July 22, 2025 • 47 mins
As postpartum providers, we're seeing it: new moms are struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety at epidemic rates—now affecting 1 in 3 women. This isn't normal; it's the number one complication of childbirth, and our current postpartum care system is clearly failing. If you're a healthcare professional, perinatal mental health specialist, or functional health practitioner seeking holistic postpartum care solutions and evidence-based strategies to truly help clients heal at the root, you need to understand why this is happening and what we can do about it.
Check out this episode on the blog HERE.
Key time stamps:
- 00:00: The failing postpartum care system and the rise of maternal mental health issues.
- 01:57: Postpartum depression is NOT normal but a sign of un-met needs.
- 03:53: The inadequacy of postpartum checkups & normalization of suffering.
- 06:05: Historical exclusion of women from medical studies
- 08:50: Gender-specific health research & maternal brain changes.
- 12:20: Complex physiological postpartum changes beyond the obvious.
- 13:53: Gut health and nervous system regulation in postpartum healing.
- 20:12: Learning from cultural postpartum traditions around the world.
- 22:03: The importance of herbs & nutrient-dense postpartum foods.
- 23:59: The shift away from traditional support & struggle for modern moms.
- 25:43: Postpartum retreats aren't the answer – healing happens at home.
- 27:39: Postpartum care appointments and the need for in-home support.
- 28:44: The transformative power of 40 days of deep postpartum support.
Connect with Janelle:
Janelle Lara is a Theologian who focuses primarily on the intersection between Alternative Spirituality and Christian Theology in her research. She enjoys sharing her studies and presenting her findings on her Youtube channel, @janellemlara. She lives in Southeast Georgia with her husband and young children.
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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 lifelong wellbeing.
When we think about postpartum,we think about depression.
That's the number one thoughtthat comes into our mind,
because we are seeing so manywomen suffer from this, and we
(00:43):
have some really old statisticsthat say one in seven women
experience postpartum depression.
During COVID, those numbers wereone in three, and we haven't
done any science or studies orlook at depression rates since
COVID, but we do know that thosenumbers are growing
exponentially.
(01:03):
One in three women willexperience some form of mental
health disorder during this time.
It is the number one issue thatwe experience.
The number one complication ofchildbirth is mental health
disorder and postpartum, and sowe have to ask the question what
in the world is going on here?
Because what we see, what'stranspiring?
(01:23):
This massive growth, thisepidemic?
It's growing at epidemicproportions.
What's happening is not workingand we need to do something
better for this.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Okay, so really, when we talk about the postpartum
crisis, you referenced themental health crisis, postpartum
quite a bit.
What is that?
Where does that come from?
Is it just a naturalconsequence of giving birth and
going through that physicaltrauma, the emotional trauma
right of your entire lifetransforming now, all of a
sudden, your identity revolvesaround this baby, or is there?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
more to it.
There's so much more to it and Ithink society right now really
truly believes and we've fedwomen this lie that postpartum
depression is just somethingthat happens after having a baby
.
We've normalized it because ithappens so frequently and we
really need to take a step backand say wait a second, is this
how it's supposed to go?
Is this like a biologicalnormal?
(02:17):
And that's my background.
I specialize in biology andhuman biology and that's how
I've come into this space, afterhaving my own children and
really studying this.
And no, the answer is no.
It's not a biological normal tohave postpartum depression, but
it is a biological normal todevelop postpartum depression
when you lack the toolsnecessary to heal your body.
(02:39):
That's a warning sign for yourbody.
It's saying I'm not gettingenough, enough support, enough
nutrients, enough regulation inmy nervous system, whatever it
may mean for you.
Because I feel like you knowit's not so simple.
It's very complex andconvoluted and there's a lot of
pieces that kind of intertwinetogether and it's not well, one
size fits all model and that'swhat we've been given in
(03:02):
postpartum care.
We've been given very little inpostpartum care.
Right, how many appointments dowe have to when we're pregnant
to go get checked out, get caredfor, we get all of the
attention.
And then postpartum comes andwe have one checkup at six weeks
.
And what do they do during thatcheckup?
Here is a little 10questionnaires.
(03:24):
If you're lucky, you might, youmight get a couple of
questionnaires about whether ornot you have depression, right,
and sometimes you might feelthat you know that those are
relatable to you, and oftentimes, for many women that I speak to
, this is not relatable.
It wasn't relatable for me,even though I had depression and
anxiety.
And then you're, you're givenan all clear depression and
(03:44):
anxiety.
And then you're, you're givenan all clear and here's your
birth control, right, that's,that's care, right, and that is
such a cop-out.
That's not care, that's notpreventative, that's not, that's
not medicine in the least bit,and so we're getting absolutely
nothing.
And you know, when we come backsix months later, a year later,
we're being told, oh, it's justyour hormones.
Of course you don't feel likeyourself, of course things are a
(04:07):
little weird and out of balance, and your mom tells you the
same thing and your best friendsays, yeah, no worry, like, we
all deal with it.
This is just how motherhood is.
And so, again, we've normalizedit because no one knows how to
do any better, and that's thefrustrating part this brought up
so much for me.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Obviously, miranda, I've had three kids, you've had
four kids and I know that formyself, after following what you
teach, which I'm so excited toget into, my post-birth
experience was transformed fromthe first to the second and
third after I had met you.
But there is so much coming upfor me around, I think even
starting going back all the wayto like college, when I had my
(04:48):
first kind of gynecologicalexperiences, right and just that
.
Like me, I distinctly remember,as a college student, going to
the doctor on campus, right, andjust saying like my periods are
so painful, they last seven to10 days.
It's excruciating, it'sdebilitating.
I don't feel like this isnormal, I feel like something is
(05:11):
wrong.
And the only solution offeredwas birth control.
She was like oh yeah, it'snormal.
It takes periods like 10 yearsto regulate.
Let's get you on birth control.
You won't have any of thosesymptoms anymore.
And I just remember I went onbirth control for two months.
I absolutely hated it.
I blew up, I gained weight, Igot cystic acne all along my
(05:31):
chin.
It was just, it was awful.
I did not feel good on it and Iwas just amazed Like there were
no other.
You didn't want to ask about mydiet.
You didn't want to ask about mysleep, sleep habits.
You didn't want to ask about mymedical history, like there was
nothing else and to your point.
It just doesn't sound likemedicine, it doesn't sound like
(05:52):
care.
So why is the care for women sobad?
Like, why are we being refusedthis kind of holistic view of?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
medical care Such a good point.
And when we look at the data,when we look at the science, we
know, for example, that womenwere excluded from any sort of
medical, scientific experimentsor anything like that until the
70s.
There was a law that actuallyprevented women from being
included in scientific studiesas a means of protecting them
(06:26):
because, oh, they're ofchildbearing age, right.
And so we were never includedin scientific studies.
And if you think about it, thebirth control contraceptives
were created in the 50s, right,and so who were a part of those
studies?
Like what was done?
Was it humans?
Not really.
There was not a lot of thosestudies.
Like what was done, was ithumans?
Not really, there was not a lotof data on that.
(06:47):
And thankfully, nowadays weactually are starting to study
this.
We're starting to recognizethat oral contraceptives and
hormonal contraceptives actuallycause a significant amount of
damage and they are not okay forthe woman's body in the least
bit.
We are seeing what it's doingand how it's wreaking havoc, and
women are reporting a lot ofissues, especially going into
(07:09):
menopause.
We're starting to recognizewait a second, this isn't the
thing.
But, going back to your point,so many providers are not
trained in this and so muchscience is lacking.
They have nothing to train with.
There's no data out there thatexists currently.
For a lot of women in a women'shealth care, it's not studied,
(07:31):
it wasn't a part of science, andthat's true for so many avenues
of care.
It's not just women-specificthings like starting your period
or having a period or PCOS orendometriosis those things that
we typically see or justpostpartum in general.
Those, of course, are thingsthat have rarely ever been
(07:52):
studied.
But even more is how doesspecific medications affect
women?
If we take an aspirin, whatdoes that do to our bodies?
If we are taking Tylenol, whatdoes that do to our bodies?
What about our dietary needs?
Those actually were done onstudies on men and then reduced
(08:14):
to fit that of a woman.
So those numbers that werescientifically developed that
said these are the amount ofnutrients that you need in a
given day to make yourselfhealthy, were all men?
Studies never done on women andit was a bunch of men who got
together in a room of a panelwho made this decision right,
(08:37):
and so women are not beingincluded in not only the
scientific studies, but they'renot being included in the
decisions to have those studies.
It's not been important untilnow.
And this is a very exciting timefor women because we're finally
recognizing, we've got studiescoming out about all sorts of
things about our brains and howit changes when we give birth,
(09:00):
and what hormonal birth controldoes to our bodies, and the fact
that so many of our menstrualtools, like pads and tampons,
are actually really toxic forour bodies in the way that
they're made and developed.
And we're learning all of thesethings.
And these women are saying, yes, I knew that I've been saying
this.
I felt that right and we'regetting back to that deeper,
(09:23):
knowing that we have always hadwithin us and feeling validated
in all of that.
And I think this is a really funtime, also a very scary time,
but we're making change.
Change is oftentimes very scaryand there's some big shifts
that are quite scary in thehealthcare world right now that
we're kind of.
(09:43):
You know it can go one way oranother, especially when it
comes to women's healthcare, butwe are seeing the need for
change and we are seeing womenstand up and say I deserve
better, and we are also seeingproviders say wait a second, I
wasn't taught this, I wasn'ttrained with this.
This isn't the answer.
There's gotta be something elseout there, and that in itself
(10:06):
is very exciting that we, aswomen, get to lead this change
for our own children, for ourown daughters.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
A hundred percent.
So it sounds like really themedical standards that were
created for women were reallyjust created for, like, smaller
men.
Oh, a thousand percent, whichis so crazy for me to think
about, considering how much weknow now about the significant
hormonal differences between menand women.
Like that's just nuts.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
We have such a different physiology, like
within us, and especially interms of the hormonal patterns
and regulations and cyclicalliving and all of this, and it's
mind boggling to me that wehave been labeled just this
smaller man.
Well, we have so much more needsthan so many more, so many men
(10:46):
out there just because we're youknow, quote unquote smaller
doesn't mean that we need lessof anything.
And then and then we look atmedicines and and how they are
used within the body.
Like we, we know that howmedication, medication is
generally developed, they'reusually studied on men, and so
we're starting to see that those, when we're studying women now,
(11:10):
because women are saying, waita second, this is doing
something different to my body,or I feel this instead of this,
and people are scratching theirheads saying, well, what's going
on here?
And we're recognizing thatthere's different patterns that
a woman's body goes through whenit ingests specific medications
.
That is very different thanwhat happens to a man's body and
(11:32):
that in itself is so telling,right?
And so we need to bring scienceback into women's health care.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And when you think about how complex the process of
growing and birthing a babyright, and then how a woman's
just hormones change after she'shad that baby, can you walk us
through a little bit of thosephysiological changes?
Like you know, I think we talkso much about in science at
least in my biology classes itwas how the baby is made right
(11:59):
and then it's like the embryoand developing into a fetus and
how that progresses.
But what is happening withinthe woman's physiology as she's
going through each of thesestages?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So we know that there's a lot of shifts and
changes that happen in pregnancyand I and my I know a lot about
pregnancy, but my expertise isin postpartum.
And so after the birth of ababy, when that baby is born, so
too is a mother and her bodyshifts entirely, and we know
that this happens.
Right, every woman knows thather body changes, but we don't
(12:32):
actually talk about what thosechanges are.
Right, we know that you'rebleeding and we know that
there's leaking and you knowthat your uterus is returning to
its pre-pregnancy state, but wedon't talk about how all of the
joints and ligaments and bonesrequire nine to 12 months to
return to their pre-pregnancystate, that they shifted so much
(12:52):
within you that they take areally long time to get back to
where they were.
So it's very easy for us inpostpartum to actually cause
more harm to things like ourpelvic floor when we are
exercising if we're not doing itright, and unfortunately there
is a right versus a wrong inthis scenario.
Right, our gut changessignificantly the way we
(13:16):
actually digest our foods, andnobody talks about this.
This is a huge component of mywork.
I have an entire certificationfor providers on this specific
shift within the body, becausehow we eat is going to
dramatically influence the restof our healing.
And when we, when we don'tthink about this, when we push
(13:38):
it off to the side and we arenot given you know for for
myself particularly, I was nevertold this information.
I have four kids.
Never once did a provider, oranyone for that matter, tell me
that, hey, your gut is gonnashift dramatically and the way
you eat and what you eat isgonna be really, really
important and play a significantrole in how you heal and
(13:59):
therefore your hormonalregulation, your breast milk
production, how it's going toheal your tissues and repair
your body overall, the way youfeel in terms of your health and
well-being and how tired youare all of that is going to be
impacted by what you eat.
And that was revolutionary forme, and learning about that was
actually the very beginning ofdiscovering like all of these
(14:21):
changes that occur in the bodywe have the nervous system, the
nervous system shifts so much inthat occur in the body.
We have the nervous system, thenervous system shifts so much
in the postpartum body, and it'sit's a beautiful thing that's
still being discovered and stillbeing studied as we, as we move
into this like new era of ofunderstanding women and how
their bodies function and work.
But what we know is that, forone, the brain is changing.
(14:44):
The brain is a big part of thenervous system.
We have gray matter thatchanges significantly.
Your brain is literallyrewiring to be a mother, and so
your brain is shrinking andthere's new neurological
pathways being developed.
And this is not some sort ofyou know, quote, unquote bad
thing that is transpiring.
This is an evolutionary processthat is so beautiful and so
(15:09):
spectacular.
It's helping you become themother in which you can care and
support and help your babythrive.
That's a gorgeous thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Absolutely.
Is that where mom brain comesfrom?
Because it is, it is, it is areal thing, Is that where mom
brain comes from, because it is,it is.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It is a real thing, right, it's a real thing, mom
brain happens because we are,our brains are so rewiring and
so the ability to think of, youknow, a linear thought and to be
able to remember specific words.
That's harder for us to dobecause that's not where our
brain is not thinking in thatlinear, factual way.
(15:45):
It's very internal what'shappening inside of us.
But also when we don'tunderstand those shifts and
changes when it comes to ourbrain and our nervous system,
our nervous system meaning thatit's more on high alert.
It's helping us seek out dangerin our environment, in our
lives, so that we can protectourselves and protect our babies
(16:06):
, right.
And when we don't understandthat and we don't live in a
place that maybe feels safewithin ourselves and we don't
feel safe within our bodies,whether it be because, you know,
we had a difficult birthexperience, trauma and
postpartum is very, very common.
Trauma and birth because maybewe have a difficult partner,
maybe we live in a place that isnot safe, you know, all of
(16:27):
those things are very true.
But also the very fact that welive in this go, go, go, male
dominated.
You got to get back to work intwo weeks.
You've got to have this allfigured out.
Your baby if it's a good babyshould be sleeping.
And then we have all of this momguilt and we have shame and we
have resentment and we're notgetting the support that we need
.
And that helps that spiral ofoh my gosh, I'm not safe in my
(16:50):
body and that nervous systemgoes on overdrive.
And then we have things likeintrusive thoughts and we have
things like depression andanxiety right, which is really
the perfect storm.
The lack of support for ournervous system and our gut
function and getting the rightnutrients and not having
practical support in our bodiesare the perfect recipe for
(17:13):
postpartum depression.
This is what's really occurring.
So we might actually have, likethis clinical name, postpartum
depression, but, dare I say,postpartum depression is simply
a symptom.
It's a symptom of not gettingour basic human needs met during
this sacred time and, of course, our bodies are going to fall
(17:33):
apart when we don't have what weneed.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Miranda, I think so often we get into and in
particular, I think, mom to momit's so easy for us to have
these conversations about whatwas missing, what we needed.
Oh, I just I needed mymother-in-law to do my laundry,
not hold the baby, right.
I needed my husband to be withme in the birth process, not on
his phone, right.
But what does amazing supportlook like postpartum?
(18:00):
Let's paint the picture of theideal, and I will say I'm
speaking to myself as well as toanyone listening.
This may be triggering to hearbecause our experience was so
far off of the ideal, but Ithink it's so validating to put
the ideal out there so that, atthe very least, we can feel
again validated in our negativeemotions, perhaps about what we
(18:22):
didn't experience right, andrecognizing that it is valid
that we wanted more and wedidn't get it.
But I think, also so that wehave something to aspire to, not
only as you know, people may bestill in birthing age or years,
or people who are wanting tohave a baby but also when we
think about our friends andfamily members who have babies
after us, we know how we can bethat support system for them.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
So let's talk about the amazing ideal postpartum
support system.
I love that you brought this upand I will tell you I am a high
driven, a-type go, go, goperson.
Okay, so I want to throw thatout there, because when I really
dug into the different studiesand what would it take to have
the most perfect postpartum,what would that look like?
Because I wanted to experiencethat for myself and it took a
(19:08):
lot of rewiring of my own brainbefore pregnancy and during
pregnancy in order to reallyappreciate this in postpartum.
It was a lot of work for myself, because that's not who I've
taken myself to be.
But at the same time, I alsorecognize how much I operate in
a state of trauma and I'llexplain that a little bit
(19:29):
further here in a moment too.
What we know of let's quote,unquote the perfect postpartum
support.
What does that look like?
We have a lot of that evidence.
We see so much of what that haslooked like thanks to past
experiences.
What other cultures around theworld have done for postpartum
(19:50):
care that have been lost inrecent generations.
So when we look at what havepeople done in the past, what
have people done in the past,there is so many striking
similarities between all ofthese cultures around the world.
We call them the culturaltruths, right, the cultural
postpartum truths, and it'scommunity care is first and
(20:14):
foremost.
You have people, mothers,aunties foremost.
You have people mothers,aunties, sisters, neighbors,
women coming to you in your home.
They are not asking questions,they are just getting to work.
They're doing dishes, they'refolding laundry, they're doing
general sweep.
They take your kids, go feedthem meals, you know.
(20:35):
Have a picnic, go play withthem, take them to the park, put
them to bed for nap, you know.
So you're not doing that extrawork.
They're cooking all your meals,right.
They just show up and they do.
They're not bothering you.
They're not saying may I holdthe baby.
They're not expecting you toserve them a meal or a drink or
(20:56):
whatever the case may be right.
We're not expected to have ourhouse clean.
It's all done for us.
That was what community was,and community care was centered
around mother, not baby.
Okay, so it was all about whatwas mom's needs.
Somebody would come in and helpher breastfeed.
Someone would help draw herbath.
(21:18):
They would give her herbaldrinks and tinctures, right.
Herbs are a massive part oftraditional care and same with
food, like that is whereeverything is centered.
Cultural tradition centersaround herbal support and
whatever you know.
You look at Chinese herbs.
Those are very different thanwhat we see in more Western
herbs, but it doesn't matter,it's herbs.
(21:38):
Same with food.
It doesn't matter what kind offood.
Food in general is the centerof the conversation and it's
warm, nutrient dense, easy todigest.
Foods.
Right, they had a rhythm, theyhad a very pronounced way in
which they were doing this andthe way in which they were
serving these things, and amother was the center of all of
(22:01):
it.
Everything, whatever she needed, it was done, and people came
to you in your home.
So, basically, you're, you'relike a queen in your castle.
That's really how it felt forso many women.
You did you just were there,you could be, you could sleep,
somebody could take your baby,if that's what you wanted, draw
a bath, hold your baby, likethose were the only times that
(22:23):
baby was really ever held bysomeone else.
Otherwise, it was you gettingto bond with your baby, to
nourish your baby, to learn howto breastfeed.
Whether it's your first time oryour 10th time, it's always new
, it's always different.
Right, and to be nourished inthis way and in today's world
(22:45):
it's very challenging because weare all so busy, we're all so
overworked, we're all all of usmoms are exhausted and burnt,
and so the very idea of takingcare of ourselves, let alone
going to our friend's house whojust had a baby, we might
understand the significance ofthat, we might want that so much
for our friend or for oursister, or even for ourselves,
(23:06):
but it's so difficult to manage,it's so hard, and I think
that's where we've kind ofgotten lost in this, and also we
just have forgotten what itmeans to give right.
Our grandmothers and greatgrandmothers were the
generations that really startedto experience the shift and
becoming more independent andnot necessarily having this kind
(23:28):
of support system, and it wasthe generations before that
really had it.
And so our generations haveforgotten, and so when they show
up in the house, they're likeoh, house, baby, let me hold
your baby.
This is amazing.
Baby, baby, baby.
And then we forget about moms.
But that's not how peoplereally want it to be either.
I think you know we, if, if momsaid, hey, do you mind doing
(23:50):
the dishes before holding thebaby, that that person is going
to be like yes, of course, yeah,yeah, yeah, you know, no
problem whatsoever, you know,and then they're gonna go do the
dishes or the laundry orwhatever it is that you need,
like it's not a questionwhatsoever, like they've just
forgot in their brains like howto help.
And I think us, as women, wehave been fed this lie that we
(24:11):
have to do it all, that if weask for support, that somehow we
are failing, that if we are notdoing it all, then we are not
okay, that we are a failure,we're not good enough.
And this is something that Ideeply struggled with for myself
after the first and my secondand even my third.
(24:31):
I thought that I had to have itall figured out, especially as
somebody who is trained in this,who does this work for a living
, who had been a doula, who hassupported thousands of women in
this context and trainedproviders over and over and over
again.
How could I not know this?
How could I be suffering fromthis right?
And it's because I thought Ishould know it all.
(24:52):
I should already have this alllaid out.
And that's where we are, and Iwill tell you, too, to carry on
this conversation again.
We're seeing the shift, we'reseeing the change in our current
culture and this morewesternized world and in a way
to deal with this lack and tomake up for it, because we
(25:13):
understand wait a second howwe're doing postpartum is not
working and we need to get backto what we knew worked.
We've developed things likepostpartum retreats and the idea
of it sounds magical.
I can go to this facility and Icould be like a hotel, right,
somebody else is gonna clean upafter me.
(25:34):
There's no mess all over thehouse.
Like I'm not gonna have toclean the bathroom, I'm not
gonna have to do laundry ordishes.
Somebody is going to come do mynails.
Somebody is going to pamper meand give me massages and and
feed me all the meals.
Like that sounds absolutelydelicious.
Right To have a lactationconsultant on hand to have like
(25:55):
everything that you wouldpossibly need, and the idea of
it sounds great.
But what I'm seeing is is thatit's not working.
It's not working because it isnot in the home.
A mother needs to be a queen inher home.
That's where the transitionreally lies when she is
supported in her own space anddone in such a way that helps
(26:20):
her recognize that what she hasis good enough that she doesn't
need some external thing tosupport her.
As silly as it sounds.
It's so interconnected into thedepths of our soul and our
well-being and who we are aswomen and as, now, mothers, and
(26:43):
it goes very, very deep and wecan have very deep conversations
here we have time, but this isreally where it transpires and
we need to do better and we needto do that for women in their
home, not asking them to goelsewhere.
I was just I'm writing anotherbook and I'm very excited about
this book and I was talkingabout how, you know, we could
(27:05):
have all of the specialties.
We can have a pelvic floorphysical therapist and a
counselor and this mom group andwe can have, you know, our OB
that we go see and and like allof these appointments that we're
going to have to get in orderto have the best care possible,
and how absolutely overwhelmingand impossible that is.
(27:26):
Could you just?
You're a mom, you get it rightHaving, if it was your second or
your third, you have an infant,then you have toddlers to go to
these appointments, which areusually between nine and five,
when your partner is off at workand completely unable to help
you and you're supposed to totearound and get all of these
(27:47):
self-care things done.
It's impossible.
It's like a full-time job.
It's not okay.
It's not okay.
It needs to come to you in yourhome.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
That's where care needs to happen, and how long
does this supportive period needto last?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
In many cultures it's that six weeks or 40 days is
what it's called, and many, manycultures across the world.
And when you're deeplysupported for those 40 days or
those six weeks you're, there issomething magical that happens
to the body.
Where you arrive.
From that you kind of come outof your cocoon, you blossom, you
(28:23):
grow your wings and you're likewow, I can do this.
And oftentimes I think a lot ofwomen think that means now I'm
done and I can just move on andI don't have to worry about
taking care of myself, I canjust get back to the crazy swing
of life.
And that's not true either.
That's not.
What I'm saying is that you canjust return to the chaos that is
.
It still means that you have totake care of yourself.
(28:46):
It still means that you have todo things differently, that you
can't be that go, go, go.
You have to rearrange your lifeand to make sure that you're
getting the care that you need,so that your family's getting
the care that they need.
But I will say but when we getthat solid foundation of six
weeks or 40 days, then thatfeels so much more doable and
(29:09):
our body literally has had thefoundation of healing to make
that possible, so that we're notfeeling so exhausted, we're not
feeling the depletion in ourbones.
You know that rawness thathappens with.
I just can't do this anymore.
I'm crawling at the end of theday Like I just can't function.
(29:30):
There's none of that when we'vebeen deeply supported in a way
in which our body needs.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Okay, I really, really want to get into how long
postpartum actually lasts andthen also the nutritional basics
that we need, because we'retold that you're postpartum for
six weeks and then you go backto work, and I know that's not
true.
You have research that saysit's not true.
(29:56):
How long is a mom postpartumeven after just one kid?
It's not true.
How long is a mom postpartumeven after just one kid?
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Well, I mentioned how the joints and ligaments take
up to a year to return to theirpre-pregnancy state, right?
Then we have brain changes thattake an upwards of two to three
years, right.
So that mom brain two to threeyears postpartum, and that's not
including.
If you're breastfeeding it'slonger, right.
So we know that the hormonalchanges take two to three years,
(30:24):
again, not includingbreastfeeding.
So you can add at least anadditional year after
breastfeeding, whatever thatmeans for you and getting back
into what feels like a normalfor you, where you are back in
your body, almost notnecessarily reborn or not
getting your body back, cause Idon't believe in that whatsoever
(30:45):
.
Nothing was taken from you.
This is just who you are inyour space as a mother.
We know studies show that fiveto six years.
So oftentimes, you know youknow nutritionally we'll talk
about that as well it takes agood two to three years to
replete your nutrient storesbecause it takes so much to grow
(31:06):
a human being and to birth ahuman being and oftentimes for
many to breastfeed that baby aswell.
That's a lot of your being thatis being created for another.
So it takes a long time and youknow it depends on where you are
in your postpartum journey andI think this is the hardest part
of all postpartum things right,because we're always looking
(31:27):
for the, the finite, a finiteanswer.
We're looking for just thatquick thing.
Just tell me what it is right.
Is it a year, is it two years?
Is it three years?
The answer is yes, yes, yes,like, and it depends on who you
are.
How much time did you get inthe very early stages of
postpartum?
How much support did you get?
How much were you nourished?
How good do you feel in yourbody?
(31:48):
How was your birth experience?
What's your history?
Like you know, all of thosewill play a deep role in how you
are feeling in the years afterhaving a baby.
We just know it's years, it'snot months, it's years and,
depending on you know all of theabove of your experiences, it
could be four years, it could besix years, it could be three.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
That's so helpful and I think you know, for the again
, for those of us who havemultiple children, just that
recognition of it could be 11years that you're postpartum
right, because if you start withone and then you have a couple
more kids, it takes time.
What are the nutritional basics?
And you talk about this in yourbook I'm going to go ahead and
just pull it up so theReclaiming Postpartum Wellness,
which is an amazing book and youshare so much of your knowledge
(32:29):
.
I think this is a really,really good starting point for
women who are just beingintroduced to you right now and
who just want, like, where do Istart postpartum?
And I will link it down below.
You have some recipes here, butcan we talk about like the
basic kind of foundationalframework of your nutrition plan
postpartum?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, absolutely so.
First off, I'm glad that youlove the fact that I couldn't
give a solid answer to how longof postpartum you will be.
But, with that said, it doesn'tmatter where you are in your
postpartum period, you could beseveral years out and it's never
too late to heal your body.
And I think a lot of women askthat question of like how long
(33:08):
am I supposed to be in thisspace?
Because they're tired andthey're frustrated and they want
out and this is not how theywant to feel in their body.
And I will tell you there is abetter way and no matter where
you are in your experience, youcan have a better experience and
it doesn't have to be dark, itdoesn't have to be complicated,
it doesn't have to be resentfuland fearful and painful and all
(33:32):
of those other things.
We don't have to live in thatspace.
So, no matter where you are inyour postpartum journey, whether
you're coming up in postpartumto a postpartum experience and
you're pregnant, or you're weeksout, months out, years out that
book is a really great startingpoint because I actually show
you what's happening within yourbody, the physiological and
(33:55):
psychological changes, and thenI give you the tools and which
to support those changes so thatyou can maximize feeling better
.
And one of those ways in whichto do it, and one of the most
important pieces to that wholepuzzle, is postpartum nutrition,
because 80% of women enterpostpartum very depleted of key
nutrients.
Right, we're just not eatingwell and we're not eating enough
(34:17):
, and oftentimes we're relyingon supplements.
And oftentimes we're relying onsupplements and oftentimes
women don't even have access toquality foods in their areas,
right.
And so what we're finding is isthat so many women enter into
this space very, very depleted,and that makes sense, because
you grew a human being with yourbody Like oh my word like so
(34:40):
much has just transpired for you.
So, and then you have the birthexperience, which, you know, a
lot of people have equated torunning a marathon.
And what happens when a personis about to run a marathon?
Before they run a marathon,they are carb loading, they are
protein loading, you know, notimmediately before, but they're.
They're preparing their bodydeeply Right, and that's hard to
(35:01):
do when you're pregnant is toprepare for that, right, like
you only have so much room inthat space in your gut to have a
whole meal, right, so it's alittle bit harder to do.
And then you enter inpostpartum.
So let's talk about thepostpartum physiological shifts
that take place in the gut.
Let's talk about the postpartumphysiological shifts that take
(35:21):
place in the gut.
After birth, your nervous systemshifts entirely.
It goes into a state ofoverdrive, almost where it's
like I have to focus on healing.
This is my priority.
I've got to stop bleeding.
My hormones are shifting.
I've got to live, right, I'vegot to live.
And so your nervous systemshifts and it goes into a state
of a fight or flight or freeze,or whatever.
It is right.
This is got to live.
And so your nervous systemshifts and it goes into a state
(35:41):
of a fight or flight or freeze,or whatever it is right.
This is how we know itscientifically to be.
Your body is not in a rest, calm, you know, digest state, as we
call it.
That's not what it's doing inthe least bit.
So when that happens afterbirth and it doesn't matter what
kind of birth experience you'vehad, you could have the most
amazing birth experience itdoesn't matter.
Your body's in a survival state.
(36:01):
It's doing everything it can tohurry up, stop the bleeding,
repair whatever it is that itneeds, and it stays in that
state for quite some time, fordays and weeks, depending on
your birth experience, muchlonger depending on the amount
of support.
You get much longer, right?
And so when that happens, ourability to digest, so our bodies
(36:22):
create gastric acids andenzymes that are necessary to
break down the nutrients in yourgut.
So if you're eating food, thatfood has to be broken down so
that it can be absorbed intoyour body.
And so your body is saying Ijust don't have the ability
right now, I don't have theenergy, I cannot focus on
creating those gastric acids andenzymes and all of those things
(36:43):
that are necessary to breakthat food down.
This is not my area of focus.
I got to go.
I got to go figure out how tolive right now.
Right, so we're not digesting.
This is not a massive thingthat you are needing, even
though you might be absolutelystarving and postpartum right,
you might.
That first meal after having ababy is often where, just like,
(37:03):
give me everything.
Right, we had to be reallycareful about how we eat.
Yes, I want you to have thatgiant chocolate cake and I want
you to eat.
You know all the sushi in theworld that you got.
You know you weren't able toeat and and pregnancy, whatever
the case may be.
Yes, I want you to have, likethe feast of feast.
However, your body is notwanting you to have that.
It wants you to eat.
(37:23):
You're saying is it ready todigest that?
Yeah, it's not ready.
It's not ready.
Our brain is ready for it.
We want it because we haven'thad it in forever, right, and
now that we have this room andthis space, you know our brains
are wanting it, but our bodysays no, this is not the time.
So what we have to do insteadis eat foods that are already
(37:44):
broken down, that are alreadyeasy for our body to absorb.
So a lot of times when we lookat postpartum foods and I see
this all the time the focus isnutrient dense and we need
nutrient dense.
We want all the nutrient densefoods because we need a lot of
nutrients and we recognize that.
We know that Science hasalready proven that a million
times over, and women reallydon't need science to prove that
(38:05):
to them.
They already have got it.
They already innately know Ineed a lot of nutrients.
So they focus on nutrient-densefoods.
However, this is where so manyget it wrong, because I can go
to Pinterest and search all ofthe postpartum meals and I will
cry at what I find, because alot of times it's salads and
(38:28):
smoothies and big densecasseroles, right, and we call
that nutrient dense and it is.
It's very nutrient dense, butit is the worst thing for a
postpartum mom because it's noteasy to digest and that's what
they forget.
So, yes, nutrient-dense foodsthat are easy to digest.
That's step two.
So when we look at this in acultural sense, we already know
(38:53):
that cultures around the world,they all practice the exact same
thing.
Their ingredients are slightlydifferent, but the way in which
they cook these foods and theway in which they're presented
are all the same Soups, broths,stews right, they are, they're
liquid form.
They're easy to digest becausethe cooking process has already
(39:15):
done so much of the breakingdown of those nutrients.
And that is very helpful for apostpartum body because you
don't want extra energy to gointo trying to get your body to
absorb food when that energyreally needs to go to other
parts of your body and healingand hormones and all of the
things you don't want to exertextra energy you don't have.
(39:37):
So the key component there isto make sure that you're
combining to, you know, thenutrient dense foods that are
easy to digest.
And what happens if we're noteating nutrient dense foods?
Let's talk about that Gas,bloating, constipation, right,
and in postpartum, oftentimes wecall that normal, we tell all
(40:00):
the time that's normal, that'sjust your hormones and of course
you're afraid to poop becauseyou just gave birth and, yes,
like the first, poop is alwaysthe hardest right.
And if we're having, if we'renot eating well, because our
body is struggling, then thatfood literally will sit in the
gut longer.
And what happens to food thatsits in the gut longer?
I say this lightly, this is notexactly what happens, but it's
(40:23):
food that sits longer, kind ofrots, right, and it's not
necessarily what's happening inyour gut, but it causes the
bloating, it causes the gas, itcauses the discomfort and the
indigestion.
It's not digesting well.
And then what happens?
If that happens for a longperiod of time, your body is
going to say wait a second,she's eating celery again or
whatever it is.
Or you know chicken nuggets,leftover chicken nuggets, you
(40:46):
know from your toddler, whateverit is that you're eating.
And it's going to say this isbad, right.
And now we have foodsensitivities and we have
allergies and we have leaky gutright and it spirals.
It spirals out of control.
And we know the connectionbetween the gut and the brain.
We call it the gut brain axis.
Right, this is not new science,this is very old science and
(41:09):
it's very, very helpful.
And I love the science becausethere's so much more that is
growing and we're learning andshifting.
And I will tell you, we knowhow deeply connected our
hormones are within our gut.
Our feel-good hormones areactually created in the gut, not
the brain.
And so when the gut is notgetting what it needs and its
inability to absorb and digest,and now it's having bloated and
(41:29):
it's having inflammation, okay,so in postpartum we already have
high levels of inflammation andthat's a biological normal.
We need that inflammationbecause that inflammation is the
trigger in our body that says,hey, something's not right.
We want to make sure that youheal and in order for you to
heal, we have to ramp upinflammation so that everybody's
(41:49):
on high alert and we get tohealing, and we want that.
That's a biological normal.
But what happens is thatinflammation is not supported.
We don't help that inflammationheal.
We don't help our bodies.
We're not supporting our bodies, especially with nutrition.
Nutrition is the foundational toeverything right.
Nutrition is what makes whiteblood cells.
Nutrition is what heals tissuesright.
Nutrition is what createshormones and regulates hormones.
(42:12):
You cannot live withoutnutrition.
It does everything within yourbody, and so when we are not
getting the nutrients that weneed, that inflammation
continues to stay where it's ator even gets worse.
And when we have inflammationin our bodies, it wreaks havoc
on everything right.
We can actually predict whensomebody has inflammatory
(42:36):
markers in their gut topostpartum depression and
depression in general.
We know that if somebody hasthese inflammatory markers and
they don't even have depression,we can predict that it will
happen.
We will know when somebody isgoing to have depression because
of the inflammatory markersthat are that exist within their
gut.
And so this is, this is likethis is gut brain access,
(42:57):
one-on-one right Like, and soyou have to make sure that your
gut is super healthy and if it'snot, you're going to experience
it here and mental healthdisorders and it there's.
It goes both ways, and there'sso many more components that we
can dive into, but that's a huge, huge component right there.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
That's huge and I think, because it's so difficult
for the mom to do anythingpostpartum, I'm sure that that
nourishment is the first thingto go.
I know that was the case for mewith my oldest.
It was like, okay, I had her inthe middle of the night, so my
first meal was McDonald's and itwas huge because I hadn't eaten
Right.
And then you know you're notcooking, so you're eating like
(43:35):
easy Mac and quick meals andfast food and whatever people
drop off, which is typicallysalads and casseroles and things
like that.
And so it makes perfect sensethat it makes perfect sense that
the disorders that are socommon postpartum are directly
related to, kind of the firstthing to go out the door
postpartum, which is this likewarm, nutritious, nourishing,
(43:57):
these nourishing meals.
So, miranda, how can my audiencefind you?
I'm going to link ReclaimingPostpartum Wellness, this
beautiful, full color, amazingbook, and it's just, it's so
gorgeous, it's so perfect, forit's an easy, simple read for
any woman who's a mother or isgoing to be a mother.
But how else can people findyou if they want to learn more
(44:18):
about you and your work?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Thank you so much for this, Janelle.
This has been an amazingconversation.
I feel like we can sit here andchat for hours at length, even
more.
There's so much more to sayabout everything here, so thank
you for all of that.
And for those of you listeningin who want more information,
you can go find my podcast.
That's a really great place toconnect If you love listening
(44:41):
here on YouTube.
I don't have videos, but I haveaudio.
You can go tune in to mypodcast, Postpartum University,
and you can go to our website,postpartumu, the letter ucom,
and you can find us there andtune in.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Thank you so much, miranda.
That'll all be linked below.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Thanks so much for being a part of this crucial
conversation.
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.
(45:21):
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom which is in the show
notes, and if you found today'sepisode valuable, please leave
a review to help us reach moreproviders 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 lifelong wellbeing.
When we think about postpartum,we think about depression.
That's the number one thoughtthat comes into our mind,
because we are seeing so manywomen suffer from this, and we
(00:43):
have some really old statisticsthat say one in seven women
experience postpartum depression.
During COVID, those numbers wereone in three, and we haven't
done any science or studies orlook at depression rates since
COVID, but we do know that thosenumbers are growing
exponentially.
(01:03):
One in three women willexperience some form of mental
health disorder during this time.
It is the number one issue thatwe experience.
The number one complication ofchildbirth is mental health
disorder and postpartum, and sowe have to ask the question what
in the world is going on here?
Because what we see, what'stranspiring?
(01:23):
This massive growth, thisepidemic?
It's growing at epidemicproportions.
What's happening is not workingand we need to do something
better for this.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Okay, so really, when we talk about the postpartum
crisis, you referenced themental health crisis, postpartum
quite a bit.
What is that?
Where does that come from?
Is it just a naturalconsequence of giving birth and
going through that physicaltrauma, the emotional trauma
right of your entire lifetransforming now, all of a
sudden, your identity revolvesaround this baby, or is there?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
more to it.
There's so much more to it and Ithink society right now really
truly believes and we've fedwomen this lie that postpartum
depression is just somethingthat happens after having a baby
.
We've normalized it because ithappens so frequently and we
really need to take a step backand say wait a second, is this
how it's supposed to go?
Is this like a biologicalnormal?
(02:17):
And that's my background.
I specialize in biology andhuman biology and that's how
I've come into this space, afterhaving my own children and
really studying this.
And no, the answer is no.
It's not a biological normal tohave postpartum depression, but
it is a biological normal todevelop postpartum depression
when you lack the toolsnecessary to heal your body.
(02:39):
That's a warning sign for yourbody.
It's saying I'm not gettingenough, enough support, enough
nutrients, enough regulation inmy nervous system, whatever it
may mean for you.
Because I feel like you knowit's not so simple.
It's very complex andconvoluted and there's a lot of
pieces that kind of intertwinetogether and it's not well, one
size fits all model and that'swhat we've been given in
(03:02):
postpartum care.
We've been given very little inpostpartum care.
Right, how many appointments dowe have to when we're pregnant
to go get checked out, get caredfor, we get all of the
attention.
And then postpartum comes andwe have one checkup at six weeks
.
And what do they do during thatcheckup?
Here is a little 10questionnaires.
(03:24):
If you're lucky, you might, youmight get a couple of
questionnaires about whether ornot you have depression, right,
and sometimes you might feelthat you know that those are
relatable to you, and oftentimes, for many women that I speak to
, this is not relatable.
It wasn't relatable for me,even though I had depression and
anxiety.
And then you're, you're givenan all clear depression and
(03:44):
anxiety.
And then you're, you're givenan all clear and here's your
birth control, right, that's,that's care, right, and that is
such a cop-out.
That's not care, that's notpreventative, that's not, that's
not medicine in the least bit,and so we're getting absolutely
nothing.
And you know, when we come backsix months later, a year later,
we're being told, oh, it's justyour hormones.
Of course you don't feel likeyourself, of course things are a
(04:07):
little weird and out of balance, and your mom tells you the
same thing and your best friendsays, yeah, no worry, like, we
all deal with it.
This is just how motherhood is.
And so, again, we've normalizedit because no one knows how to
do any better, and that's thefrustrating part this brought up
so much for me.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Obviously, miranda, I've had three kids, you've had
four kids and I know that formyself, after following what you
teach, which I'm so excited toget into, my post-birth
experience was transformed fromthe first to the second and
third after I had met you.
But there is so much coming upfor me around, I think even
starting going back all the wayto like college, when I had my
(04:48):
first kind of gynecologicalexperiences, right and just that
.
Like me, I distinctly remember,as a college student, going to
the doctor on campus, right, andjust saying like my periods are
so painful, they last seven to10 days.
It's excruciating, it'sdebilitating.
I don't feel like this isnormal, I feel like something is
(05:11):
wrong.
And the only solution offeredwas birth control.
She was like oh yeah, it'snormal.
It takes periods like 10 yearsto regulate.
Let's get you on birth control.
You won't have any of thosesymptoms anymore.
And I just remember I went onbirth control for two months.
I absolutely hated it.
I blew up, I gained weight, Igot cystic acne all along my
(05:31):
chin.
It was just, it was awful.
I did not feel good on it and Iwas just amazed Like there were
no other.
You didn't want to ask about mydiet.
You didn't want to ask about mysleep, sleep habits.
You didn't want to ask about mymedical history, like there was
nothing else and to your point.
It just doesn't sound likemedicine, it doesn't sound like
(05:52):
care.
So why is the care for women sobad?
Like, why are we being refusedthis kind of holistic view of?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
medical care Such a good point.
And when we look at the data,when we look at the science, we
know, for example, that womenwere excluded from any sort of
medical, scientific experimentsor anything like that until the
70s.
There was a law that actuallyprevented women from being
included in scientific studiesas a means of protecting them
(06:26):
because, oh, they're ofchildbearing age, right.
And so we were never includedin scientific studies.
And if you think about it, thebirth control contraceptives
were created in the 50s, right,and so who were a part of those
studies?
Like what was done?
Was it humans?
Not really.
There was not a lot of thosestudies.
Like what was done, was ithumans?
Not really, there was not a lotof data on that.
(06:47):
And thankfully, nowadays weactually are starting to study
this.
We're starting to recognizethat oral contraceptives and
hormonal contraceptives actuallycause a significant amount of
damage and they are not okay forthe woman's body in the least
bit.
We are seeing what it's doingand how it's wreaking havoc, and
women are reporting a lot ofissues, especially going into
(07:09):
menopause.
We're starting to recognizewait a second, this isn't the
thing.
But, going back to your point,so many providers are not
trained in this and so muchscience is lacking.
They have nothing to train with.
There's no data out there thatexists currently.
For a lot of women in a women'shealth care, it's not studied,
(07:31):
it wasn't a part of science, andthat's true for so many avenues
of care.
It's not just women-specificthings like starting your period
or having a period or PCOS orendometriosis those things that
we typically see or justpostpartum in general.
Those, of course, are thingsthat have rarely ever been
(07:52):
studied.
But even more is how doesspecific medications affect
women?
If we take an aspirin, whatdoes that do to our bodies?
If we are taking Tylenol, whatdoes that do to our bodies?
What about our dietary needs?
Those actually were done onstudies on men and then reduced
(08:14):
to fit that of a woman.
So those numbers that werescientifically developed that
said these are the amount ofnutrients that you need in a
given day to make yourselfhealthy, were all men?
Studies never done on women andit was a bunch of men who got
together in a room of a panelwho made this decision right,
(08:37):
and so women are not beingincluded in not only the
scientific studies, but they'renot being included in the
decisions to have those studies.
It's not been important untilnow.
And this is a very exciting timefor women because we're finally
recognizing, we've got studiescoming out about all sorts of
things about our brains and howit changes when we give birth,
(09:00):
and what hormonal birth controldoes to our bodies, and the fact
that so many of our menstrualtools, like pads and tampons,
are actually really toxic forour bodies in the way that
they're made and developed.
And we're learning all of thesethings.
And these women are saying, yes, I knew that I've been saying
this.
I felt that right and we'regetting back to that deeper,
(09:23):
knowing that we have always hadwithin us and feeling validated
in all of that.
And I think this is a really funtime, also a very scary time,
but we're making change.
Change is oftentimes very scaryand there's some big shifts
that are quite scary in thehealthcare world right now that
we're kind of.
(09:43):
You know it can go one way oranother, especially when it
comes to women's healthcare, butwe are seeing the need for
change and we are seeing womenstand up and say I deserve
better, and we are also seeingproviders say wait a second, I
wasn't taught this, I wasn'ttrained with this.
This isn't the answer.
There's gotta be something elseout there, and that in itself
(10:06):
is very exciting that we, aswomen, get to lead this change
for our own children, for ourown daughters.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
A hundred percent.
So it sounds like really themedical standards that were
created for women were reallyjust created for, like, smaller
men.
Oh, a thousand percent, whichis so crazy for me to think
about, considering how much weknow now about the significant
hormonal differences between menand women.
Like that's just nuts.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
We have such a different physiology, like
within us, and especially interms of the hormonal patterns
and regulations and cyclicalliving and all of this, and it's
mind boggling to me that wehave been labeled just this
smaller man.
Well, we have so much more needsthan so many more, so many men
(10:46):
out there just because we're youknow, quote unquote smaller
doesn't mean that we need lessof anything.
And then and then we look atmedicines and and how they are
used within the body.
Like we, we know that howmedication, medication is
generally developed, they'reusually studied on men, and so
we're starting to see that those, when we're studying women now,
(11:10):
because women are saying, waita second, this is doing
something different to my body,or I feel this instead of this,
and people are scratching theirheads saying, well, what's going
on here?
And we're recognizing thatthere's different patterns that
a woman's body goes through whenit ingests specific medications
.
That is very different thanwhat happens to a man's body and
(11:32):
that in itself is so telling,right?
And so we need to bring scienceback into women's health care.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And when you think about how complex the process of
growing and birthing a babyright, and then how a woman's
just hormones change after she'shad that baby, can you walk us
through a little bit of thosephysiological changes?
Like you know, I think we talkso much about in science at
least in my biology classes itwas how the baby is made right
(11:59):
and then it's like the embryoand developing into a fetus and
how that progresses.
But what is happening withinthe woman's physiology as she's
going through each of thesestages?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So we know that there's a lot of shifts and
changes that happen in pregnancyand I and my I know a lot about
pregnancy, but my expertise isin postpartum.
And so after the birth of ababy, when that baby is born, so
too is a mother and her bodyshifts entirely, and we know
that this happens.
Right, every woman knows thather body changes, but we don't
(12:32):
actually talk about what thosechanges are.
Right, we know that you'rebleeding and we know that
there's leaking and you knowthat your uterus is returning to
its pre-pregnancy state, but wedon't talk about how all of the
joints and ligaments and bonesrequire nine to 12 months to
return to their pre-pregnancystate, that they shifted so much
(12:52):
within you that they take areally long time to get back to
where they were.
So it's very easy for us inpostpartum to actually cause
more harm to things like ourpelvic floor when we are
exercising if we're not doing itright, and unfortunately there
is a right versus a wrong inthis scenario.
Right, our gut changessignificantly the way we
(13:16):
actually digest our foods, andnobody talks about this.
This is a huge component of mywork.
I have an entire certificationfor providers on this specific
shift within the body, becausehow we eat is going to
dramatically influence the restof our healing.
And when we, when we don'tthink about this, when we push
(13:38):
it off to the side and we arenot given you know for for
myself particularly, I was nevertold this information.
I have four kids.
Never once did a provider, oranyone for that matter, tell me
that, hey, your gut is gonnashift dramatically and the way
you eat and what you eat isgonna be really, really
important and play a significantrole in how you heal and
(13:59):
therefore your hormonalregulation, your breast milk
production, how it's going toheal your tissues and repair
your body overall, the way youfeel in terms of your health and
well-being and how tired youare all of that is going to be
impacted by what you eat.
And that was revolutionary forme, and learning about that was
actually the very beginning ofdiscovering like all of these
(14:21):
changes that occur in the bodywe have the nervous system, the
nervous system shifts so much inthat occur in the body.
We have the nervous system, thenervous system shifts so much
in the postpartum body, and it'sit's a beautiful thing that's
still being discovered and stillbeing studied as we, as we move
into this like new era of ofunderstanding women and how
their bodies function and work.
But what we know is that, forone, the brain is changing.
(14:44):
The brain is a big part of thenervous system.
We have gray matter thatchanges significantly.
Your brain is literallyrewiring to be a mother, and so
your brain is shrinking andthere's new neurological
pathways being developed.
And this is not some sort ofyou know, quote, unquote bad
thing that is transpiring.
This is an evolutionary processthat is so beautiful and so
(15:09):
spectacular.
It's helping you become themother in which you can care and
support and help your babythrive.
That's a gorgeous thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Absolutely.
Is that where mom brain comesfrom?
Because it is, it is, it is areal thing, Is that where mom
brain comes from, because it is,it is.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It is a real thing, right, it's a real thing, mom
brain happens because we are,our brains are so rewiring and
so the ability to think of, youknow, a linear thought and to be
able to remember specific words.
That's harder for us to dobecause that's not where our
brain is not thinking in thatlinear, factual way.
(15:45):
It's very internal what'shappening inside of us.
But also when we don'tunderstand those shifts and
changes when it comes to ourbrain and our nervous system,
our nervous system meaning thatit's more on high alert.
It's helping us seek out dangerin our environment, in our
lives, so that we can protectourselves and protect our babies
(16:06):
, right.
And when we don't understandthat and we don't live in a
place that maybe feels safewithin ourselves and we don't
feel safe within our bodies,whether it be because, you know,
we had a difficult birthexperience, trauma and
postpartum is very, very common.
Trauma and birth because maybewe have a difficult partner,
maybe we live in a place that isnot safe, you know, all of
(16:27):
those things are very true.
But also the very fact that welive in this go, go, go, male
dominated.
You got to get back to work intwo weeks.
You've got to have this allfigured out.
Your baby if it's a good babyshould be sleeping.
And then we have all of this momguilt and we have shame and we
have resentment and we're notgetting the support that we need
.
And that helps that spiral ofoh my gosh, I'm not safe in my
(16:50):
body and that nervous systemgoes on overdrive.
And then we have things likeintrusive thoughts and we have
things like depression andanxiety right, which is really
the perfect storm.
The lack of support for ournervous system and our gut
function and getting the rightnutrients and not having
practical support in our bodiesare the perfect recipe for
(17:13):
postpartum depression.
This is what's really occurring.
So we might actually have, likethis clinical name, postpartum
depression, but, dare I say,postpartum depression is simply
a symptom.
It's a symptom of not gettingour basic human needs met during
this sacred time and, of course, our bodies are going to fall
(17:33):
apart when we don't have what weneed.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Miranda, I think so often we get into and in
particular, I think, mom to momit's so easy for us to have
these conversations about whatwas missing, what we needed.
Oh, I just I needed mymother-in-law to do my laundry,
not hold the baby, right.
I needed my husband to be withme in the birth process, not on
his phone, right.
But what does amazing supportlook like postpartum?
(18:00):
Let's paint the picture of theideal, and I will say I'm
speaking to myself as well as toanyone listening.
This may be triggering to hearbecause our experience was so
far off of the ideal, but Ithink it's so validating to put
the ideal out there so that, atthe very least, we can feel
again validated in our negativeemotions, perhaps about what we
(18:22):
didn't experience right, andrecognizing that it is valid
that we wanted more and wedidn't get it.
But I think, also so that wehave something to aspire to, not
only as you know, people may bestill in birthing age or years,
or people who are wanting tohave a baby but also when we
think about our friends andfamily members who have babies
after us, we know how we can bethat support system for them.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
So let's talk about the amazing ideal postpartum
support system.
I love that you brought this upand I will tell you I am a high
driven, a-type go, go, goperson.
Okay, so I want to throw thatout there, because when I really
dug into the different studiesand what would it take to have
the most perfect postpartum,what would that look like?
Because I wanted to experiencethat for myself and it took a
(19:08):
lot of rewiring of my own brainbefore pregnancy and during
pregnancy in order to reallyappreciate this in postpartum.
It was a lot of work for myself, because that's not who I've
taken myself to be.
But at the same time, I alsorecognize how much I operate in
a state of trauma and I'llexplain that a little bit
(19:29):
further here in a moment too.
What we know of let's quote,unquote the perfect postpartum
support.
What does that look like?
We have a lot of that evidence.
We see so much of what that haslooked like thanks to past
experiences.
What other cultures around theworld have done for postpartum
(19:50):
care that have been lost inrecent generations.
So when we look at what havepeople done in the past, what
have people done in the past,there is so many striking
similarities between all ofthese cultures around the world.
We call them the culturaltruths, right, the cultural
postpartum truths, and it'scommunity care is first and
(20:14):
foremost.
You have people, mothers,aunties foremost.
You have people mothers,aunties, sisters, neighbors,
women coming to you in your home.
They are not asking questions,they are just getting to work.
They're doing dishes, they'refolding laundry, they're doing
general sweep.
They take your kids, go feedthem meals, you know.
(20:35):
Have a picnic, go play withthem, take them to the park, put
them to bed for nap, you know.
So you're not doing that extrawork.
They're cooking all your meals,right.
They just show up and they do.
They're not bothering you.
They're not saying may I holdthe baby.
They're not expecting you toserve them a meal or a drink or
(20:56):
whatever the case may be right.
We're not expected to have ourhouse clean.
It's all done for us.
That was what community was,and community care was centered
around mother, not baby.
Okay, so it was all about whatwas mom's needs.
Somebody would come in and helpher breastfeed.
Someone would help draw herbath.
(21:18):
They would give her herbaldrinks and tinctures, right.
Herbs are a massive part oftraditional care and same with
food, like that is whereeverything is centered.
Cultural tradition centersaround herbal support and
whatever you know.
You look at Chinese herbs.
Those are very different thanwhat we see in more Western
herbs, but it doesn't matter,it's herbs.
(21:38):
Same with food.
It doesn't matter what kind offood.
Food in general is the centerof the conversation and it's
warm, nutrient dense, easy todigest.
Foods.
Right, they had a rhythm, theyhad a very pronounced way in
which they were doing this andthe way in which they were
serving these things, and amother was the center of all of
(22:01):
it.
Everything, whatever she needed, it was done, and people came
to you in your home.
So, basically, you're, you'relike a queen in your castle.
That's really how it felt forso many women.
You did you just were there,you could be, you could sleep,
somebody could take your baby,if that's what you wanted, draw
a bath, hold your baby, likethose were the only times that
(22:23):
baby was really ever held bysomeone else.
Otherwise, it was you gettingto bond with your baby, to
nourish your baby, to learn howto breastfeed.
Whether it's your first time oryour 10th time, it's always new
, it's always different.
Right, and to be nourished inthis way and in today's world
(22:45):
it's very challenging because weare all so busy, we're all so
overworked, we're all all of usmoms are exhausted and burnt,
and so the very idea of takingcare of ourselves, let alone
going to our friend's house whojust had a baby, we might
understand the significance ofthat, we might want that so much
for our friend or for oursister, or even for ourselves,
(23:06):
but it's so difficult to manage,it's so hard, and I think
that's where we've kind ofgotten lost in this, and also we
just have forgotten what itmeans to give right.
Our grandmothers and greatgrandmothers were the
generations that really startedto experience the shift and
becoming more independent andnot necessarily having this kind
(23:28):
of support system, and it wasthe generations before that
really had it.
And so our generations haveforgotten, and so when they show
up in the house, they're likeoh, house, baby, let me hold
your baby.
This is amazing.
Baby, baby, baby.
And then we forget about moms.
But that's not how peoplereally want it to be either.
I think you know we, if, if momsaid, hey, do you mind doing
(23:50):
the dishes before holding thebaby, that that person is going
to be like yes, of course, yeah,yeah, yeah, you know, no
problem whatsoever, you know,and then they're gonna go do the
dishes or the laundry orwhatever it is that you need,
like it's not a questionwhatsoever, like they've just
forgot in their brains like howto help.
And I think us, as women, wehave been fed this lie that we
(24:11):
have to do it all, that if weask for support, that somehow we
are failing, that if we are notdoing it all, then we are not
okay, that we are a failure,we're not good enough.
And this is something that Ideeply struggled with for myself
after the first and my secondand even my third.
(24:31):
I thought that I had to have itall figured out, especially as
somebody who is trained in this,who does this work for a living
, who had been a doula, who hassupported thousands of women in
this context and trainedproviders over and over and over
again.
How could I not know this?
How could I be suffering fromthis right?
And it's because I thought Ishould know it all.
(24:52):
I should already have this alllaid out.
And that's where we are, and Iwill tell you, too, to carry on
this conversation again.
We're seeing the shift, we'reseeing the change in our current
culture and this morewesternized world and in a way
to deal with this lack and tomake up for it, because we
(25:13):
understand wait a second howwe're doing postpartum is not
working and we need to get backto what we knew worked.
We've developed things likepostpartum retreats and the idea
of it sounds magical.
I can go to this facility and Icould be like a hotel, right,
somebody else is gonna clean upafter me.
(25:34):
There's no mess all over thehouse.
Like I'm not gonna have toclean the bathroom, I'm not
gonna have to do laundry ordishes.
Somebody is going to come do mynails.
Somebody is going to pamper meand give me massages and and
feed me all the meals.
Like that sounds absolutelydelicious.
Right To have a lactationconsultant on hand to have like
(25:55):
everything that you wouldpossibly need, and the idea of
it sounds great.
But what I'm seeing is is thatit's not working.
It's not working because it isnot in the home.
A mother needs to be a queen inher home.
That's where the transitionreally lies when she is
supported in her own space anddone in such a way that helps
(26:20):
her recognize that what she hasis good enough that she doesn't
need some external thing tosupport her.
As silly as it sounds.
It's so interconnected into thedepths of our soul and our
well-being and who we are aswomen and as, now, mothers, and
(26:43):
it goes very, very deep and wecan have very deep conversations
here we have time, but this isreally where it transpires and
we need to do better and we needto do that for women in their
home, not asking them to goelsewhere.
I was just I'm writing anotherbook and I'm very excited about
this book and I was talkingabout how, you know, we could
(27:05):
have all of the specialties.
We can have a pelvic floorphysical therapist and a
counselor and this mom group andwe can have, you know, our OB
that we go see and and like allof these appointments that we're
going to have to get in orderto have the best care possible,
and how absolutely overwhelmingand impossible that is.
(27:26):
Could you just?
You're a mom, you get it rightHaving, if it was your second or
your third, you have an infant,then you have toddlers to go to
these appointments, which areusually between nine and five,
when your partner is off at workand completely unable to help
you and you're supposed to totearound and get all of these
(27:47):
self-care things done.
It's impossible.
It's like a full-time job.
It's not okay.
It's not okay.
It needs to come to you in yourhome.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
That's where care needs to happen, and how long
does this supportive period needto last?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
In many cultures it's that six weeks or 40 days is
what it's called, and many, manycultures across the world.
And when you're deeplysupported for those 40 days or
those six weeks you're, there issomething magical that happens
to the body.
Where you arrive.
From that you kind of come outof your cocoon, you blossom, you
(28:23):
grow your wings and you're likewow, I can do this.
And oftentimes I think a lot ofwomen think that means now I'm
done and I can just move on andI don't have to worry about
taking care of myself, I canjust get back to the crazy swing
of life.
And that's not true either.
That's not.
What I'm saying is that you canjust return to the chaos that is
.
It still means that you have totake care of yourself.
(28:46):
It still means that you have todo things differently, that you
can't be that go, go, go.
You have to rearrange your lifeand to make sure that you're
getting the care that you need,so that your family's getting
the care that they need.
But I will say but when we getthat solid foundation of six
weeks or 40 days, then thatfeels so much more doable and
(29:09):
our body literally has had thefoundation of healing to make
that possible, so that we're notfeeling so exhausted, we're not
feeling the depletion in ourbones.
You know that rawness thathappens with.
I just can't do this anymore.
I'm crawling at the end of theday Like I just can't function.
(29:30):
There's none of that when we'vebeen deeply supported in a way
in which our body needs.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Okay, I really, really want to get into how long
postpartum actually lasts andthen also the nutritional basics
that we need, because we'retold that you're postpartum for
six weeks and then you go backto work, and I know that's not
true.
You have research that saysit's not true.
(29:56):
How long is a mom postpartumeven after just one kid?
It's not true.
How long is a mom postpartumeven after just one kid?
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Well, I mentioned how the joints and ligaments take
up to a year to return to theirpre-pregnancy state, right?
Then we have brain changes thattake an upwards of two to three
years, right.
So that mom brain two to threeyears postpartum, and that's not
including.
If you're breastfeeding it'slonger, right.
So we know that the hormonalchanges take two to three years,
(30:24):
again, not includingbreastfeeding.
So you can add at least anadditional year after
breastfeeding, whatever thatmeans for you and getting back
into what feels like a normalfor you, where you are back in
your body, almost notnecessarily reborn or not
getting your body back, cause Idon't believe in that whatsoever
(30:45):
.
Nothing was taken from you.
This is just who you are inyour space as a mother.
We know studies show that fiveto six years.
So oftentimes, you know youknow nutritionally we'll talk
about that as well it takes agood two to three years to
replete your nutrient storesbecause it takes so much to grow
(31:06):
a human being and to birth ahuman being and oftentimes for
many to breastfeed that baby aswell.
That's a lot of your being thatis being created for another.
So it takes a long time and youknow it depends on where you are
in your postpartum journey andI think this is the hardest part
of all postpartum things right,because we're always looking
(31:27):
for the, the finite, a finiteanswer.
We're looking for just thatquick thing.
Just tell me what it is right.
Is it a year, is it two years?
Is it three years?
The answer is yes, yes, yes,like, and it depends on who you
are.
How much time did you get inthe very early stages of
postpartum?
How much support did you get?
How much were you nourished?
How good do you feel in yourbody?
(31:48):
How was your birth experience?
What's your history?
Like you know, all of thosewill play a deep role in how you
are feeling in the years afterhaving a baby.
We just know it's years, it'snot months, it's years and,
depending on you know all of theabove of your experiences, it
could be four years, it could besix years, it could be three.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
That's so helpful and I think you know, for the again
, for those of us who havemultiple children, just that
recognition of it could be 11years that you're postpartum
right, because if you start withone and then you have a couple
more kids, it takes time.
What are the nutritional basics?
And you talk about this in yourbook I'm going to go ahead and
just pull it up so theReclaiming Postpartum Wellness,
which is an amazing book and youshare so much of your knowledge
(32:29):
.
I think this is a really,really good starting point for
women who are just beingintroduced to you right now and
who just want, like, where do Istart postpartum?
And I will link it down below.
You have some recipes here, butcan we talk about like the
basic kind of foundationalframework of your nutrition plan
postpartum?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, absolutely so.
First off, I'm glad that youlove the fact that I couldn't
give a solid answer to how longof postpartum you will be.
But, with that said, it doesn'tmatter where you are in your
postpartum period, you could beseveral years out and it's never
too late to heal your body.
And I think a lot of women askthat question of like how long
(33:08):
am I supposed to be in thisspace?
Because they're tired andthey're frustrated and they want
out and this is not how theywant to feel in their body.
And I will tell you there is abetter way and no matter where
you are in your experience, youcan have a better experience and
it doesn't have to be dark, itdoesn't have to be complicated,
it doesn't have to be resentfuland fearful and painful and all
(33:32):
of those other things.
We don't have to live in thatspace.
So, no matter where you are inyour postpartum journey, whether
you're coming up in postpartumto a postpartum experience and
you're pregnant, or you're weeksout, months out, years out that
book is a really great startingpoint because I actually show
you what's happening within yourbody, the physiological and
(33:55):
psychological changes, and thenI give you the tools and which
to support those changes so thatyou can maximize feeling better
.
And one of those ways in whichto do it, and one of the most
important pieces to that wholepuzzle, is postpartum nutrition,
because 80% of women enterpostpartum very depleted of key
nutrients.
Right, we're just not eatingwell and we're not eating enough
(34:17):
, and oftentimes we're relyingon supplements.
And oftentimes we're relying onsupplements and oftentimes
women don't even have access toquality foods in their areas,
right.
And so what we're finding is isthat so many women enter into
this space very, very depleted,and that makes sense, because
you grew a human being with yourbody Like oh my word like so
(34:40):
much has just transpired for you.
So, and then you have the birthexperience, which, you know, a
lot of people have equated torunning a marathon.
And what happens when a personis about to run a marathon?
Before they run a marathon,they are carb loading, they are
protein loading, you know, notimmediately before, but they're.
They're preparing their bodydeeply Right, and that's hard to
(35:01):
do when you're pregnant is toprepare for that, right, like
you only have so much room inthat space in your gut to have a
whole meal, right, so it's alittle bit harder to do.
And then you enter inpostpartum.
So let's talk about thepostpartum physiological shifts
that take place in the gut.
Let's talk about the postpartumphysiological shifts that take
(35:21):
place in the gut.
After birth, your nervous systemshifts entirely.
It goes into a state ofoverdrive, almost where it's
like I have to focus on healing.
This is my priority.
I've got to stop bleeding.
My hormones are shifting.
I've got to live, right, I'vegot to live.
And so your nervous systemshifts and it goes into a state
of a fight or flight or freeze,or whatever.
It is right.
This is got to live.
And so your nervous systemshifts and it goes into a state
(35:41):
of a fight or flight or freeze,or whatever it is right.
This is how we know itscientifically to be.
Your body is not in a rest, calm, you know, digest state, as we
call it.
That's not what it's doing inthe least bit.
So when that happens afterbirth and it doesn't matter what
kind of birth experience you'vehad, you could have the most
amazing birth experience itdoesn't matter.
Your body's in a survival state.
(36:01):
It's doing everything it can tohurry up, stop the bleeding,
repair whatever it is that itneeds, and it stays in that
state for quite some time, fordays and weeks, depending on
your birth experience, muchlonger depending on the amount
of support.
You get much longer, right?
And so when that happens, ourability to digest, so our bodies
(36:22):
create gastric acids andenzymes that are necessary to
break down the nutrients in yourgut.
So if you're eating food, thatfood has to be broken down so
that it can be absorbed intoyour body.
And so your body is saying Ijust don't have the ability
right now, I don't have theenergy, I cannot focus on
creating those gastric acids andenzymes and all of those things
(36:43):
that are necessary to breakthat food down.
This is not my area of focus.
I got to go.
I got to go figure out how tolive right now.
Right, so we're not digesting.
This is not a massive thingthat you are needing, even
though you might be absolutelystarving and postpartum right,
you might.
That first meal after having ababy is often where, just like,
(37:03):
give me everything.
Right, we had to be reallycareful about how we eat.
Yes, I want you to have thatgiant chocolate cake and I want
you to eat.
You know all the sushi in theworld that you got.
You know you weren't able toeat and and pregnancy, whatever
the case may be.
Yes, I want you to have, likethe feast of feast.
However, your body is notwanting you to have that.
It wants you to eat.
(37:23):
You're saying is it ready todigest that?
Yeah, it's not ready.
It's not ready.
Our brain is ready for it.
We want it because we haven'thad it in forever, right, and
now that we have this room andthis space, you know our brains
are wanting it, but our bodysays no, this is not the time.
So what we have to do insteadis eat foods that are already
(37:44):
broken down, that are alreadyeasy for our body to absorb.
So a lot of times when we lookat postpartum foods and I see
this all the time the focus isnutrient dense and we need
nutrient dense.
We want all the nutrient densefoods because we need a lot of
nutrients and we recognize that.
We know that Science hasalready proven that a million
times over, and women reallydon't need science to prove that
(38:05):
to them.
They already have got it.
They already innately know Ineed a lot of nutrients.
So they focus on nutrient-densefoods.
However, this is where so manyget it wrong, because I can go
to Pinterest and search all ofthe postpartum meals and I will
cry at what I find, because alot of times it's salads and
(38:28):
smoothies and big densecasseroles, right, and we call
that nutrient dense and it is.
It's very nutrient dense, butit is the worst thing for a
postpartum mom because it's noteasy to digest and that's what
they forget.
So, yes, nutrient-dense foodsthat are easy to digest.
That's step two.
So when we look at this in acultural sense, we already know
(38:53):
that cultures around the world,they all practice the exact same
thing.
Their ingredients are slightlydifferent, but the way in which
they cook these foods and theway in which they're presented
are all the same Soups, broths,stews right, they are, they're
liquid form.
They're easy to digest becausethe cooking process has already
(39:15):
done so much of the breakingdown of those nutrients.
And that is very helpful for apostpartum body because you
don't want extra energy to gointo trying to get your body to
absorb food when that energyreally needs to go to other
parts of your body and healingand hormones and all of the
things you don't want to exertextra energy you don't have.
(39:37):
So the key component there isto make sure that you're
combining to, you know, thenutrient dense foods that are
easy to digest.
And what happens if we're noteating nutrient dense foods?
Let's talk about that Gas,bloating, constipation, right,
and in postpartum, oftentimes wecall that normal, we tell all
(40:00):
the time that's normal, that'sjust your hormones and of course
you're afraid to poop becauseyou just gave birth and, yes,
like the first, poop is alwaysthe hardest right.
And if we're having, if we'renot eating well, because our
body is struggling, then thatfood literally will sit in the
gut longer.
And what happens to food thatsits in the gut longer?
I say this lightly, this is notexactly what happens, but it's
(40:23):
food that sits longer, kind ofrots, right, and it's not
necessarily what's happening inyour gut, but it causes the
bloating, it causes the gas, itcauses the discomfort and the
indigestion.
It's not digesting well.
And then what happens?
If that happens for a longperiod of time, your body is
going to say wait a second,she's eating celery again or
whatever it is.
Or you know chicken nuggets,leftover chicken nuggets, you
(40:46):
know from your toddler, whateverit is that you're eating.
And it's going to say this isbad, right.
And now we have foodsensitivities and we have
allergies and we have leaky gutright and it spirals.
It spirals out of control.
And we know the connectionbetween the gut and the brain.
We call it the gut brain axis.
Right, this is not new science,this is very old science and
(41:09):
it's very, very helpful.
And I love the science becausethere's so much more that is
growing and we're learning andshifting.
And I will tell you, we knowhow deeply connected our
hormones are within our gut.
Our feel-good hormones areactually created in the gut, not
the brain.
And so when the gut is notgetting what it needs and its
inability to absorb and digest,and now it's having bloated and
(41:29):
it's having inflammation, okay,so in postpartum we already have
high levels of inflammation andthat's a biological normal.
We need that inflammationbecause that inflammation is the
trigger in our body that says,hey, something's not right.
We want to make sure that youheal and in order for you to
heal, we have to ramp upinflammation so that everybody's
(41:49):
on high alert and we get tohealing, and we want that.
That's a biological normal.
But what happens is thatinflammation is not supported.
We don't help that inflammationheal.
We don't help our bodies.
We're not supporting our bodies, especially with nutrition.
Nutrition is the foundational toeverything right.
Nutrition is what makes whiteblood cells.
Nutrition is what heals tissuesright.
Nutrition is what createshormones and regulates hormones.
(42:12):
You cannot live withoutnutrition.
It does everything within yourbody, and so when we are not
getting the nutrients that weneed, that inflammation
continues to stay where it's ator even gets worse.
And when we have inflammationin our bodies, it wreaks havoc
on everything right.
We can actually predict whensomebody has inflammatory
(42:36):
markers in their gut topostpartum depression and
depression in general.
We know that if somebody hasthese inflammatory markers and
they don't even have depression,we can predict that it will
happen.
We will know when somebody isgoing to have depression because
of the inflammatory markersthat are that exist within their
gut.
And so this is, this is likethis is gut brain access,
(42:57):
one-on-one right Like, and soyou have to make sure that your
gut is super healthy and if it'snot, you're going to experience
it here and mental healthdisorders and it there's.
It goes both ways, and there'sso many more components that we
can dive into, but that's a huge, huge component right there.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
That's huge and I think, because it's so difficult
for the mom to do anythingpostpartum, I'm sure that that
nourishment is the first thingto go.
I know that was the case for mewith my oldest.
It was like, okay, I had her inthe middle of the night, so my
first meal was McDonald's and itwas huge because I hadn't eaten
Right.
And then you know you're notcooking, so you're eating like
(43:35):
easy Mac and quick meals andfast food and whatever people
drop off, which is typicallysalads and casseroles and things
like that.
And so it makes perfect sensethat it makes perfect sense that
the disorders that are socommon postpartum are directly
related to, kind of the firstthing to go out the door
postpartum, which is this likewarm, nutritious, nourishing,
(43:57):
these nourishing meals.
So, miranda, how can my audiencefind you?
I'm going to link ReclaimingPostpartum Wellness, this
beautiful, full color, amazingbook, and it's just, it's so
gorgeous, it's so perfect, forit's an easy, simple read for
any woman who's a mother or isgoing to be a mother.
But how else can people findyou if they want to learn more
(44:18):
about you and your work?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Thank you so much for this, Janelle.
This has been an amazingconversation.
I feel like we can sit here andchat for hours at length, even
more.
There's so much more to sayabout everything here, so thank
you for all of that.
And for those of you listeningin who want more information,
you can go find my podcast.
That's a really great place toconnect If you love listening
(44:41):
here on YouTube.
I don't have videos, but I haveaudio.
You can go tune in to mypodcast, Postpartum University,
and you can go to our website,postpartumu, the letter ucom,
and you can find us there andtune in.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Thank you so much, miranda.
That'll all be linked below.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Thanks so much for being a part of this crucial
conversation.
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.
(45:21):
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom which is in the show
notes, and if you found today'sepisode valuable, please leave
a review to help us reach moreproviders like you.
Together, we're building afuture where mothers are fully
supported and thriving.
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