Postpartum Recovery

In this article:
Postpartum Symptoms
Nutritional Reserves
The Need to Replenish
Postpartum Women
Neurotransmitters
Antidepressants
Recovery

Many women share the health history of symptoms that began postpartum, sometimes remaining unresolved for decades after giving birth. Dr. Raffelock examines the reasons why this happens, explains the importance of replenishing nutrients and hormones, and acknowledges the validity of women's observations regarding their own symptoms.

Throughout my past 26 years in private practice, hundreds of women have told me the same story in very much the same words: "My health problems started shortly after the birth of my child." The child may have been a woman's first or fifth baby and could now be a teenager or grown man or woman, but the mother remembers the postpartum onset of her symptoms as if it were yesterday!

Postpartum Symptoms

Symptoms that start within the first nine months postpartum may vary among mothers and run a wide gamut such as depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, lack of confidence, loss of sex drive and passion, muscle and joint pains, unhealthy skin and hair, digestive disturbances, bladder problems, chronic anxiety, heart disease, asthma, and a host of troubling emotions. That the symptoms remain with her even decades later is often puzzling, frustrating, and even embarrassing. Why? She has told many doctors the same story, and none has found her self-observation worthy of comment. Yet she can't shake the feeling that something about that particular birth began her health decline.

Nutritional Reserves

Mothers—whether new ones or not-so-new ones—may be relieved to hear that their observation has validity and merit. Many women share the health history of symptoms that began postpartum. The bodies of babies are entirely made of nutrients donated by the mother's body. The formation of the child's brain, eyes, muscles, bones, organs, glands, nerves, skin, tissues and fluids are completely comprised of the nutrients taken from its mother's bloodstream via the placenta. If there is a lack of vital nutrients, the mother's body is mostly deprived because her developing baby is Mother Nature's priority.

All mothers need to consciously replenish their lost nutritional and energetic reserves during the postpartum period or one might spend the rest of her life wondering why her symptoms started postpartum and never were resolved.

The Need to Replenish

The energy demands of caring for a newborn can further drain and deplete the mother's nutrient reserves, especially if she is breastfeeding and is sleep deprived. If she has hemorrhaged or lost a great deal of blood while birthing her baby, the need for replenishing the nutritional components of blood is even more critical. If a mother does not replenish key nutrients, she might experience light-headedness and throbbing headaches along with extreme fatigue and depression. Then there is the stress of integrating the intense needs of a new baby into her lifestyle while tending to her mate and perhaps other children.

All of these responsibilities that women have taken for granted for years demand high quality nutrients. Why? Every physiologic process in the human body depends upon the nutrients we get from the foods we consume. The most important time for mothers to consciously replenish postpartum nutrient reserves is from one to 24 months postpartum. The failure to do this often sets the stage for chronic health problems that may last for decades.

There was a time when most women throughout the globe would be given their placenta in some edible form to consume directly postpartum, much like dogs and cats instinctively eat their own placenta today. Why? The placenta contains very concentrated amounts of the nutrients and hormones that the mother has lost through giving birth. The fact that eating one's placenta is now largely culturally distasteful further supports the need to consume the appropriate nutrients and nourishing foods that each woman needs to rebuild and replenish her donated nutrient reserves.

The conventional wisdom these days is for doctors to recommend that moms stay on their prenatal vitamin for up to a year postpartum. While this underscores a growing awareness for the need for nutritional replenishment after childbirth, and is certainly better than no vitamin at all, the fact is that the nutritional needs of the postpartum woman are vastly different from the needs of a pregnant woman.