Is this meditation safe during postpartum?

Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.

Do I need the app to listen?

No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

The Long Nights

Postpartum week 2

0:00−12:08

Background sound

Duration:: 12 min
Stage:: Postpartum · Postpartum week 2
Best for:: The dread or aftermath of broken nights; daytime depletion

How to practise

The fourth trimester asks a lot of a person in a short time. This episode holds rest when sleep is in pieces; reducing shame about exhaustion, without asking you to perform gratitude or bounce back on cue.

Sleep in these weeks comes in fragments, if it comes at all, and the tiredness can be like nothing you have known. This practice does not pretend to fix the sleep. It helps you rest your nervous system in the daylight hours, and it lifts the strange guilt that exhaustion can carry, because being this tired is not a failure. It is the honest cost of caring for a newborn.

Find a position that supports you (lying down or seated). Press play and let the guidance move at its own pace. There is no correct way to feel, and nothing to visualize on demand.

This episode is written for postpartum week 2. It fits best the dread or aftermath of broken nights; daytime depletion, though you can return whenever the week feels heavy or unfamiliar.

Each week in the series stands alone. Listeners often join at their current week and circle back later; the arc rewards continuity, but nothing here assumes you have been listening since week one.

Full transcript

Welcome to your second week.

Newborn nights are broken in a way that is genuinely hard to prepare for. Up every couple of hours, or more. Sleep arriving in fragments, if it arrives at all. And a tiredness that can feel bottomless.

So today is not about fixing your sleep, because you cannot force a newborn to sleep through. It is about resting where you can, and setting down any shame about being this exhausted. Let's begin.

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Let's begin by letting your body rest.

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Find a position that supports you. Lying down if you can. Let the surface beneath you take your full weight.

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Let your eyes close, if that feels okay.

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Take one slow breath in.

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And a long breath out.

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Let's steady the breath together. In… one… … two… … three… … four…

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And out, longer. Out… one… … two… … three… … four… … five… … six…

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Let the counting go.

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There is a particular kind of tired that comes from broken sleep, night after night. It sits behind the eyes, in the bones, in the slow way the mind moves. If that is how you feel, you are not weak, and you are not doing this wrong. You are doing one of the most demanding things there is, around the clock.

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Sleep is not a test you are failing. A newborn wakes because that is what newborns do, not because you have done anything wrong. This stretch of broken nights is temporary, even though, in the thick of it, it feels endless.

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And rest is not only sleep. Even now, lying here, breathing slowly, letting your body be heavy and still, you are resting. It is not as much as you need, but it counts. These few quiet minutes count.

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So let yourself have them. Let your body sink. Let your mind slow. You do not have to be anywhere else, or do anything else, for these few minutes. Just rest, in whatever form you can find it.

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Now, three quiet truths. Let each one land in the body.

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The first. Rest counts, even in pieces.

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Notice where you feel that, if anywhere.

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The second. Broken sleep is not my failure.

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Let it settle.

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And the last. I am doing something hard, through the night.

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You do not have to be certain. Just let these be true.

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Stay a little longer, breathing, resting as much as you can.

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And when you are ready, begin to come back. Feel your breath.

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Let your eyes open slowly, if they were closed.

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And be gentle with your tired self today.

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That is the end of this practice.

Exhaustion is part of these weeks, and it does ease as sleep slowly returns. But if the tiredness comes with a low mood or anxiety that will not lift, that is worth taking seriously. Your GP, midwife, or health visitor can help. You do not have to push through alone.

We will meet again next week.

FAQ

When should I listen to Postpartum Week 2?: This practice is designed for the dread or aftermath of broken nights; daytime depletion, though you can return any time during postpartum.
Is this meditation safe during postpartum?: Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.
Do I need the app to listen?: No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

Related practice

The First Days, Postpartum week 1
Feeding and Being Fed, Postpartum week 3
Read the full guide

Practise with the full toolkit in the app

This episode is one of fifty-one in the Pregnancy Weeks series, with ambient sound mixing, streak tracking, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

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My Maternal Mind supports your wellbeing during pregnancy and birth preparation. It does not replace medical advice, midwifery care, or mental health treatment. Discuss your birth plan and any concerns with your care team.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-30