The Forgotten Trimester: Planning Your Fourth Trimester with Care and Intention

When we think of pregnancy, most of us stop at the “three trimesters.” But the truth is, there’s a fourth one - and it might be the most important of all.

The fourth trimester is the three months after birth, a sacred window where your body is healing, your baby is adjusting to life earth-side, and you as a family are finding your rhythm together.

In our modern culture, this phase is often rushed or overlooked. We celebrate the baby shower, prepare the nursery, buy the pram, but forget to ask: what do I need to feel nourished, supported, and well in those first weeks of mothering?

Ancestral Wisdom: How Cultures Around the World Honour Postpartum

Throughout history, women have been held through this tender season. Around the world, we see echoes of similar wisdom:

• China – “Sitting the Month” (Zuo Yue Zi): Mothers are encouraged to rest indoors for 30–40 days, supported with warming foods, massage, and constant care.

• Latin America – “La Cuarentena”: A 40-day rest period, with family stepping in to cook, clean, and nurture the mother while she bonds with her baby.

• India – “Jaappa”: Postpartum women are wrapped, massaged with oils, and fed healing spices to rebuild strength and energy.

• Nigeria – “Omugwo”: The grandmother traditionally comes to live with the new mother, caring for her and teaching her how to care for her baby.

  
  

At the heart of each practice is the same truth: a new mother is as worthy of care as her newborn.

The Fourth Trimester From Your Baby’s Perspective

It’s easy to forget that birth is as much a transition for your baby as it is for you. For nine months they’ve lived in the perfect environment - warm, dark, fluid-filled, rocked by your movements, hearing your heartbeat as a constant drum.

Then suddenly, they’re here in the bright, noisy, chilly world.

This is why newborn behaviour often surprises parents. Many expect a baby who will lie peacefully in the crib between feeds.

In reality, most newborns want to be held close, fed frequently, and comforted almost constantly.

Some truths about the newborn experience:

✨ They crave closeness. Being on your chest, hearing your heartbeat, and feeling your warmth is their safe place.

✨ They feed often. Tiny tummies mean they’ll want milk little and often, day and night.

✨ They don’t know “day” and “night.” Their circadian rhythm takes time to establish, so nights can feel intense.

✨ They are learning everything. Breathing, digesting, seeing, bonding - it’s all brand new. They need us to be their anchor.

For you, this means your capacity will look different. You’ll be “on call” in a whole new way. And that’s exactly why support matters so much.

When someone else is cooking, folding laundry, or simply holding the baby while you shower, your nervous system can breathe.

Without this support, exhaustion and depletion quickly creep in.

When we understand the fourth trimester from baby’s perspective, we stop asking,

“Why won’t my baby settle?” and start asking, “How can I soften the world so it feels more like the womb?”

Slings, skin-to-skin, contact naps, and gentle routines all help make the transition smoother - for both of you.

Why Planning Matters

Here in Northumberland and across the North East, many women I support as a doula and hypnobirthing educator tell me they spent months preparing for birth, but not for what came after.

The result? Exhaustion, overwhelm, tears, and sometimes even unnecessary trauma.

But when we reclaim the fourth trimester as a vital part of the journey, everything shifts. With the right support, you can move through this phase feeling held, steady, and deeply nourished.

How to Create Your Fourth Trimester Plan

Think of this as part of your birth preparation. Here are some steps to get you started:

✨ Rest: Build in at least two weeks where you don’t have to do anything but feed your baby and rest. Who will protect that time for you?

✨ Nourishment: Arrange a “meal train” with friends, or prepare freezer meals in advance. Warming, grounding foods help your body recover and your milk supply flow.

✨ Support: Consider who your village is. A postpartum doula, your partner, friends, family. Write it down. Ask now, before you need it.

✨ Healing: Think about body work - massage, rebozo closing rituals, herbal baths - anything that feels restorative.

✨ Connection: Plan in gentle ways to nurture your mind and spirit. Journaling, slow walks, joining a local mama circle like NE Bump Club in Northumberland, where you can sit with others who get it.

✨ Boundaries: Decide how you want visitors to look. Short visits? No holding the baby until you’ve been fed? These conversations are easier to have before birth.

Your Northumberland Postpartum Sanctuary

In my doula work here in Northumberland, I often sit with women who say, “I wish I’d known.”

That’s why I encourage my clients to write their postpartum plan with the same care they write their birth plan. Whether you’re here in Alnwick, Berwick, Morpeth, or across the wider North East, know that you are not meant to “bounce back” or do it alone.

Your fourth trimester is not a gap after the “real event.” It is the event - a sacred initiation into motherhood. And you deserve to be held through it.

If you’d love support in creating your fourth trimester plan, or to explore how doula care, hypnobirthing, or postpartum massage could support your journey, I’d love to chat. Book a free discovery call with me today.

---

I’m Jessica, Northumberland doula, hypnobirthing specialist, and women’s wellbeing practitioner. Since 2018, I’ve supported women across the North East who want more than just “getting through” labour – women who are ready to be the leading lady in their pregnancy & birth experiences.

Through birth doula care, hypnobirthing courses in Northumberland, pregnancy massage, antenatal classes, and circles like NE Bump Club, I can guide you through one of the most profound life transformations a woman can have.

If you’re seeking pregnancy support in the North East – whether you’re dreaming of a home birth, want to explore hypnobirthing, or know you want a doula by your side – you’ll find a safe, nurturing space here

.