A Nourished Postpartum

Postpartum as a mother of two is vastly different to being postpartum as a mother of one! And while both have their sweet moments and challenges in equal measure, this blog is to share how I set myself up for a nourished postpartum this second time around.

Nourishment, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually too, has played a big part in my postpartum so far, and I am able to identify the lack in my mothering when I neglect my nourishment as a priority.

My postpartum started, after a wild and intense birth on my bedroom floor at the foot of my bed, with skin to skin, breastfeeding, and a Golden Milk Quinoa Congee that I had lovingly prepared and placed in my freezer during the final weeks of pregnancy. That became the flavour of my postpartum, enjoying the congee for almost every breakfast in those early weeks, starting the day with a golden milk latte made with the Village For Mama 'Gold Dust' recipe, and enjoying many other foods warmed with turmeric, cinnamon, Ghee, and honey, as well as other warming and nourishing ingredients.

I invested in the Village For Mama cookbook while I was pregnant, and spent most of my third trimester preparing food for my freezer, also using recipes from my Jo Whitton recipe books, as well as an assortment of other recipes I could find that would be deeply nourishing and healing for postpartum. With the help of my family and friends who I invited to cook something for my postpartum instead of buying a gift for baby, I completely filled our chest freezer to brim with family meals, individual portioned meals, snacks, soups, and congees. This food made it possible for me to have a break from the kitchen for a solid couple of months, allowing me to ease back into cooking when I had capacity, instead of it being a forced necessity before I was ready. This physical nourishment was a key part of my postpartum prep, but it wasn't the only investment that I made into a nourished postpartum.

Here are the elements of my nourished postpartum for my second baby:

1. Food:

A no brainer really, we all need to eat. But by gifting my future self time out of the kitchen by freezer prepping in pregnancy, I was able to keep myself and my family nourished for minimal effort for weeks and weeks, and it was so worth it! I also stocked my freezer with staples such as milk, frozen fruit, bread and wraps, plain chicken and beef stock, meat, etc, as well as having a fully stocked pantry so that I didn't have to grocery shop for a long time either. Once I was back in the kitchen, I was able to use ingredients that I had on hand to make more snacks and meals, without having to do a big grocery shop to achieve it. (Woolworth's Direct to Boot is also a lifesaver for not having to wrestle everyone in and out of carseats to get groceries, and my sister in law swears by Cole's deliveries - if either of those are an option for you!)

2. Community Support:

I gathered my village. Over the past few years, I have consciously been a villager; I've taken meals around to postpartum friends; I've made time for deep and meaningful catch ups; and I've put the emotional investment into my friendships for a deeper layer of connection and support. Then I got to ask for and receive the rewards of my labour's. Instead of a baby shower, my sister in law helped me hold a nesting party, where I invited my community to come and help me deep clean my house for a day, and instead of bringing gifts for the baby, I asked them to bring something they cooked for my freezer stash. This contributed greatly to me filling my deep freezer with prepared meals, and also helped me tick off some of the bigger cleaning jobs that I wanted done before baby arrived. Feeling on top of the cleaning around my house helped me feel more prepared for my baby's arrival, as well as physically being prepared, like shifting the bedroom furniture around to make room for the cot, and getting all the cloth nappies and clothes washed and ready. This readiness helped my emotional readiness for birth and postpartum and made it less overwhelming to step back into housework with a young baby.

Then, in postpartum, they also showed up; coming around with a loaf of homemade bread, or fresh baked muffins or slice! Friends with little kids came over to my house in the space of time between when I felt up for visitors but didn't feel up to taking both kids out on my own. My mum in law came over and helped with some cleaning and tidying. The ladies from church played with my 3yo and gave her some focused attention that she had been missing out on. I'm so grateful for the support I have received from my community, even living so rurally, they all have made such an effort to be there for me.

3. Postpartum Doula Care:

Investing in postpartum doula care is a financial investment you can make, on top of your time investments into food prep and community building. If you have money to spend on one aspect of your pregnancy/birth/motherhood, don't discount the value that you get from postpartum doula care. Setting up those early days postpartum to be deeply nourished by your doula can have such a profound effect on your initiation to motherhood and your postpartum nervous system. Investing in a doula was my favourite 'purchase' for my first baby, so I made sure to prioritise it again this time around. Due to living far away from my trusted doula for this pregnancy, we planned for her to come and stay with us and provide in home care, rather than the staggered visits that you would typically have over 6 weeks or so with a local doula. And I must say, 5 days of post-birth in-home care was absolutely amazing for our family! I didn't even have to leave my bed except for toileting and showering for the first several days postpartum, allowing for that deep rest that my body needed after such an intense birth. I got to stay in bed with warming and nourishing food and drinks brought to me all throughout the day. My toddler was cared for so I didn't need to get up to get her food or anything else she needed throughout the day. The washing and dishes and mental load of running the house was all taken care of so I didn't even have to think about it, let alone try and do chores that needed doing. And that was only the start of it; there was also massage and Robozo and Moxxa... All of this, plus the companionship of another woman in my space. It was a deeply soul nourishing time with my doula becoming part of our family for a week, and being loved on and nurtured like that.

4. Supplementation:

I always say that using a good quality supplement is not 'instead of' eating well; it's alongside eating the best food you can. Supplementation bridges the gap; it's not the whole solution on its own. But in saying that, I chose focused supplements for my pregnancy and postpartum to help my body grow and heal. My main criteria when choosing supplements is that they are as bioavailable as possible, so that I'm not wasting money on synthetic vitamins that pass right through me without being absorbed. My go-to for years has been my Juice Plus supplements which are real-food supplements made from fruits, veggies, and berries. For pregnancy and postpartum, I added in beef liver capsules, real magnesium, and collagen, from a company called Bush Tucker Blends that fit my values of a real food supplement, and even better, locally sourced here in Australia. For the first month or so in postpartum I used the Foraged For You supplementation as a bit of extra support for my healing body, and I also got brilliant results with the FFY Ocean Magnesium when I alternated with the BTB one. All of that to say, there are some truly brilliant supplement brands on the market, so you don't need to settle for synthetic vitamins from the supermarket. I have been taking my JP capsules for over 6 years now and they have supported me through two pregnancies and postpartums, as well as just every day life and busy ringer life pre-kids, so if you would like any more info on them, or any of the supplements I've mentioned, feel free to reach out. And remember, supplements are not to take the place of eating real, good quality food; they are simply to supplement and help you get the best out of what you are eating.

These four elements were a big part of my nourished postpartum, and really highlighted to me that nourishment is much more than just food and nutritional value. Deep nourishment for postpartum is physical, emotional, and spiritual; it is a whole body approach, as it all interconnects and each is affected by the others. How does your nervous system feel when you haven't eaten well? How hard is it to eat well when you're past your capacity and everyone's crying and you don't have spare hands? How do you get back inside the limit of your emotional capacity without an extra set of hands to lighten the load for a bit, or at the very least, someone to talk to!?

It can become a vicious cycle quite quickly, as I have observed for myself, even with the building blocks I have put into place. Another thing I have become aware of is the concept of nourishing sleep; as the sleep deprivation of mum of two life has really set in, the little amount of sleep I'm getting really needs to be nourishing. Laying awake in the middle of the night worrying about what I didn't get done or need to get done tomorrow ain't it! Quality magnesium supplementation has helped my sleep immensely, as has reducing screen time before bed (easier said than done!) As well as the concept of nourishing quality time; quality time with my friends, my husband, my toddler - if it's not deeply soul nourishing, it's often stressful instead. And stress leads to poor quality sleep, lower capacity for the day, feeling unsupported... and down and down the spiral goes.

So it's something I'm conscious of; where am I putting my energy, how am I protecting my peace, how am I nourishing my mind, body, and spirit. It's more than just food or supplements; it's connection; it's community; it's prayer; it's fellowship.

How do you make your postpartum feel nourished?