Postpartum Nourishment: Why food is the missing piece of healing after birth
There is a lie we’ve normalized in modern motherhood:
That postpartum recovery is something you power through.
You’re expected to bleed, leak, ache, wake through the night, regulate a newborn nervous system…and somehow do everything else too. If you’re exhausted, depleted, anxious, or emotionally raw, it’s framed as hormonal…or something you just need to tolerate. And do not get me started on the timeframe (actually if you did want to know my feelings on this you can read about it here.
But postpartum depletion is not a personal failure. It’s a biological reality. And nourishment is one of the most overlooked pillars of postpartum healing.
Why postpartum nutrition actually matters (more than we’ve been told)
Birth is not a single event, the baby doesn’t arrive and it’s over. It's a massive physiological transition.
During pregnancy and birth, your body gives so much, emotionally, spiritually and physically. You can risk depleting everything from iron, protein, fats, blood, energy and nervous system capacity (to name just a few).
This depletion doesn’t magically resolve because the baby is now earthside. Without adequate nourishment, the body stays in survival mode, which impacts:
Milk production
Hormone regulation
Mood and emotional resilience
Sleep quality
Wound healing
Nervous system regulation
Research consistently shows that inadequate postpartum nutrition is linked to:
Postpartum depression and anxiety
Prolonged fatigue
Increased inflammation
Slower physical recovery
This isn’t about “eating healthy.” It is about rebuilding your body after one of the most demanding events it will ever experience.
What I did differently & why it changed everything
When I was pregnant with my fourth baby, Mila, I did something that some people still call more than a little crazy. For ten days straight, every time I made dinner, I made three times the recipe, one we ate that night and two went straight into the freezer.
By the end of those ten days, I had 20 full meals prepared.
Freezer space was a puzzle. Logistics weren’t perfect. But what it gave us postpartum was priceless.
For the first two months after Mila was born, dinner was never a stress. my nervous system didn’t spike at 5pm, my body had consistent nourishment, and my family was fed without a chaotic scramble. Of course my community was there for me as well, friends dropped meals and my husband cooked. But on a night we fell short or things were busy we filled the gaps with what I had prepared.
This wasn’t about control.
It was about capacity.
When a new mother doesn’t have to think about food, her body can do what it’s meant to do: heal, regulate, and bond.
Postpartum nourishment is nervous system care
Warm, mineral-rich, protein-dense meals aren’t just fuel for your body, they're information.
They tell your body and your mind that you are safe, you are supported and that you can rest.
From a nervous system perspective, consistent nourishment can reduce cortisol spikes, it supports blood sugar stability, improves emotional regulation and can really create a sense of grounding. This is why some cultures across the world treat postpartum as sacred and slow - with nourishing foods, no rushing, and lots of rest built in. Postpartum care has been shortened, twisted and shoehorned into busy lives. We forgot what it truly means.
This is why I created Sacred Postpartum
Inside Sacred Postpartum, we dive deep into:
Postpartum nourishment
Supplement support
Meal guidance
Nervous system–friendly food rhythms
Not as rules. Not as pressure. But as support.
Because you cannot meditate your way out of depletion. And you absolutely cannot “mindset” your way through an undernourished body.
If you want to explore this work more deeply, you can explore Sacred Postpartum here .
You don’t need to earn rest. You do need to be fed
Postpartum healing doesn’t happen through willpower. It happens when the body is supported enough to soften. If you’re pregnant now, this is your invitation to prepare differently. If you’re postpartum, even years later, it’s not too late to replenish.