Following on from my previous blog post, here are the final things that all women need during their post birth period to support recovery and introduction to mothering.

4) Nourish Your Body

While I am not a nutritionist or the like, in my personal journey I have found the food I eat to be such an important part of post birth healing. Physically our body is recovering and it is worthwhile to consider if your diet has adequate protein, collagen, vitamin C and zinc to support this healing process. I am a (mostly) vegetarian who has developed a loving relationship with bone broth… You will have your own journey to find what works best for you.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, our body post birth is filled with too much air, space and cold (known as ‘vata’). This makes sense as the warm body of our baby now rests in our arms rather than our womb. Energetically we are open from the birthing experience and hormonally we are in a state of flux. If we experienced a c-section or instrumental birth even more cold can be physically introduced into our body. Warm, moist and sweet foods are easy to digest and they act to balance ‘vata’. And by sweet I mean foods like sweet potato, liquorice root tea or rice pudding. Herbs and spices such as cinnamon, cardamon and ginger are also very warming and can be useful in this time period too.

Loving touch is another important way to nourish our body and boost oxytocin levels – the hormone required for breastfeeding and joy in the post birth period. Touch is something that was regularly given to women post birth in traditional cultures. Something simple like a hand or foot massage, or having your hair brushed, can prove very relaxing and get the feel-good hormones flowing in our body. It is also an opportunity for companionship and relationship.

4) Enjoy Companionship and Relationship

There are times in my mothering journey when I have felt really isolated. And some of it started in those first few weeks with a newborn. Everyone would clear out of the room when I went to feed my son as they assumed I wanted privacy. I would be left alone to sleep as people assumed I was tired. While this was true, I craved company even more. With isolation being a commonly reported feeling among mothers, I vote to give women companionship during the post birth period. This might sound like another far-fetched wish list item but what if it was actually essential rather than luxury?

When we go through a rite of passage it is crucial that we have the opportunity to report back what we learnt from our experience. This is the integration stage. Without it the individual and their community suffers and loses out on the opportunity to share and receive wisdom. Companionship also boosts oxytocin, which is such an important hormone for the mother as she establishes breastfeeding and gets to know her new little one. As a mother we also act as a regulator for our children’s emotions, and this can be a really hard job! In turn we then need people around us to support our own regulation and help keep us calm and centred. At times we also need to be reminded to let go of activity and ‘doing’ to spend time in ‘being’ and reflecting. Companionship – especially from wise women – meets all of these needs and can also assist with other requirements of the post birth period such as receiving loving touch and eating nourishing food.

In the post birth period we also need strategies to nurture the other important relationships around us. For subsequent births this may be a plan to connect with other children. It can be useful to spend 1:1 time every day with each child even in a simple activity such as cuddling or reading in bed. Later on it might be playing with LEGO, playing in the backyard or visiting the park. Every birth also signals a change in the relationship with our partner that we need to navigate. Communication and connection need to be maintained, or even scheduled, until we find our new daily rhythms with an addition to the family.

Once post birth, always post birth!

Reading information like this can help us plan for a beautiful post birth experience. However, if we have already birthed our children, it can remind us of how difficult the fourth trimester may have been. You might feel like you missed out on something important.

Wherever you are in your mothering journey – mother nature, rest, pelvic floor support, nourishment, companionship and relationship can always be there for you. At any point in time you can consciously introduce these elements into your life. This might be for an intense period of time that you set aside for self care, or ongoing in simple ways throughout everyday life. Once post birth, we are always post birth, so it is never too late to start or restart your journey toward pelvic, menstrual or emotional vitality.