Fueling Pospartum Recovery and Lactation
We call the first 3 months postpartum, the fourth trimester. Your body needs time to recover and transition from growing and sheltering a baby in the womb. At the same time, your baby needs you to continue to nourish and shelter them in the outside world. Your body is still home and a safe place for your baby over the next few months. This is an important time to focus on your recovery because your body, skin, ligaments and muscles have all stretched to their limits and some of your nutrient stores are depleted. In addition, some have had surgeries or tears that need additional nutrients to heal. We need to give our bodies time to heal and replenish lost nutrients. That means giving ourselves a break to rest and recover and just bond with our babies.
It's kind of an impossible standard in our culture that birthing parents should bounce back, lose weight and do it all shortly after giving birth. Avoid pressuring yourself to lose weight in the immediate postpartum period. Appreciate the amazing feat your body just accomplished by growing and birthing a new little human. Take 12 weeks to lovingly nourish your body and replenish nutrients you lost during pregnancy, labor and postpartum blood loss. You'll feel better and have more energy once you replenish those nutrients.
The ideal postpartum diet is similar to the ideal pregnancy diet. In the postpartum period, variety is key. Eating foods from every food group each day will help cover all your nutrient bases. You are recovering nutrients that you lost during pregnancy, healing wounds and growing your baby if you are lactating. Eat more real foods made with simple ingredients that are not overly processed like vegetables, fruit, meat, poultry, seafood, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Make sure to include healthy fats. A prenatal vitamin is recommended for at least 6 months to recover lost nutrients and all of the time that you are breastfeeding.
Eating balanced meals will ensure you get all the nutrients you need to recover and to support a robust milk supply if you are lactating. Low carb diets and low calorie diets have been shown to reduce milk supply so balancing your plate and honoring your hunger will be something you will want to continue to do throughout lactation.
Every food group holds nutrients needed for your recovery
Balancing your plate ensures normal blood sugars which can help some women with milk production
Fill half your plate with fruits or vegetables or both
These provide micronutrients needed for your immune system, fiber to maintain a healthy gut / microbiome and electrolytes for hydration.
Fill a quarter of your plate with carbohydrates
These foods provide fuel needed for energy and a healthy milk supply.
Fill a quarter of your plate with protein rich foods
Protein is needed for healing wounds, repairing skin and tissues that have been stretched and helping your uterus to shrink back into its previous size.
Balancing your plate is not meant to be restrictive. Eat this way when you can. You don't have to overthink it. Be sure to include your favorite foods on your plate when you want them. Healthy eating is what happens over a period of time and not at any single meal. If you need help figuring out how to include all components in most meals, you can download my balanced plate meal planning guide to see a list of foods from each food group. Mix and match to make a balanced plate.
Let’s look at some specific nutrients that are important in the postpartum period. B12, Iron, vitamin D, and DHA are important for recovery, lactation and postpartum mental health. Getting enough of these nutrients will help you to feel good and have more energy. Eating foods from all foods groups will cover a lot of these nutrient needs, but I recommend taking a high quality prenatal vitamin, vitamin D and a fish or algae oil for DHA each day. Not all prenatal vitamins are equal and many use less bioavailable forms of nutrients and can be missing many nutrients. Select a prenatal vitamin with activated B vitamins. These are easier for your body to metabolize. Folate as L-methylfolate is important. Many of us cannot metabolize folic acid and folate continues to be important in the postpartum recovery period. Other vitamins you want to look for in a prenatal vitamin include iodine, choline, B12, Magnesium, Selenium, and K2.
Glycine is an amino acid that is important during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Gelatin and bone broth are both contain collagen are great sources of glycine. Glycine helps regain skin and tissue elasticity and helps repair wounds.
It’s worth mentioning that cultures all across the world encourage many of the same types of healing foods during the postpartum period. These foods hold nutrients that have been depleted during pregnancy and can also be helpful for lactation. These include:
Soups and hearty stews made with bone broth. Broth holds collagen, electrolytes and many micronutrients.
High iron foods such as slow cooked meats.
High fat foods, like meats, butter, fatty fish, nuts and seeds.
Foods rich in Omega-3 fats, such as seafood and eggs. Iodine rich foods such as seafood and seaweed.
Cooked vegetables
Well cooked grains and starches like oatmeal, rice and sweet potato.
Warm liquids like broths and teas or water.
Listen to your body. Your body has a lot of wisdom about what it needs and is constantly sending out signals telling you what it needs. Our busy lives often cause us to ignore those signals, but they are especially important during recovery. Tune into your body, eat when you are hungry and drink to thirst. Rest when you are tired. This is as much key to your recovery as what you put into your body.
Many moms tell me how challenging it is to feed themselves when they are busy taking care of a newborn. Stock up on nutrient dense snacks and easy meal ingredients. Fresh fruits, nuts, trail mix, yogurt, granola, quick cooking oats, steamed veggies and hard boiled eggs are a few of my fast favorites to snack on or combine for mini-meals. If you are reading this before giving birth, make double batches of your meals now and freeze the extra for your recovery period. When friends and family ask what you need, ask for meals.
Take the first 12 weeks after delivery to nourish and replenish for recovery. Choose nutrient dense foods that are less processed. Balance your plate most of the time. Continue to take a high quality prenatal vitamin, vitamin D3, DHA oil. Listen to your body’s signals about what it needs. Give yourself some grace. Your body has just done something amazing and extremely taxing. It continues to nourish and provide a home on the outside for your baby. Appreciate all the wonderful things your body does for you. Enjoy this bonding time with your new little one.
Contact me at glile@nourishwell.online if you are interested in a prenatal or postpartum nutrition consult.
Georgina Lile is a Registered Dietitian and Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She offers lactation consults, as well as preconception and prenatal nutrition assessments. Contact her at glile@nourishwell.online for a nutrition assessment, help choosing the right supplements or balanced meal planning. She is in network with Aetna and accepts many types of insurance.