Your relationships

When you bring your new baby home all the relationships around you will start to shift and change. Your mother, for example, may find the change alarming and feel quite unsure of how much to get involved. You may find that she is trying to take you over or that she is so anxious to avoid bothering you that she doesn’t help at all. Try to let the people close to you know clearly just how much you do want from them.

Your relationship with your partner will also change. It’s very easy in those exhausting early weeks to just leave things to sort themselves out.  

Take care. You may wake up six months later to find that you haven’t spent an hour alone together and have lost the easy knack of talking your problems through. You both need time alone, without the baby, to recharge your own batteries, and time together to keep in touch with each other.

Your relationship with the baby may not be easy either, particularly if you’re not getting much sleep. Don’t feel guilty if you sometimes feel resentful at the demands your baby makes, or if your feelings are not what you expected them to be. Talk to your midwife or health visitor if you’re upset, but remember, many mothers do not feel instant love for their baby. They come to love them gradually over the weeks.

Information provided by Health Promotion England.