggered by their first periods.
If you feel puzzled by what to expect from your first postpartum period, and the periods that follow, you are not alone. Between waiting for your hormones to “balance out”, experiencing period cramps like never before, enduring much heavier flows, or a period that goes completely MIA every once and awhile; postpartum periods can feel Biblical compared to the ones we had before Baby.
And if you are done suffering in silence and confusion, you’ve come to the right place: (nsfmg) is partnering with Easy. to change the conversation around postpartum periods.
Introducing: Easy.
Easy. is a subscription service that delivers affordable, 100% organic menstrual hygiene products to your door every three months.
After you subscribe, you can choose to receive a supply of tampons, pads/liners, or a combination of tampons and pads/liners. A portion of each subscription goes towards supplying pads and health education to girls in Kenya via the ZanaAfrica Foundation.
Easy. is dedicated to educating and removing shame around periods. Their #NOSHAME campaign is helping to change the conversation around menstruation.
Let’s #BreakTheCycle Together
And now, Easy. and (nsfmg) are partnering to end the silence and stigma around postpartum periods with our #BreakTheCycle campaign.
We can remove postpartum period confusion and shame together by opening up frank conversations. We want to know your experiences with your cycles after baby: What was your first postpartum period like? What did you expect it to be like? How did your cycle change after pregnancy? What kinds of emotions did you feel about getting your first period since giving birth?
Check out the nsfmg Instagram this week, where we will be hosting this discussion.
How to Participate in the Challenge
Answer this question: What did you wish you had known about postpartum periods and cycles that no one told you?
- Send us a DM with a postpartum image of yourself and your answer to the above.
- Use hashtag #BreakTheCycle in YOUR social media and share a postpartum image of you along with your answer to the above question.
