Wellness

Eliminate Stress During the Holiday Season

By Janet Iacobucci 12/10/2019

A healthy balance during the holiday season means eliminating unnecessary stressors and concentrating on what’s most important.... your health and well-being! Your self care is just as important as your families health. So how can we make this stressful holiday season a little more bearable?

REST! I know this is easier said than done but rest is crucial to your physical recovery and mental health. My pro-mom tip- Call in the troops! Have a relative, friend or doula? Extra hands are needed to help you stay put. Postpartum doulas are trained to help you with your recovery and help establish routines with your day to day life. Doulas even provide overnight assistance to really maximize your hours of sleep per night!

SAY NO! Turning down that invite to your distant cousins holiday party is okay. Getting your family out of the door to a function can be taxing and stressful before you even arrive. In the end is it really worth it? Stay home and take a rain check. Please yourself this holiday instead of everyone else. Make the most of the time with your family.

SELF CARE! Make time to do something by yourself and for yourself every day. Whether that be yoga, journaling, a walk or scrolling through your phone and amazon shopping(could be dangerous). It is imperative to worry about yourself without a child attached to you.


SHOP ONLINE! Avoid the seasonal germs, traffic and lines. Shopping in the comfort of your home was made for a reason. Maximize your shopping and minimize the stress.


About Janet

My name is Janet Iacobucci and I am a wife, mother to three children and a postpartum doula here in Rhode Island. From what I can remember I was always fascinated by birth and the postpartum period from a young age. I remember being a child and faithfully watching my favorite show on TLC called “A Baby Story”. This show followed couples throughout their pregnancy, labor and delivery. Which included a quick follow up with the parents after they brought their baby home from the hospital. The follow up always showed exhausted parents with the main focus being on their newborn.

It wasn’t until the birth of my own children that I realized how much planning, education and energy went into baby planning and not into my postpartum recovery or the emotional/physical transition into motherhood. Just like my favorite show as a child the main focus was on my pregnancy, then on my baby and I was rarely/briefly checked in on or taken care of the way I needed to be. I was left in survival mode trying to figure out this new life, baby and body of mine. My husband also trying to figure out fatherhood and ways to be a support to me. I knew from the moment I had my first child that I had a bigger purpose and was born to help others transition into the most important role of their lives. I turned my passion into a career in 2019. I became a certified postpartum doula and started my business Well Nested RI.

What is a postpartum doula?

A postpartum doula is a professional support person trained in the needs of the family in the days, weeks and months after birth or the addition of a new baby. The doula offers non-judgmental support, guidance, evidence-based education and practical hands-on support immediately after birth through the first year. Doulas are an important part of your postpartum recovery. Filling space, educating, empowering and supporting. PPD provide families information and support on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from childbirth, infant soothing, and coping skills for new parents. They also help with light housework, meal prep and help incorporate an older sibling into this new experience. These services can help increase a woman's understanding of how to meet her own needs. Improving a woman's overall state of mental wellness, thereby possibly preventing or decreasing the experience of postpartum depression.

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Janet Iacobucci

Janet Iacobucci is a certified Postpartum doula through Child Birth International, child passenger safety technician through Safe Kids Worldwide and member of Doula's of Rhode Island. She was born and raised in Rhode Island and resides there with her husband and three children.

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