The Importance of Postpartum Nutrition
The time after having a baby is arguably the most nutritionally intensive period of a woman’s life, for women who give birth to a child or children.
Postpartum in Our Society
It is well recognized in our society that being pregnant has special significance when it comes to nutrition. The phrase “eating for two,” is widely used and many women who are pregnant take extra care of themselves, or better yet, have others express, in words or actions, extra care towards them, as they grow a tiny human being.
However, our society has failed to recognize the even more nutritionally critical period of a woman’s life— the time right after giving birth. Instead, emphasis, after a woman gives birth, is placed on visiting the new baby and seeing how well or fast a mother “bounces back” after birthing this tiny human.
Pregnancy Is a Nutritionally Depleting Time
After a woman gives birth, her body has already undergone months of stretching, shifting, and likely pain, to accommodate the new tiny, (but may not feel so tiny) life inside of her. In addition, her body has transferred nutrients, from her own intake and nutrient stores, to ensure that baby gets the nutrients she needs to develop properly. The end of a full-term pregnancy reflects a time where the mother has transferred the greatest amount of nutrients to her baby and she may be in a state of nutritional depletion.
Childbirth and Lactation Require Even More Nutrients
You’d think a break would be warranted after the demands of pregnancy, but instead women experience events that put even more physical demands on their body— childbirth and the start of lactation. Whether a vaginal birth, or a c-section, a massive amount of healing (which requires a massive amount of nutrients) will need to take place, as the site where the placenta has detached and the tissue that was stretched, torn, cut, or otherwise injured, begins to heal.
All of the other parts of a woman’s body that shifted and changed during pregnancy, will now begin transforming back into a non-pregnant state, a process that requires work, on a cellular level, by the body, therefore nutrients. Blood losses, during and after delivery, can account for lots of lost nutrients and nutrients will be required to bring the blood back to a healthy state.
Whether a woman decides to breastfeed or not, her body begins to make significant hormonal shifts towards producing milk to nourish her infant. For women who decide to breastfeed, many nutrients are transferred into breastmilk to nourish her baby, even if mom’s stores and intake is not enough to provide for what both her baby and her need.
The Postpartum Period Is a Stressful Time
These nutritionally demanding events take place, under not the most ideal circumstances— often a time of added stress, hormonal shifts, sleep deprivation, lack of time to care for oneself, and the addition of new ailments for mom (for example, nipple pain and not easily being able to walk to the bathroom to visit the toilet).
Experiences, surrounding the addition of a new baby into the family, can trigger mental health hardships for moms (who are still trying to recover from pregnancy and childbirth), and many women may be surprised to find themselves struggling with their mental health.
Health Conditions Can Exacerbate Nutritional Needs in the Postpartum Period
The circumstances mentioned above can be typical for a healthy woman. A woman who enters pregnancy with certain medical conditions, such as autoimmune thyroid disease, or a state of depletion from a previous pregnancy or a restrictive diet, may need extra nutrients to enter the same state of repletion and equilibrium as a healthy, well-nourished woman.
Are Women’s Health Providers Talking About Nutrition in Postpartum?
With all I just mentioned, you’d think that women’s health practitioners are spending a lot of time helping educate mothers and providing guidance on recovering after pregnancy and childbirth, including nutritional guidance. However, that is not the case. The provider most women see after childbirth (if they see anyone)— her OB doctor (and their nurses and staff)— do not typically mention nutrition, at all, and the standard for most practitioners is to perform a minimal exam, six weeks after childbirth, for the purpose of clearing the woman for exercise and sex. (Often this clearance is given by a women’s OB, with little direction, and many women find that they are not ready for normal exercise or sex.)
So, Why Is Postpartum Nutrition Important?
After pregnancy and childbirth, a woman will have many needs, but one that should be communicated more than it currently is, is a mother’s nutritional needs after having a baby.
Postpartum nutrition is important for the following reasons:
Nutrition deficiencies among women of childbearing age are common.
Therefore, it is not uncommon for women who become pregnant and give birth to be deficient in one or more nutrients.
Nutrient needs in pregnancy are much higher and can deplete mothers of essential nutrients.
Women in the postpartum phase, are more likely to be depleted in one or more nutrients because of the high nutritional needs of pregnancy.
The changes experienced during pregnancy and healing from childbirth (and the hormonal shift to milk production) take time and nutrients to return to baseline.
Women who experience pregnancy and childbirth have greater nutritional needs, in the period after giving birth, associated with healing and recovering from pregnancy and childbirth.
Women who breastfeed, will continue transferring nutrients from their body to their baby.
Women who breastfeed give more nutrients to their babies and are at greater risk for nutritional deficiency.
The postpartum period can be one of the most challenging times of a woman’s life— nutritional deficiencies can cause or contribute towards complications that make the postpartum time even harder.
For example, anemia, thyroid abnormalities, postpartum depression, poor energy, mood concerns, sleep issues, poor breastmilk production, poor healing from childbirth, and more can arise from or be influenced by nutritional deficiencies or inadequacy.
Breastmilk has been proven, by research to be ideal and offer many benefits to mom and baby— but if mom’s nutrition is lacking, many of those deficiencies can be reflected in mom’s breastmilk.
Under nourished moms may not provide their baby with the most nutritious breastmilk that their body is capable of producing.
With many women choosing to delay parenthood until later in life, women may be interested in spacing pregnancies closely together. Nutrition repletion and postpartum recovery are critical for the success and health of subsequent pregnancies.
Women who want to conceive again, soon, may need to replenish nutrients faster and be extra aware of the nutritional consequences of pregnancy and childbirth and nutritional needs for conception and pregnancy.
What Can Postpartum Women Do To Meet Their Nutritional Needs and Prioritize Their Health?
While the time after giving birth can be nutritionally taxing, mothers can achieve nutritional balance and optimize their health in the postpartum period.
Here are a few things I’d recommend for mothers wanting to prioritize their recovery and nutritional repletion after having a baby:
Continue taking prenatal supplements for at least six months postpartum (or for the duration of breastfeeding).
That means that, if you breastfeed for two years, you should take your prenatal supplements for two years.
Prioritize a nutrient-dense, well-balanced diet that includes a variety of foods.
This diet should include a variety of plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains as well as animal foods, such as eggs, full-fat dairy, fatty fish, organ meats, shellfish, and more.
Plan for eating well, in the postpartum period, while you are still pregnant.
Whether its making meals ahead of time and freezing them or putting together a list of easy-to-prepare meal options, planning ahead can ensure that nutritional replenishment stays a priority in the postpartum period. Take note of restaurants or food services in your area that can provide nutrient dense meals for days when eating a home cooked meal isn’t an option.
Ask for help, especially with food, in the postpartum period.
If you have a community of people who want to bring you food, ask them to prepare specific recipes or give them the run down on your nutritional needs, postpartum. As you recover enough to feel up for cooking again, ask for help with other tasks, such as caring for your baby or housework so that you can focus on preparing a nourishing meal.
You can hire help, such as postpartum doulas, personal chefs (or someone with cooking skills), and house cleaners, and if hiring help is not in your budget, consider requesting that baby shower guests donate to a “postpartum help fund.”
Consider working with a nutrition professional, especially someone with expertise in postpartum nutrition.
It can feel overwhelming to prioritize nutrition for yourself, when caring for a new baby feels like your only priority. But, if ever a time to invest in your health, the time after having a baby is it. Working with a postpartum nutrition professional can help you navigate and prioritize your health, in the postpartum period, without it feeling like a ton of extra work and research. A nutrition professional with a deep understanding for the unique needs and challenges of the postpartum period, can provide critical support to you, not only when it comes to nutrition, but also support that helps you navigate this new chapter of life that includes a new baby and healing from pregnancy and childbirth.
Final Thoughts
If you get anything from this, please hear that postpartum healing and nutrient replenishment is one of the most underrated topics in women’s health (maybe even health, in general). Just because our society doesn’t recognize the postpartum time for the significant event that it is, and rather expects mothers to “bounce back”, doesn’t mean that it is right. Trust me, it’s not right.
You can choose to act differently and honor this time for yourself and ask your loved ones to support you in doing so. The time after you have a baby is difficult, and you don’t have to pretend it’s not. You deserve the chance to thrive.
Much love,
Claudia
Postpartum nutritionist (and CLC in training)
About Claudia
Claudia provides nutrition counseling to mothers in their last trimester of pregnancy and the first year postpartum. Claudia provides nutritional advice as well as general support to mothers as they prepare for the postpartum period and navigate the first year after giving birth. Claudia is well-versed on the common issues surrounding the postpartum time and helps mothers advocate to their health providers for nutritional testing and more to help mothers achieve full recovery and optimal health after pregnancy and childbirth. Claudia is beginning training to be a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) because she wants to offer a higher level of support to mothers who choose to breastfeed their babies, in addition to her nutritional expertise.
Claudia lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two beautiful daughters, and enjoys training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, spending time outdoors, and cooking. Learn more about Claudia here.