May 20, 2025 • 27 mins
What if postpartum depression isn’t the problem itself… but a symptom of something much deeper?
This episode is going to make you rethink everything you know about postpartum depression. Something fixable? I'm breaking it all down: the nutrient depletion, trauma, sleep loss, birth medications, toxins, and isolation that are wrecking postpartum health—and why the current system is failing mothers at the root.
If you're a postpartum provider, doula, therapist, midwife, nurse, or birth professional (or anyone passionate about postpartum recovery), this conversation is ESSENTIAL. It's time to stop labeling and start healing at the core. If you’re searching for functional nutrition, perinatal mental health education, and REAL answers for postpartum healing—you’re exactly in the right place.
Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/postpartum-depression-is-a-symptom-not-a-diagnosis-ep-216/
Key Time Stamps:
00:00 The hard truth about postpartum depression
01:06 Miranda’s experience with postpartum depression & bipolar disorder
02:28 Science proves it—but the system doesn’t value mothers
03:30 Postpartum depression as a symptom, not a diagnosis
04:51 Why symptom labels don’t fix root causes
05:50 How postpartum medications can help—and how they can hurt
06:30 Why postpartum care must be more than prescribing meds
08:54 The 6 root causes behind postpartum depression
10:19 The shocking nutrient depletion rates in postpartum women
11:47 Toxic overload and why detox pathways matter
13:57 How sleep deprivation physically rewires the postpartum brain
15:19 Unprocessed trauma and nervous system breakdown
17:47 How birth medications impact postpartum mental health
19:08 The brutal reality of no support and isolated motherhood
20:22 Providers aren’t taught postpartum-specific healing
21:04 Is this anecdotal or real science? (Hint: it’s clinical, it's proven)
22:35 Why depression is the warning light, not the broken engine
23:43 Why moms aren't broken—the care system is
24:34 The new model of postpartum care: body, mind, spirit, and environment
25:41 How Postpartum University is revolutionizing postpartum healing
NEXT STEPS:
🎒Download the free Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool & Guide for Providers
🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
📱Connect on Instagram!
📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training & Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, hey, everyone, welcomeback to the podcast.
Today I am bringing you one ofthe most important and, yes,
probably one of the mostcontroversial conversations that
(00:44):
we have ever had on this show.
But I am not afraid to have it,because we simply need to.
We need to be talking aboutpostpartum depression.
We are not talking about it inthe way you've heard it talked
about before.
We're asking the powerfulquestion what if postpartum
depression isn't the diagnosis?
What if it's a symptom?
(01:06):
I want to first say that, beforewe go any further, that I've
been there.
I've had postpartum depressionafter my first baby.
I had it after my second aswell.
I've experienced postpartumanxiety.
I've had postpartum bipolardisorder with my third.
So when I say that I get thistopic and it hits close to home,
I mean it with every cell in mythird.
So when I say that I get thistopic and it hits close to home.
(01:26):
I mean it with every cell in mybody.
This is not hypothetical, thisisn't a theory.
I know the dark, I know theisolation.
I know what it's like to feelyou were breaking apart inside
and to have no one truly seewhat's happening.
And I also know what it meansto heal to heal deeply and on
(01:49):
the clinical side of things, nowthat I've been doing this work
for years and a professionalcapacity.
So what I share with you todaycomes not just from science and
experience as a biologicalresearcher, as someone who's
been here, lived it and haveresearched it and dedicated my
(02:10):
entire life to this, I'm tellingyou, I want you to feel safe
here, I want you to stay curiousand I also want you to let this
challenge you, because it willOkay.
So there's this overwhelmingamount of information in science
that supports what I'm about toshare.
In fact, I am currently writingan entire book about how we've
(02:33):
missed the mark with science andpostpartum care.
It's going to be absolutelyphenomenal.
I am very excited to have thisbook and to be able to write
this.
For those of you who don't know, I got a book deal.
So cool, but here's the thingright, science knows everything
that I'm going to share with you.
We know how nutrient depletion,trauma, hormonal shifts,
(02:55):
nervous system dysregulation,the impact of maternal mental
health, all of this but thesystem doesn't prioritize the
mother.
But the system doesn'tprioritize the mother.
Science is often used to createpolicy, produce pills and
protect profits.
It's not to build sustainable,nourishing systems of care for
(03:18):
mothers.
So, yes, there is evidence,mountains of it, but if we don't
value mothers, the evidencemeans nothing.
So here's the thing aboutpostpartum depression.
I truly believe that it is asymptom of lack of care.
A diagnosis is just a label.
(03:41):
It's a way of categorizingsymptoms, but it doesn't tell us
the root.
It doesn't ask why the symptomsare happening, and this is
something even Bessel van derKolk, the author of the Body,
keeps the Score.
He said this again and again inhis book.
Most of the people that I haveworked with who come into
(04:04):
postpartum universities say theexact same thing.
There's just a list of symptomsthat get bundled up and put
into this label that says oh,you have X, y, z because you've
had, you know this many symptomsthat that match this and so you
.
It becomes a label, but it doesnothing more than that.
(04:24):
It doesn't teach you how tocare for those symptoms, it
doesn't say why those symptomscame up in the first place and
it certainly doesn't tell youwhat to do about those symptoms.
There's nothing more to it,right?
And the whole DSM-5 is built inthat way.
It's just like a just anencyclopedia of symptoms that
(04:45):
are grouped together that createa diagnosis, and that's Western
medicine.
And most of the women I workwith have been told, who have
been told, that they havepostpartum depression.
They're usually given amedication fairly immediately,
but very few of them are everasked what are you eating?
Are you sleeping at all?
(05:07):
What about birth trauma?
What kind of support do youhave?
Instead, they're usually toldthings like oh, it's just a
chemical imbalance, or oh, it'sjust a hormonal imbalance, and
that's like the thing thatexplains everything.
Right, as if the body exists inisolation from the life around
(05:27):
it, as if, you know, we are justsupposed to suffer because now
we're a mother and that's whatit means to be a mother.
And worse, they see too manywomen suffer under medications
that don't help or just makethem feel worse, and they're
told that's normal.
Or they're told just stay on itfor a couple of years and it'll
(05:48):
be fine in the end.
But let's be real.
These medications, especiallyin the early postpartum period,
can have long-term consequenceson the brain.
This is the time when the brainis rewiring the most.
It is one of the most plasticit's ever been.
That means everything we do haslasting effects and lasting
(06:16):
consequences.
And no, I am not saying thatall medications are bad.
Medications can be life-saving.
I've seen them stabilizesomeone enough to come back to
themselves to breathe again, andthat is sacred work too.
But what I am saying is weshouldn't have to get to that
point in the first place.
If we were providing realpostpartum care nutritional,
(06:40):
emotional, spiritual, physicalwe wouldn't see these rates of
mental health collapse.
Right now, postpartumdepression accounts for one out
of every three women.
We wouldn't have to lean onmedication as the first and only
line of defense, which iscurrently what we've been doing,
and we currently see that thoserates are rising and rising,
(07:02):
and rising.
It wasn't one in three just adecade ago, it was one in seven,
and so we have to draw the line.
We have to say what ishappening here.
Meds are not the enemy.
Incomplete care is the enemy.
You cannot give meds and thenbe done with it right.
(07:23):
If meds are the answer forimmediate safety, then the next
step is figuring out how to getthat body off of those meds
after addressing exactly what itneeds.
But all too often that lastpart, the long-term care plan
that never, ever happens.
And we do it oftentimes with notenough information.
(07:46):
For example, I once shared onsocial media this was just not
too long ago, I think it was amonth or two ago about St John's
Wort.
It is a plant that has beenused for thousands of years and
it's actually one of the fewherbal remedies that is
supported by clinical data andit is proven effective for mild
(08:11):
to moderate depression inpostpartum.
And I shared links to thestudies like actual peer
reviewed research, and I gottorn apart for it because it
wasn't a prescription andbecause I'm posting that clearly
I must be anti-medication, andalso because it feels too simple
(08:34):
.
It feels like you know, we'veequated science and
pharmaceuticals and then if it'snatural, then all of a sudden
it's quackery.
But if we say we believe inscience, we have to believe in
all of it, not just the partsthat feel safe or fit the
current system or a currentstory of what is okay.
(08:54):
Before I go on another rant.
I want to tell you the sixroots of postpartum depression.
Let's talk about what is reallyhappening in the body that
makes postpartum depression asymptom.
It is a symptom of these sixthings that I'm going to tell
you about.
First off, the first andforemost, which is no surprise
(09:15):
nutrient depletion.
Pregnancy pulls from themother's body.
If she doesn't restore thosenutrients, she is going to
suffer Iron, b12, folate,omega-3s the list goes on.
These are critical for moodregulation, for cognition, for
energy, and the research isclear, right?
(09:37):
We have astounding amount ofresearch that says 80% of women
who enter into the postpartumperiod are depleted of key
nutrients and minerals, and manyof these nutrient minerals are
directly linked to symptoms ofdepression and even anxiety.
Yet most moms are dischargedand have zero guidance on
(10:02):
replenishment.
And it's hard because we havethis world that is so full of
misinformation when it comes tofood and a world that doesn't
understand postpartum physiologyin the least bit.
And then they haverecommendations of like salads
and smoothies, which are some ofthe worst foods to consume.
And then we are just salads andsmoothies, which are some of
(10:23):
the worst foods to consume, andthen we are just we have such a
hard time gaining back thenutrients?
Because it's not just aboutnutrient dense foods, it's also
about how are they able toabsorb in your body.
And I'm telling you this isn'talternative medicine, this is
biology.
The research is there.
Functional and integrativepractitioners have known this
for decades and silence is justnow catching up.
(10:44):
But here's the kicker Mostproviders are not trained in
nutrition and if they are, it'sminimal and rarely rarely
postpartum specific.
Actually, I have never seenthat in the history of my work
in the last 15 years.
And that's not provider's fault.
It is a gap in the system andwe're here to feel it, not shame
(11:05):
it.
Okay, here's number two toxicbuildup.
During pregnancy.
The body stores toxins a way toprotect the baby.
It doesn't have a means to getit out as it once did.
That detoxification process andthe way in which our bodies
detoxify through all of thedifferent ways it does so
(11:28):
naturally kind of shuts down alittle bit so that we can keep
that baby safe.
We don't want to be having alot of toxins run through our
blood systems or anything likethat to make sure that we grow a
healthy baby and then afterbirth those detox pathways open
up.
But if the liver and the gut arenot supported, this toxic
(11:51):
overload, it becomes toxicoverload and that leads to
symptoms that mirror depressionand anxiety.
And again, this is highlyresearched.
We know the effects of plastic,we know the effects of heavy
metals within our body.
We know exactly what all ofthese things are doing within us
(12:12):
.
We have the evidence and weknow that we're so full of
toxins and, honestly, a lot ofthese things are not something
that we are ever going to getaway from.
It's going to happen.
We are going to be exposed.
We cannot prevent toxinexposure whatsoever, but we can
(12:34):
support helping our bodies detox, especially in the postpartum
period.
But if we're experiencingconstipation, if we are having a
hard time sweating whichhappens sometimes if we are not
getting the right foods andwe're feeling sluggish and our
lymphatic system is sluggish, ifwe're not getting the movement
(12:57):
that our body needs in a way inwhich we need it and I'm not
talking about exercising hardthen that toxin overload within
our bodies becomes a thing andit will hurt and it doesn't feel
good physically and emotionally.
Here's another kicker, and y'allknow this so so well,
(13:19):
especially if you know what itmeans to be a mom.
You know about sleepdeprivation.
It is a known trigger for mooddisorders.
Lack of sleep leads to elevatedcortisol, inflammation,
emotional dysregulation, and yetour culture expects mothers to
parent without rest, or theyexpect our babies to do all of
(13:41):
the sleeping.
Sleeping and postpartum is amulti-billion dollar industry.
Somebody always has somethingto say about how to sleep well
in postpartum, and most of thatis geared toward making sure
that our babies sleep throughthe night, no matter if it is a
(14:03):
biological normal for our babies, so that we as mothers can
continue being productive withinsociety.
That's the kicker right there,and the way in which we need to
sleep has to change.
We have to do somethingdifferent and many of us are not
in a position to because wedon't live in a society that
(14:25):
supports that.
We have to go back to work, wehave to go take care of the
other kids, and we are doing itoftentimes very solo, and that
makes things extremely difficultfor sleep.
Okay, number four is trauma andnervous system dysregulation.
Unprocessed trauma, whetherfrom childhood, pregnancy, birth
(14:46):
, especially birth that lives inthat body and it dysregulates
the nervous system.
It keeps cortisol high.
It makes healing feelimpossible.
This is so often what happensas well with when we have
intrusive thoughts.
Women often experienceintrusive thoughts.
(15:07):
I think 80, the stat was 80% ofwomen who are in the postpartum
years experience a form ofintrusive thoughts.
And when you become a mother,the nervous system is literally
rewiring.
The brain is rewiring, and sothere's a lot of things that are
happening to help you connectwith your baby and to make sure
(15:28):
that your baby and you stayalive right, but what happens if
we are in a state of constantstress and we feel unsupported
and we are left alone?
Those are warning signs in ourbody that something is wrong.
Okay, if you think about, youknow, going back to the stone
(15:49):
age or going back to our huntinggathering phase we lived
together in a community and ifwe were isolated, if we were all
of a sudden we found ourselvesby ourselves, then that becomes
a really scary situation.
That's a danger, that's awarning, and so your brain sends
a warning to your whole, entirebody that says something's
(16:10):
wrong, something's not right.
And oftentimes in postpartum weare left alone, we are sitting
in isolation, we are not okay,and that signals to the body hey
, you're about to become bait,right, you're about to get a
lion chasing you, right, orwhatever the case may be, and
oftentimes we live in that statebecause we're not getting our
(16:32):
needs met, and that's just oneexample.
But if we also have a reallydifficult birth and we didn't
have an opportunity to processthat because we're so busy
taking care of a baby andlearning how to navigate raising
a child, whether it's yourfirst or your 10th, it's always
something new, it's always adifferent way of being in your
(16:56):
life and it takes a lot of work.
On top of healing from thebirth experience itself, it's
like it can feel really, reallychallenging.
And here is another tabooconversation, and number five is
birth medications.
So taboo, but it matters.
Right.
We need to be talking about howpitocin and epidurals and
(17:18):
antibiotics and birth controlall impact gut health, hormones
and the nervous system and havebeen clinically linked to
causing postpartum depressionPitocin, epidurals, antibiotics
and birth control Every singleone of them linked to increasing
(17:41):
rates of postpartum depression.
Okay, I know some people arevery mad at me for saying things
like that, but I'm telling youthat's the truth.
You can go find it.
We send the data on that.
We actually just sent out theinformation on that not too long
ago in our newsletter, with thedata, with the links all there,
(18:08):
all the scientific studies.
If you're not on that list,definitely get on our newsletter
list ASAP, because we send thatstuff out quite frequently so
that you can stay up to date onthe latest information.
Anyway, the evidence is there,the science is there, we know it
.
It's not refutable.
And here's another one that isprobably.
It's definitely not as tabooand everybody knows it.
Number six is lack of support.
(18:28):
There's no help, there's novillage, no validation, no care.
This is the foundation ofmaternal suffering.
When a mother is left alone,everything breaks.
We're not meant to live inisolation, and yet here we are.
A mother returns home frombirth, sometimes from surgery,
and she's expected to parent anewborn and feed herself and
(18:50):
heal and run a household andchase the toddlers, and then
return to work and do all overeverything again and again,
every single day.
And then we wonder why she'sbreaking.
And postpartum depression iswhat happens when a mother's
basic needs have been ignored solong that her body finally says
(19:11):
I cannot carry this any longer.
And that's really the roots.
Right there, all of that right,and there's no particular order
for it.
It's nutrition toxins, sleepdeprivation, trauma, birth
(19:31):
medications, lack of support.
Sometimes it's one, sometimesit's all six, it's convoluted,
it's tricky, there's lots,they're all intertwined, right.
That's just the way it is.
And I know you might be thinkingwell, I was never taught this.
This isn't something that ispart of my training.
And exactly that's the problem.
Most providers are not trainedin postpartum specific care, not
(19:54):
even OBs, not in nutrition, notin trauma, not in nervous
system support.
And it's not because they don'tcare, it's because the system
doesn't teach.
I've had hundreds of providerscome through my certification
programs and my work and say Ihad to unlearn so much.
And again, it's not their fault, but we do have a
(20:17):
responsibility to grow and Ihear this all the time.
Is this anecdotal?
Is this just anecdotal evidence?
Well, first off, anecdotalevidence is evidence and no.
This is clinical, it's studied,it's real.
Iron deficient women are threetimes more likely to have
postpartum depression.
B12 deficiency mimics anxiety,gut inflammation impacts
(20:40):
serotonin levels.
This is not woo, this isphysiology.
Serotonin levels this is notwoo, this is physiology.
And if we dismiss that becauseit doesn't come in a
pharmaceutical label, then we'redoing a disservice to mothers.
When we see symptoms likedepression and anxiety, fatigue,
rage, intrusive thoughts, deepapathy, they are not random,
(21:03):
they're not isolated events.
These are messengers signalingthat something in the body is
off.
This is not a biological normalthing that's supposed to happen
, but it is a biological normalresponse to when our needs are
not being met.
Something deeper is happeningbeneath the surface, but our
(21:24):
medical system has trained us totreat symptoms like isolated
problems diagnose, label,prescribe, repeat without asking
why those symptoms arehappening in the first place.
Depression is not the rootcause.
It is a symptom of a largerphysiological and emotional
(21:45):
breakdown.
It's the red light warningflashing on the dashboard, not
the broken engine that'sunderneath.
I'm telling you, when a motheris profoundly depleted, not
sleeping, lacking criticalnutrients, carrying unprocessed
trauma and trying to functionwithout support, yeah, duh, of
(22:05):
course.
Of course her mental health isgoing to collapse.
The body is designed tocommunicate distress and for
many, depression is that signal.
But instead of asking whatsymptoms need repair, we put
tape over the dashboard lightand just tell her it's mom life.
We've normalized the suffering.
(22:26):
We hand her pills and pat heron the back and say that's the
best you're likely going to do.
Get over it.
This is it.
This is motherhood.
The world sucks and then sendher home where there's no
support system, not eventeaching her how to get one, not
even offering care, supportcircle opportunities, whatever
(22:51):
local things, and then wonderwhy so many women don't get
better or why they feel likethey're losing themselves more
and more with each passing day.
The truth is, postpartumdepression is the tip of the
iceberg, and until we stopfocusing solely on the symptoms
and start rebuilding the entiresystem body, mind and
(23:15):
environment we will continue tosee mothers fall through the
cracks, not because they'rebroken, but because the care
they deserve doesn't exist inthe current model.
The beautiful truth is this canchange.
Mothers don't have to suffer,depression doesn't have to be
(23:35):
the inevitable outcome of givingbirth, and providers don't have
to carry the weight of a brokensystem on their shoulders
anymore.
Because here's the thingproviders do care deeply.
Moms want the education, theinformation, right and providers
.
We enter the field ready to help, ready to heal, to walk
(23:55):
alongside others in their mostvulnerable seasons, but most of
them were trained in a systemthat doesn't prioritize mothers,
where postpartum education wasbarely even touched and where
root cause care, healing, waswoo or not even part of the
conversation.
And that's not their fault, it'snot a lack of compassion, it's
(24:18):
a lack of tools, and what weneed now is a new model of care,
one that doesn't ask providersto choose between the heart and
the protocol, but gives them thefreedom to follow both a bigger
(24:46):
picture one that integratesbiology and trauma, and
community and nourishment andrest not as afterthoughts but as
essential components of healing, and that is why we are
building postpartum universityand why it is what it is today.
This is what our community isall about, and this is the shift
.
When we start supportingproviders with the education
(25:07):
they were never given, weempower them to support mothers
in a way they never even thoughtpossible, because when we
change postpartum care, wechange the world, and we are all
doing it together.
Thanks so much for being a partof this crucial conversation.
(25:30):
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
you're ready to dig deeper,come join us on our newsletter,
where I share exclusive insights, resources and the latest tools
to help you make a lastingimpact on postpartum health.
Sign up at postpartumu, theletter ucom, which is in the
(25:51):
show notes, and if you foundtoday's episode valuable, please
leave a review to help us reachmore providers like you.
Together, we're building afuture where mothers are fully
supported and thriving.
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, hey, everyone, welcomeback to the podcast.
Today I am bringing you one ofthe most important and, yes,
probably one of the mostcontroversial conversations that
(00:44):
we have ever had on this show.
But I am not afraid to have it,because we simply need to.
We need to be talking aboutpostpartum depression.
We are not talking about it inthe way you've heard it talked
about before.
We're asking the powerfulquestion what if postpartum
depression isn't the diagnosis?
What if it's a symptom?
(01:06):
I want to first say that, beforewe go any further, that I've
been there.
I've had postpartum depressionafter my first baby.
I had it after my second aswell.
I've experienced postpartumanxiety.
I've had postpartum bipolardisorder with my third.
So when I say that I get thistopic and it hits close to home,
I mean it with every cell in mythird.
So when I say that I get thistopic and it hits close to home.
(01:26):
I mean it with every cell in mybody.
This is not hypothetical, thisisn't a theory.
I know the dark, I know theisolation.
I know what it's like to feelyou were breaking apart inside
and to have no one truly seewhat's happening.
And I also know what it meansto heal to heal deeply and on
(01:49):
the clinical side of things, nowthat I've been doing this work
for years and a professionalcapacity.
So what I share with you todaycomes not just from science and
experience as a biologicalresearcher, as someone who's
been here, lived it and haveresearched it and dedicated my
(02:10):
entire life to this, I'm tellingyou, I want you to feel safe
here, I want you to stay curiousand I also want you to let this
challenge you, because it willOkay.
So there's this overwhelmingamount of information in science
that supports what I'm about toshare.
In fact, I am currently writingan entire book about how we've
(02:33):
missed the mark with science andpostpartum care.
It's going to be absolutelyphenomenal.
I am very excited to have thisbook and to be able to write
this.
For those of you who don't know, I got a book deal.
So cool, but here's the thingright, science knows everything
that I'm going to share with you.
We know how nutrient depletion,trauma, hormonal shifts,
(02:55):
nervous system dysregulation,the impact of maternal mental
health, all of this but thesystem doesn't prioritize the
mother.
But the system doesn'tprioritize the mother.
Science is often used to createpolicy, produce pills and
protect profits.
It's not to build sustainable,nourishing systems of care for
(03:18):
mothers.
So, yes, there is evidence,mountains of it, but if we don't
value mothers, the evidencemeans nothing.
So here's the thing aboutpostpartum depression.
I truly believe that it is asymptom of lack of care.
A diagnosis is just a label.
(03:41):
It's a way of categorizingsymptoms, but it doesn't tell us
the root.
It doesn't ask why the symptomsare happening, and this is
something even Bessel van derKolk, the author of the Body,
keeps the Score.
He said this again and again inhis book.
Most of the people that I haveworked with who come into
(04:04):
postpartum universities say theexact same thing.
There's just a list of symptomsthat get bundled up and put
into this label that says oh,you have X, y, z because you've
had, you know this many symptomsthat that match this and so you
.
It becomes a label, but it doesnothing more than that.
(04:24):
It doesn't teach you how tocare for those symptoms, it
doesn't say why those symptomscame up in the first place and
it certainly doesn't tell youwhat to do about those symptoms.
There's nothing more to it,right?
And the whole DSM-5 is built inthat way.
It's just like a just anencyclopedia of symptoms that
(04:45):
are grouped together that createa diagnosis, and that's Western
medicine.
And most of the women I workwith have been told, who have
been told, that they havepostpartum depression.
They're usually given amedication fairly immediately,
but very few of them are everasked what are you eating?
Are you sleeping at all?
(05:07):
What about birth trauma?
What kind of support do youhave?
Instead, they're usually toldthings like oh, it's just a
chemical imbalance, or oh, it'sjust a hormonal imbalance, and
that's like the thing thatexplains everything.
Right, as if the body exists inisolation from the life around
(05:27):
it, as if, you know, we are justsupposed to suffer because now
we're a mother and that's whatit means to be a mother.
And worse, they see too manywomen suffer under medications
that don't help or just makethem feel worse, and they're
told that's normal.
Or they're told just stay on itfor a couple of years and it'll
(05:48):
be fine in the end.
But let's be real.
These medications, especiallyin the early postpartum period,
can have long-term consequenceson the brain.
This is the time when the brainis rewiring the most.
It is one of the most plasticit's ever been.
That means everything we do haslasting effects and lasting
(06:16):
consequences.
And no, I am not saying thatall medications are bad.
Medications can be life-saving.
I've seen them stabilizesomeone enough to come back to
themselves to breathe again, andthat is sacred work too.
But what I am saying is weshouldn't have to get to that
point in the first place.
If we were providing realpostpartum care nutritional,
(06:40):
emotional, spiritual, physicalwe wouldn't see these rates of
mental health collapse.
Right now, postpartumdepression accounts for one out
of every three women.
We wouldn't have to lean onmedication as the first and only
line of defense, which iscurrently what we've been doing,
and we currently see that thoserates are rising and rising,
(07:02):
and rising.
It wasn't one in three just adecade ago, it was one in seven,
and so we have to draw the line.
We have to say what ishappening here.
Meds are not the enemy.
Incomplete care is the enemy.
You cannot give meds and thenbe done with it right.
(07:23):
If meds are the answer forimmediate safety, then the next
step is figuring out how to getthat body off of those meds
after addressing exactly what itneeds.
But all too often that lastpart, the long-term care plan
that never, ever happens.
And we do it oftentimes with notenough information.
(07:46):
For example, I once shared onsocial media this was just not
too long ago, I think it was amonth or two ago about St John's
Wort.
It is a plant that has beenused for thousands of years and
it's actually one of the fewherbal remedies that is
supported by clinical data andit is proven effective for mild
(08:11):
to moderate depression inpostpartum.
And I shared links to thestudies like actual peer
reviewed research, and I gottorn apart for it because it
wasn't a prescription andbecause I'm posting that clearly
I must be anti-medication, andalso because it feels too simple
(08:34):
.
It feels like you know, we'veequated science and
pharmaceuticals and then if it'snatural, then all of a sudden
it's quackery.
But if we say we believe inscience, we have to believe in
all of it, not just the partsthat feel safe or fit the
current system or a currentstory of what is okay.
(08:54):
Before I go on another rant.
I want to tell you the sixroots of postpartum depression.
Let's talk about what is reallyhappening in the body that
makes postpartum depression asymptom.
It is a symptom of these sixthings that I'm going to tell
you about.
First off, the first andforemost, which is no surprise
(09:15):
nutrient depletion.
Pregnancy pulls from themother's body.
If she doesn't restore thosenutrients, she is going to
suffer Iron, b12, folate,omega-3s the list goes on.
These are critical for moodregulation, for cognition, for
energy, and the research isclear, right?
(09:37):
We have astounding amount ofresearch that says 80% of women
who enter into the postpartumperiod are depleted of key
nutrients and minerals, and manyof these nutrient minerals are
directly linked to symptoms ofdepression and even anxiety.
Yet most moms are dischargedand have zero guidance on
(10:02):
replenishment.
And it's hard because we havethis world that is so full of
misinformation when it comes tofood and a world that doesn't
understand postpartum physiologyin the least bit.
And then they haverecommendations of like salads
and smoothies, which are some ofthe worst foods to consume.
And then we are just salads andsmoothies, which are some of
(10:23):
the worst foods to consume, andthen we are just we have such a
hard time gaining back thenutrients?
Because it's not just aboutnutrient dense foods, it's also
about how are they able toabsorb in your body.
And I'm telling you this isn'talternative medicine, this is
biology.
The research is there.
Functional and integrativepractitioners have known this
for decades and silence is justnow catching up.
(10:44):
But here's the kicker Mostproviders are not trained in
nutrition and if they are, it'sminimal and rarely rarely
postpartum specific.
Actually, I have never seenthat in the history of my work
in the last 15 years.
And that's not provider's fault.
It is a gap in the system andwe're here to feel it, not shame
(11:05):
it.
Okay, here's number two toxicbuildup.
During pregnancy.
The body stores toxins a way toprotect the baby.
It doesn't have a means to getit out as it once did.
That detoxification process andthe way in which our bodies
detoxify through all of thedifferent ways it does so
(11:28):
naturally kind of shuts down alittle bit so that we can keep
that baby safe.
We don't want to be having alot of toxins run through our
blood systems or anything likethat to make sure that we grow a
healthy baby and then afterbirth those detox pathways open
up.
But if the liver and the gut arenot supported, this toxic
(11:51):
overload, it becomes toxicoverload and that leads to
symptoms that mirror depressionand anxiety.
And again, this is highlyresearched.
We know the effects of plastic,we know the effects of heavy
metals within our body.
We know exactly what all ofthese things are doing within us
(12:12):
.
We have the evidence and weknow that we're so full of
toxins and, honestly, a lot ofthese things are not something
that we are ever going to getaway from.
It's going to happen.
We are going to be exposed.
We cannot prevent toxinexposure whatsoever, but we can
(12:34):
support helping our bodies detox, especially in the postpartum
period.
But if we're experiencingconstipation, if we are having a
hard time sweating whichhappens sometimes if we are not
getting the right foods andwe're feeling sluggish and our
lymphatic system is sluggish, ifwe're not getting the movement
(12:57):
that our body needs in a way inwhich we need it and I'm not
talking about exercising hardthen that toxin overload within
our bodies becomes a thing andit will hurt and it doesn't feel
good physically and emotionally.
Here's another kicker, and y'allknow this so so well,
(13:19):
especially if you know what itmeans to be a mom.
You know about sleepdeprivation.
It is a known trigger for mooddisorders.
Lack of sleep leads to elevatedcortisol, inflammation,
emotional dysregulation, and yetour culture expects mothers to
parent without rest, or theyexpect our babies to do all of
(13:41):
the sleeping.
Sleeping and postpartum is amulti-billion dollar industry.
Somebody always has somethingto say about how to sleep well
in postpartum, and most of thatis geared toward making sure
that our babies sleep throughthe night, no matter if it is a
(14:03):
biological normal for our babies, so that we as mothers can
continue being productive withinsociety.
That's the kicker right there,and the way in which we need to
sleep has to change.
We have to do somethingdifferent and many of us are not
in a position to because wedon't live in a society that
(14:25):
supports that.
We have to go back to work, wehave to go take care of the
other kids, and we are doing itoftentimes very solo, and that
makes things extremely difficultfor sleep.
Okay, number four is trauma andnervous system dysregulation.
Unprocessed trauma, whetherfrom childhood, pregnancy, birth
(14:46):
, especially birth that lives inthat body and it dysregulates
the nervous system.
It keeps cortisol high.
It makes healing feelimpossible.
This is so often what happensas well with when we have
intrusive thoughts.
Women often experienceintrusive thoughts.
(15:07):
I think 80, the stat was 80% ofwomen who are in the postpartum
years experience a form ofintrusive thoughts.
And when you become a mother,the nervous system is literally
rewiring.
The brain is rewiring, and sothere's a lot of things that are
happening to help you connectwith your baby and to make sure
(15:28):
that your baby and you stayalive right, but what happens if
we are in a state of constantstress and we feel unsupported
and we are left alone?
Those are warning signs in ourbody that something is wrong.
Okay, if you think about, youknow, going back to the stone
(15:49):
age or going back to our huntinggathering phase we lived
together in a community and ifwe were isolated, if we were all
of a sudden we found ourselvesby ourselves, then that becomes
a really scary situation.
That's a danger, that's awarning, and so your brain sends
a warning to your whole, entirebody that says something's
(16:10):
wrong, something's not right.
And oftentimes in postpartum weare left alone, we are sitting
in isolation, we are not okay,and that signals to the body hey
, you're about to become bait,right, you're about to get a
lion chasing you, right, orwhatever the case may be, and
oftentimes we live in that statebecause we're not getting our
(16:32):
needs met, and that's just oneexample.
But if we also have a reallydifficult birth and we didn't
have an opportunity to processthat because we're so busy
taking care of a baby andlearning how to navigate raising
a child, whether it's yourfirst or your 10th, it's always
something new, it's always adifferent way of being in your
(16:56):
life and it takes a lot of work.
On top of healing from thebirth experience itself, it's
like it can feel really, reallychallenging.
And here is another tabooconversation, and number five is
birth medications.
So taboo, but it matters.
Right.
We need to be talking about howpitocin and epidurals and
(17:18):
antibiotics and birth controlall impact gut health, hormones
and the nervous system and havebeen clinically linked to
causing postpartum depressionPitocin, epidurals, antibiotics
and birth control Every singleone of them linked to increasing
(17:41):
rates of postpartum depression.
Okay, I know some people arevery mad at me for saying things
like that, but I'm telling youthat's the truth.
You can go find it.
We send the data on that.
We actually just sent out theinformation on that not too long
ago in our newsletter, with thedata, with the links all there,
(18:08):
all the scientific studies.
If you're not on that list,definitely get on our newsletter
list ASAP, because we send thatstuff out quite frequently so
that you can stay up to date onthe latest information.
Anyway, the evidence is there,the science is there, we know it
.
It's not refutable.
And here's another one that isprobably.
It's definitely not as tabooand everybody knows it.
Number six is lack of support.
(18:28):
There's no help, there's novillage, no validation, no care.
This is the foundation ofmaternal suffering.
When a mother is left alone,everything breaks.
We're not meant to live inisolation, and yet here we are.
A mother returns home frombirth, sometimes from surgery,
and she's expected to parent anewborn and feed herself and
(18:50):
heal and run a household andchase the toddlers, and then
return to work and do all overeverything again and again,
every single day.
And then we wonder why she'sbreaking.
And postpartum depression iswhat happens when a mother's
basic needs have been ignored solong that her body finally says
(19:11):
I cannot carry this any longer.
And that's really the roots.
Right there, all of that right,and there's no particular order
for it.
It's nutrition toxins, sleepdeprivation, trauma, birth
(19:31):
medications, lack of support.
Sometimes it's one, sometimesit's all six, it's convoluted,
it's tricky, there's lots,they're all intertwined, right.
That's just the way it is.
And I know you might be thinkingwell, I was never taught this.
This isn't something that ispart of my training.
And exactly that's the problem.
Most providers are not trainedin postpartum specific care, not
(19:54):
even OBs, not in nutrition, notin trauma, not in nervous
system support.
And it's not because they don'tcare, it's because the system
doesn't teach.
I've had hundreds of providerscome through my certification
programs and my work and say Ihad to unlearn so much.
And again, it's not their fault, but we do have a
(20:17):
responsibility to grow and Ihear this all the time.
Is this anecdotal?
Is this just anecdotal evidence?
Well, first off, anecdotalevidence is evidence and no.
This is clinical, it's studied,it's real.
Iron deficient women are threetimes more likely to have
postpartum depression.
B12 deficiency mimics anxiety,gut inflammation impacts
(20:40):
serotonin levels.
This is not woo, this isphysiology.
Serotonin levels this is notwoo, this is physiology.
And if we dismiss that becauseit doesn't come in a
pharmaceutical label, then we'redoing a disservice to mothers.
When we see symptoms likedepression and anxiety, fatigue,
rage, intrusive thoughts, deepapathy, they are not random,
(21:03):
they're not isolated events.
These are messengers signalingthat something in the body is
off.
This is not a biological normalthing that's supposed to happen
, but it is a biological normalresponse to when our needs are
not being met.
Something deeper is happeningbeneath the surface, but our
(21:24):
medical system has trained us totreat symptoms like isolated
problems diagnose, label,prescribe, repeat without asking
why those symptoms arehappening in the first place.
Depression is not the rootcause.
It is a symptom of a largerphysiological and emotional
(21:45):
breakdown.
It's the red light warningflashing on the dashboard, not
the broken engine that'sunderneath.
I'm telling you, when a motheris profoundly depleted, not
sleeping, lacking criticalnutrients, carrying unprocessed
trauma and trying to functionwithout support, yeah, duh, of
(22:05):
course.
Of course her mental health isgoing to collapse.
The body is designed tocommunicate distress and for
many, depression is that signal.
But instead of asking whatsymptoms need repair, we put
tape over the dashboard lightand just tell her it's mom life.
We've normalized the suffering.
(22:26):
We hand her pills and pat heron the back and say that's the
best you're likely going to do.
Get over it.
This is it.
This is motherhood.
The world sucks and then sendher home where there's no
support system, not eventeaching her how to get one, not
even offering care, supportcircle opportunities, whatever
(22:51):
local things, and then wonderwhy so many women don't get
better or why they feel likethey're losing themselves more
and more with each passing day.
The truth is, postpartumdepression is the tip of the
iceberg, and until we stopfocusing solely on the symptoms
and start rebuilding the entiresystem body, mind and
(23:15):
environment we will continue tosee mothers fall through the
cracks, not because they'rebroken, but because the care
they deserve doesn't exist inthe current model.
The beautiful truth is this canchange.
Mothers don't have to suffer,depression doesn't have to be
(23:35):
the inevitable outcome of givingbirth, and providers don't have
to carry the weight of a brokensystem on their shoulders
anymore.
Because here's the thingproviders do care deeply.
Moms want the education, theinformation, right and providers
.
We enter the field ready to help, ready to heal, to walk
(23:55):
alongside others in their mostvulnerable seasons, but most of
them were trained in a systemthat doesn't prioritize mothers,
where postpartum education wasbarely even touched and where
root cause care, healing, waswoo or not even part of the
conversation.
And that's not their fault, it'snot a lack of compassion, it's
(24:18):
a lack of tools, and what weneed now is a new model of care,
one that doesn't ask providersto choose between the heart and
the protocol, but gives them thefreedom to follow both a bigger
(24:46):
picture one that integratesbiology and trauma, and
community and nourishment andrest not as afterthoughts but as
essential components of healing, and that is why we are
building postpartum universityand why it is what it is today.
This is what our community isall about, and this is the shift
.
When we start supportingproviders with the education
(25:07):
they were never given, weempower them to support mothers
in a way they never even thoughtpossible, because when we
change postpartum care, wechange the world, and we are all
doing it together.
Thanks so much for being a partof this crucial conversation.
(25:30):
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
you're ready to dig deeper,come join us on our newsletter,
where I share exclusive insights, resources and the latest tools
to help you make a lastingimpact on postpartum health.
Sign up at postpartumu, theletter ucom, which is in the
(25:51):
show notes, and if you foundtoday's episode valuable, please
leave a review to help us reachmore providers like you.
Together, we're building afuture where mothers are fully
supported and thriving.
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