Gentle, evidence-based guidance for lifting, carrying, and caring for your baby — so the work you love doesn't leave you aching the next morning.
Nobody hands you an instruction manual for your own body when the baby arrives.
Nearly every new mom feels it — the sore lower back after the twentieth lift of the day, the aching neck from night feeds, the shoulder that never quite lets go. It's so common it starts to feel normal. But feeling it isn't the same as having to live with it. Small changes in how you move can make the everyday work of mothering so much kinder on your body — and you deserve that kindness too.
Your body carries so much in these early months. These four gentle shifts protect it while you do the work you love most.
Stay upright while feeding and standing.
Keep the load near your body, not out front.
Lower with your legs, not your lower back.
Step your feet around instead of rotating.
Start with whatever's hardest on your body today. These are the everyday tasks research links most strongly to a mom's back, neck, and shoulder pain.
Everything here is built by an occupational therapist around the real tasks of caring for a baby — no gym, no gear you don't already have.
Learn the safer way to lift, carry, feed, and transfer — the small posture shifts that spare your joints.
Simple, low-cost tweaks to crib height, changing stations, and carriers that take the strain off you.
Gentle stretches for tired necks, shoulders, and backs — quick enough to fit into nap time.
Pushing through the pain isn’t a badge of honor.
Research shows mothers often normalize their pain and put their own health last. It doesn't have to be that way. Caring for your body is part of caring for your baby — and it's never selfish to move in a way that keeps you strong.
One gentle tip a week — no clutter, no noise, just a little care for you.
We'll only ever email you. Reply any time — a real person reads it.
ErgoMama is a free, evidence-informed education resource suitable for OB, pediatric, primary care, and therapy settings. Every recommendation is grounded in published research — see the evidence & framework — and the site is free for waiting rooms, discharge packets, and parent education.
Contact us about provider materialsFive quick questions on the things new moms do dozens of times a day. See what stuck.
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