5 Postpartum Care Essentials for New Moms
Taking care of your newborn also means taking care of you. Including these 5 postpartum care essentials into your daily practice as a new mom will help you recover faster and more fully as well as provide for your long term health.
Rest
Around the world, new mothers practice resting or lying-in periods after having a baby. A postpartum resting period of 21 – 40 days is practiced traditionally in India, Egypt, China, Somalia, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and in many Latin American countries. Rest is necessary for the body to recover and rebuild from fluid loss, nutritional deficiency, and hormone fluctuation. It allows the body to focus on healing and protects ligaments from getting overstretched which can, potentially, prevent pelvic floor disorders.
Warmth
Warmth helps increase blood circulation throughout the body to bring nutrients and oxygen to areas that are in need of healing, such as the approximately 8.5 inch internal placental wound. Warmth, also, promotes the release of Oxytocin, the “love hormone”, that is responsible for clamping down the uterus to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, that facilitates breastmilk production, and that increases bonding and attachment between mom and baby.
Warming and Nutrient Dense Foods
A new mother’s digestive system is similar to that of her newborn’s in the first weeks after having her baby. The digestive system is put on pause, so to speak, to focus all energy and resources on giving birth, so after having a baby, it is essential for a new mother to eat foods that are easy to digest and packed with nutrients. Think soups and stews with bone broth, meat and veggies, curries, and fish. In addition, warming spices help re-spark digestive fires and aid in the elimination of toxins and unneeded hormones from the body by making the overall process of elimination easier.
Bodywork
Bodywork can be hugely restorative and replenishing to a new mother’s overworked system. Bodywork such as pelvic floor physical therapy, massage, craniosacral therapy, and womb treatment can calm the nervous system, so it will function at its best. When the body is in a calm and relaxed state, energy will go towards healing and the absorption of nutrients as opposed to creating stress hormones. Bodywork can, also, stabilize the pelvic floor, restore organs to their pre-pregnancy position, and break up scar tissue.
Community
New mothers need to be with people they feel good around. When they have a strong support system they can lean on, they are less likely to experience perinatal mood disorders, such as postpartum depression or anxiety. In addition, having a community to help bring meals, do chores, run errands, and provide conversation, guidance, and encouragement gives a new mom a feeling of safety, so she can focus on her baby and supporting her own health and recovery.
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New mothers often start motherhood in a state of exhaustion and overwhelm. They are recovering from nutrient, blood and fluid loss in addition to dealing with physical injuries. They are taking on a tremendous new responsibility that requires being continuously available in addition to acquiring a whole new set of skills and knowledge, and they are doing all of this on very little sleep. As a mother-baby dyad, a mother’s health is essential for the health and thriving of her baby.
My intention for writing this blog is to raise awareness that every new mother needs care and support after having a baby. If you are pregnant, think about how to set up support now for your recovery postpartum. If you are a new mom, try to find ways to tend to your needs in a way that is do-able and feels good. Prioritizing your health allows you to rebuild and restore your body, so you can be at your best for yourself and for your baby both now and in the long term.
Mothering Life provides classes to help pregnant moms plan for their postpartum recovery and retreats to educate new moms on ways to support their postpartum health. Please contact us with any questions on how to get information to help you or a love one thrive: connect@motheringlife.com.
Danielle Hughes is the Founder of Mothering Life and a mother of two. She is an INNATE Postpartum Care practitioner and provides information and resources to expectant and new mothers, so motherhood can be the celebration that it is meant to be.