Looking After Yourself After Having a Baby: A UK Recovery Checklist

In the first weeks after a birth, every feed, nap and nappy gets counted. Yours mostly don't. This guide is about the other person in the room: you. It covers rest, eating and drinking, pain relief, your pelvic floor, getting outside, your feelings, and what partners can do, with a short checklist you can stick on the fridge.

The short answer: rest whenever your baby sleeps and accept help when it's offered. Eat regular meals, and keep a drink beside you when you feed. Take pain relief only as the packet says or as your midwife, GP or pharmacist advises. Do your pelvic floor exercises little and often, and get outside for a short walk when you feel ready. Feeling tearful or low for a few days after the birth is very common. If it lasts longer than about two weeks, or you're struggling, talk to your GP, midwife or health visitor.

Rest: sleep when your baby sleeps, if you can

The NHS is clear that it is completely normal to feel exhausted in the first weeks or months after having a baby. Its advice is simple: sleep or rest whenever your baby sleeps, ignore any jobs around the house that aren't essential, and accept (or ask for) help from friends and family.

That's easier said than done when the washing is piling up, so give yourself permission in advance:

• Pick one nap a day that's yours. Not the one where you catch up on messages. Phone face down, eyes shut, even if you don't fall asleep.
• Take turns at night if there are two of you. One longer stretch of sleep each does more than two broken nights.
• Lower the bar. A tidy house can wait. You can't.

Eating and drinking well

You don't need anything special. The NHS says you don't need to follow a special diet while you're breastfeeding, just a healthy diet with a variety of foods every day. The hard part is remembering to eat at all, so make it easy:

• Keep one-handed snacks where you feed: fruit, crackers and cheese, a handful of nuts.
• Say yes when someone offers to cook. Batch meals in the freezer are a gift to your future self.
• Have a proper breakfast, even if it's at 11am.

How much to drink: the NHS Eatwell guide suggests 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day, and says you may need more if you're breastfeeding. Water, lower-fat milk and lower-sugar drinks, including tea and coffee, all count. If you're breastfeeding, the NHS suggests having a drink beside you when you settle down to feed. Water, low fat milk or diluted pure fruit juice are all good choices.

Two more things from the NHS for breastfeeding parents: keep caffeine to no more than 200mg a day, and consider a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter months, as everyone is advised to.

Pain relief and your own medicines

Stitches, a caesarean wound or afterpains can all mean you need pain relief in the first days and weeks. Take any medicine only as the packet says, or as your midwife, GP or pharmacist has told you.

If you're breastfeeding, the NHS says it's always best to tell your GP, pharmacist, midwife or health visitor, because small amounts of a medicine can pass into breast milk, although few medicines are unsafe while breastfeeding. Paracetamol is one that can be taken, but check with a GP or midwife first if it's combined with other medicines. If you need an anti-inflammatory painkiller, ibuprofen is thought to be the safest choice. A pharmacist can check anything you're unsure about, including cold and flu remedies.

A practical tip: write down each dose of your own medicine, separately from your baby's. When you're tired and someone else is helping, it's easy to lose track of when you last took something, or to mix up whose medicine is whose.

Your pelvic floor and your body

With practice, pelvic floor exercises can be done anywhere and at any time: while you feed, in the queue, waiting for the kettle. The NHS guide to your post-pregnancy body suggests building up to 10 repeats of each exercise at least 3 times a day. For a long squeeze, hold for as long as you can, but no longer than 10 seconds, then relax. Keep breathing normally and don't pull your stomach in.

The same page suggests avoiding sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with, as well as heavy lifting and straining on the toilet. If the gap between your stomach muscles is still obvious 8 weeks after the birth, contact your GP. For any physical problem, the NHS says you can ask a GP or health visitor for help at any time.

Getting outside and moving again

A short walk does a lot: daylight, fresh air, a change of scene and often a sleeping baby. The NHS suggests that you go outside for a walk and some fresh air, and its guide to keeping fit and healthy with a baby says that after a straightforward birth you can start light activity such as walking when you feel ready. It suggests waiting until your 6-week postnatal check before starting high-impact exercise. If you had a caesarean or a difficult birth, ask your midwife or GP what's right for you.

Start small. Ten minutes round the block counts, and so does sitting in the garden with a cup of tea.

Accepting help

The NHS keeps coming back to this one: rest, don't try to do everything, and accept help from friends, family or your partner. People often want to help but don't know how, so be specific:

• "Could you bring a meal round on Thursday?"
• "Would you hold the baby while I have a shower?"
• "Could you put a load of washing on while you're here?"
• "Can you visit next week instead? We're resting this week."

Saying no to visitors is help too. You don't owe anyone a tidy house or a hot drink.

Your feelings: baby blues and postnatal depression

Having a baby can bring big feelings, and not all of them are the ones you expected. The NHS says that feeling down, anxious or irritable for a few days after your baby is born is very common. This is often called the baby blues, and it usually goes away within 2 weeks of the birth.

Postnatal depression is different. It can start while you're pregnant, soon after the birth or up to a year later. The NHS says to get help even if you only have some of the signs, because you're more likely to recover with treatment. It usually gets better in 3 to 6 months, though it can sometimes last longer. Fathers and partners can have depression after having a baby too.

If you're not feeling like yourself, you haven't failed, and you don't have to wait until it's bad to ask for help. This help is for everyone, whether or not you use any app:

• Your GP, midwife or health visitor. They're there for you as well as your baby, and can point you to local services.
• NHS talking therapies. In England, if you're 18 or over (or 16 or 17 in some areas), you can refer yourself without seeing your GP first.
• Samaritans. Call 116 123, free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if you need someone to talk to.
• NHS 111. Call 111 and choose the mental health option. They'll tell you the right place to get help.
• PANDAS (Pre and Postnatal Depression Advice and Support) offers support groups online and in person, a text line and a callback service.
• Mind has information on postnatal depression, support services and how to help someone else.

If you feel you can't keep yourself or your baby safe, call 999 or go to A&E now. The NHS says a mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a physical one (NHS: urgent help for mental health).

A simple daily checklist

Print this, or screenshot it, and tick off what you can. It's a reminder, not a test. Some days one tick is a good day.

• ☐ Rested at least once while the baby slept
• ☐ Ate a proper meal (or something close)
• ☐ Had a drink with every feed
• ☐ Took any medicines at the right time, and wrote them down
• ☐ Did my pelvic floor exercises
• ☐ Got outside, even for ten minutes
• ☐ Asked for, or accepted, one bit of help
• ☐ Checked in with how I'm feeling, and told someone if it's hard

Keeping track of yourself, not just the baby

Most baby apps stop at the baby. In CubTrack, a section called Looking after you (part of CubTrack Plus) keeps your own medicines with when you can take the next dose, a small daily list with gentle reminders, a water count (there's a button for it on the breastfeed timer too), your own sleep, and a private daily check-in that only you can see unless you choose to share it. The support page, with the same numbers as above, is free for everyone in the app, Plus or not. A notebook on the fridge does the job just as well; what matters is that someone is keeping an eye on you.

How partners can help

If you're the partner, your job in the early weeks is to look after the person who's looking after the baby. Some of the most useful things are the least glamorous:

• Bring a drink and a snack to every feed without being asked.
• Take a feed or an early morning (with expressed milk or formula, if that's your plan) so they can sleep a longer stretch.
• Run the house: meals, washing, the shopping, and the visitors. You decide when people come and when they go.
• Ask how they are, then listen. Not "are you OK?" in passing, but sitting down and meaning it.
• Notice changes. If they seem low for more than a couple of weeks, gently suggest talking to the GP, midwife or health visitor, and offer to go with them. Mind has information on how to help someone else.
• Look after yourself too. The NHS says fathers and partners can have depression after having a baby. The support above is for you as well.

If you both use CubTrack, our guide to a baby tracking app for both parents covers sharing the logging so it doesn't all fall on one person.

Your 6 to 8 week postnatal check

The NHS describes your 6 to 8 week postnatal check as a good time to talk to the GP about any physical or mental health problems you've had since the birth. It's easy to spend the appointment talking about the baby, so write a list beforehand: pain, bleeding, your pelvic floor, sleep, how you're feeling. Nothing is too small or too embarrassing to mention.

Related reading

• Breastfeeding a Newborn (UK): How Often, How Long & Building Your Supply
• Newborn Feeding Schedule UK: Week by Week
• Cluster Feeding: How Long It Lasts & What the NHS Says
• How Many Wet & Dirty Nappies Should a Baby Have?
• Baby Tracking App for Both Parents

Frequently asked questions

How much water should I drink when breastfeeding?

The NHS Eatwell guide suggests 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day for adults, and says you may need more if you're breastfeeding. A simple habit is to have a drink beside you whenever you settle down to feed. Water, low fat milk or diluted pure fruit juice are all good choices.

Is it normal to cry a lot after having a baby?

Yes, in the first days. The NHS says feeling down, anxious or irritable for a few days after the birth is very common, and it usually passes within 2 weeks. If it lasts longer, gets worse or you're finding it hard to cope, talk to your GP, midwife or health visitor.

Can dads and partners get postnatal depression?

Yes. The NHS says fathers and partners can also have depression after having a baby. The same help is there for them: their GP, NHS talking therapies, Samaritans on 116 123, and NHS 111's mental health option.

When can I start exercising after giving birth?

After a straightforward birth, the NHS says you can start light activity such as walking when you feel ready, and suggests waiting until your 6-week postnatal check before high-impact exercise. Pelvic floor exercises can be done anywhere and at any time. If you had a caesarean or a difficult birth, ask your midwife or GP.

Can I take paracetamol while breastfeeding?

The NHS lists paracetamol among the medicines you can take while breastfeeding, and says to check with a GP or midwife first if it's combined with other medicines. Always take it as the packet says, and tell your pharmacist you're breastfeeding when you buy any medicine.

How many pelvic floor exercises should I do after birth?

The NHS suggests building up to 10 repeats of each exercise at least 3 times a day. Hold long squeezes for as long as you can, but no longer than 10 seconds, and keep breathing normally.

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If you need help right now: Samaritans 116 123 (free, any time), NHS 111 (choose the mental health option), or 999 in an emergency. NHS information checked in October 2026. This is general information, not medical advice; speak to your midwife, GP, health visitor or pharmacist about your own recovery. CubTrack is made by OakFox Limited.