What is Maternal Health Occupational Therapy (OT)?

Maternal health occupational therapists promote maternal mental and physical health.

Maternal health OT helps mom:

  • Create a village to support mom and baby

  • Provide a safe space to figure out what to do in this new role

  • Cope with the fact that motherhood is always changing as your child grows

  • Manifest her identity into her creation of motherhood

  • Ease her worries about how to support her child

  • Feel less alone

Occupational Therapists Address Illnesses and Promote Preventative Healthcare

In the USA, when we think of healthcare, we primarily think of going to the doctor when we are ill or have an issue that needs attention. According to the CDC, visits to the doctor for preventative care decrease with age. [1] Fewer people are getting an annual check-up after they are no longer required to have a current physical on file with their school.

Healthcare can either be illness driven or wellness driven. The latter is focused on well-being, which includes a preventative approach that considers biopsychosocial factors – what’s going on inside a person’s body & mind and what their social connections & support look like. 

One of the occupations that occupational therapists support is health management, which includes symptom and condition management, medication management, social and emotional health promotion and maintenance, personal device management, and nutrition and physical activity management. [2] These tasks fall under both approaches to healthcare. 

Maternal Wellbeing Is Critical for Mother and Child 

It is important for perinatal care to be driven by both approaches to healthcare. For obvious reasons, any concerns regarding the health of baby or mother that come up during pregnancy or postpartum need to be addressed. However, the benefits and need for a biopsychosocial approach for perinatal care may not be as obvious or as well understood.

Perinatal mood disorders affect 1 in 7 mothers. [3] A biopsychosocial approach to perinatal care aims to address stressors that can lead to the onset of this common disorder. Preventative care from OTs to identify and address these factors preemptively could help decrease its prevalence. Not only does this help mom, but prevention of perinatal mood disorders and ensuring maternal well-being also promotes better childhood outcomes. [4]

Maternal Health OTs Provide Holistic Care for Moms During and After Pregnancy

Maternal health occupational therapists promote maternal well-being in many ways including helping mom find balance in meaningful occupations and not letting motherhood become her only occupation (unless she wants it to be). OTs can guide moms to integrate their values and interests in how they curate their own version of motherhood. 

We help moms stay physically well by educating them on body mechanics during common motherhood occupations such as:

  • breastfeeding

  • holding baby

  • changing baby’s diaper

We can also improve moms physical wellbeing by helping them manage common postpartum wounds (C-section, vaginal tearing) and providing  pelvic rehabilitation.

Maternal health OTs also work with moms to ease the burden they feel in their new role to not only make sure her baby survives, but thrives. We lift that burden by teaching mothers about: 

  • how to play with her baby to promote development

  • how to meet baby’s sensory needs so baby (and mom) is more regulated

  • how to start solid foods when that milestone actually comes around

Maternal health OT means all of this, and so much more. 

The Many Ways & Roles in which Maternal Health OT Helps Mom and Baby

    1. ADLs - Functional mobility, daily tasks, sexual activity

    2. Education and/or Work - changes to the way you interact with your environment throughout pregnancy

    3. Health Management - Symptom and condition management, nutrition management, physical activity (Labor /Delivery preparation, Identifying topics to discuss with provider)

    4. Rest and Sleep

    5. Social Participation

    1. ADLs - Functional mobility, toileting, personal hygiene, grooming, sexual activity

    2. IADLs - Child rearing, home establishment and management, return to work/education, management of personal devices (i.e. breastfeeding supplies)

    3. Health Management - Symptom and condition management, nutrition management, physical activity, social and emotional health/wellbeing 

    4. Recovery from physical changes

    5. Rest and Sleep

    6. Social Participation

    1. Bottle/breastfeeding

    2. Rest and Sleep 

    3. Toileting

    4. Bathing

    5. Dressing

    6. Play

    7. Achieving developmental milestones

    8. Social Engagement/Participation

    9. State control

    10. Self-regulation

When we address these factors, we strengthen the bond in the mother-baby relationship through everything they do together. OTs can help you transform necessary everyday tasks like bath time and feeding into more joyful moments to intentionally connect with her baby and herself. 

That’s why I’ve made it my mission to help you find more joy in your motherhood!

References: 

1 - Ashman et al. (2023) Characteristics of Office-Based Physician Visits by Age, 2019. National Health Statistics Reports, 184. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr184.pdf#:~:text=Visits%20for%20either%20chronic%20or%20pre%2D%20or,ordered%20or%20provided%20at%20physician%20visits%20did

2 - American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), Article 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001

3 -  Fairbrother N, Young A, Antony M, & Tucker E (2015). Depression and anxiety during the perinatal period. BMC Psychiatry, 15(206). 10.1186/s12888-015-0526-6

4 -  Modak A, Ronghe V, Gomase K P, et al. (September 29, 2023) A Comprehensive Review of Motherhood and Mental Health: Postpartum Mood Disorders in Focus. Cureus 15(9): e46209. DOI 10.7759/cureus.46209

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is a term used to collectively describe fundamental skills required to independently care for oneself, such as eating, bathing, and mobility

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are things you do every day to take care of yourself and your home that require more complex thinking skills, including organizational skills.

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