The Pillars of Traditional Postpartum Care
The first 40 days postpartum marks a window in time that is both brief & sacred. During this time there is an immense amount of restructuring & integration taking place, which allows the mother a rare opportunity to rebuild the foundation of her health & wellbeing, as well as, heal preexisting illnesses or imbalances in her life for years to come. Western society tends to overlook the significance of this time and this gap in our healthcare system is reflected in the health of our mothers. However, not all is lost. The wisdom of traditional postpartum wisdom is still honored in many places in the world. We can begin to change the way mothers are cared for after birth by looking to the common themes found in these holistic postpartum care practices, and bring these common pillars into our own postpartum season, or into the lives of the mother’s in our circles.
In this blog post:
The changes taking place for a mother in the first 40 days postpartum.
What other cultures can teach us about holistic postpartum care.
Drawing on this ancient postpartum wisdom for modern day.
The five common themes we see across different cultures postpartum care practices.
The five pillars being held together by the power of community.
The body, mind & spirit in the first 40 days postpartum.
During the fleeting 40 days postpartum, a mother’s physical body is being restructured, as it moves organs, tissues & bones back into place. Even a woman’s brain is shifting to help her better tune into & care for her new baby’s needs. Her mind, emotions & spirit have been transformed by not only the journey of pregnancy, labor & birth, but the deep love that is now being felt & pouring from her heart to her newborn. Her relationship with herself and her partner is shifting as it is no longer just about the two of them, but about serving something greater. Her schedule & routine are trying to find a new sense of stability & rhythm, while she also explores a new set of needs, desires & values. In nearly every aspect of her life she is integrating & establishing new foundations & patterns.
What other cultures can teach us about postpartum.
Hundreds of cultures around the world witnesses the first 40 days postpartum with deep reverence, & recognize it as a time that a mother has a rare opportunity to revitalize & replenish herself deeply. Postpartum care is not seen as a luxury, but a necessity to create & sustain healthy families & communities. If we consider the high percentage of postpartum ailments we see in the U.S., such as depression, anxiety, exhaustion, depletion, etc., compared to other places in the world, we can see that one of the most significant differences is often where there is a supportive & holistic system in place to care for the mother in the early weeks postpartum.
Bringing this ancient wisdom into modern day.
Reclaiming the wisdom of traditional postpartum care supports us in planning for the physical, energetic & spiritual support mothers need in the postpartum season. If you travel back in time through your own lineage, you will more than likely find sacred foods & practices that nourished mothers post-birth. If you are familiar with these traditions & they resonate, I invite you to reclaim them by making them a part of your postpartum care plan. If, however, we find that we are not familiar with our ancestors traditions, or perhaps we come from a community that did not have practices for postpartum, we might need to adopt or take inspiration from other traditions around the world. Although postpartum traditions are specific to the cultural context from which they come, ancient postpartum traditions share common insights that make up the secure foundation that hold a mother’s postpartum body, mind & spirit. The five pillars of traditional postpartum care are: rest, warmth, nourishment, bodycare & ritual. These five pillars are held together by yet another common theme in ancient postpartum care: community.
The five common themes of traditional & holistic postpartum care.
Pillar One. Postpartum rest.
A period of rest replenishes & preserves a mother’s life force, while protecting her long-term pelvic & hormonal health. Pregnancy & birth are a huge energetic expenditure, as is caring for & sustaining a new tiny being. If our body is not able to replenish its energetic reserves, our life force will be depleted & our body will struggle to put energy into healing. Holistic postpartum care invites mothers to retreat from the outside world & day-to-day responsibilities in order to put energy into healing, bonding with, & caring for baby.
Western society applauds mothers for being the quickest to get on their feet & back out in the world. However, this “bounce back” mentality is failing our mothers and children. Inadequate rest puts the body into prolonged states of fight or flight & triggers cortisol production. This can disrupt hormonal balance, breastmilk production, and mother/baby bonding, while also increasing a woman’s risk of hemorrhage, prolapse & damage to the immune, nervous & digestive systems.
Getting rest can be easier said than done, but it often starts with giving ourselves permission to slow down, release control & ask for help, while also being unafraid to set boundaries & open ourselves up to receive the support we deserve.
Pillar Two. Postpartum warmth.
Traditional mother-centered postpartum care places a strong emphasis on keeping the mother warm throughout her postpartum season. During pregnancy, a mother’s blood volume increases by almost 50%, increasing circulation & heat within the body. After birth, a woman loses this excess blood & is left with an open space within the womb where the baby grew. This loss of blood & “openness” creates a cold state within the body that needs tended to by supporting the body in recapturing heat & promoting circulation.
It can sometimes feel impossible for a mother in postpartum to find time to get dressed in the morning, let alone make sure to keep warm socks on or sit down to a warm tea/meal. However, warmth (in temperature and nature) is key to ensuring that the healing that needs to occur afterbirth is not delayed. Warmth promotes healing of the organs & tissues, supports the digestive system in getting back up to speed & facilitates the production of oxytocin.
Pillar three. Postpartum Nourishment.
If food has the power to destroy, then it certainly has the power to heal. Food is medicine & it is an essential pillar to traditional postpartum care. When we consider the amount of replenishing & sustaining a mother’s body is doing during postpartum, it is obvious that there are essential nutritional building blocks required during this time. These building blocks create & serve as the foundation of health for both the mother & baby for many years to come.
Food is our first defense to many of the common ailments that can present themselves during postpartum, including postpartum depression and inadequate milk supply. The amount of fluids & nutrients that are leaving the body during the early days of healing our bodies & sustaining a newborn are immense. In addition, the digestive system is significantly altered during pregnancy & birth, and the digestive fire needs rekindled so that a mother can absorb & assimilate the nutrients she is taking in (and pass those on to her baby). When we are eating foods that are cold, heavy & difficult to digest, it leads many mothers to constipation, which can be extremely uncomfortable, & even trigger emotional responses to those that have just given birth, especially if there is any perineum damage or a c-section incision. In addition, if a mama is struggling to digest her food, it leads to undigestible breastmilk causing colic in baby.
Having someone such as a midwife, Ayurvedic postpartum doula or other holistic postpartum care professional there to help guide you in planning for the right foods in postpartum, as well as the ones to avoid can make all the difference in how you feel 40 days postpartum & beyond. A doula, friends or family members can fill this special role by cooking the right foods for you. Nutrient dense, warm, moist, well-cooked foods that are high in good fats & stimulating to circulation, will help safeguard mothers against delayed healing, depletion, low milk supply, a colicky baby & other vulnerabilities.
Pillar four. Bodywork.
In the weeks after birth a woman’s body is undergoing significant changes on a physical, emotional & hormonal level. The body is releasing excess fluid & blood, rebalancing the hormones & bringing the bones, ligaments, muscles & digestive organs back into place. This is not to mention, the changes that are taking place in a woman’s brain. These changes include a decrease in grey matter & an increase in the neuroplasticity of the brain. This not only supports a mother in being more in tune with her baby’s needs, but can cause her to feel a heightened sensitivity to the world around her, where she may find that she can pick up on emotions & the non-verbal cues of others more easily. This increased sensitivity combined with the flux of hormones during postpartum, is yet another reason why a mother needs extra support & nourishment during this time. Bodywork simply adds another layer to this care by supporting a mother’s entire being in the healing & integration that is postpartum.
There are many different modalities of bodywork that can be supportive to a mother’s nervous system, which in turn, can increase oxytocin, support deeper rest & bolster immunity. An Ayurdoula or holistic postpartum doula can likely recommend experienced practitioners in modalities such as craniosacral therapy, acupuncture, massage, etc. This type of postpartum doula can also support a mama in bringing simple, but powerful practices into her home that compliment therapeutic bodywork by providing the new mother with herbal oil massage (abhyanga), belly binding, herbal baths, breath work practices, etc.
Pillar Five. Ritual.
The final pillar of ancient postpartum care is ritual. Traditionally, postpartum care includes rituals that acknowledge & mark the transformation of birth into motherhood. Birth is a rite of passage inviting a woman to step through a threshold, leaving behind aspects of her being that no longer serve. Whether the woman is giving birth for the first time, or the tenth time, the initiation that is birth, transforms a woman on a deep level. There is an internal shift that takes place & the mother comes out of this initiation transformed in some way. The final stage of any rites of passage is “the return”, & it is during this stage that the mother’s metamorphosis is acknowledged & honored by community through ritual & ceremony.
Bringing ritual into your postpartum can be simple or grand. Finding a way to honor your transformation & experience in a way that resonates with you can support a mother in feeling seen & acknowledged physically, emotionally & spiritually, decreasing feelings of loneliness, depression, fear & anxiety. It is also a way to bring a sense of stability & groundedness during a time of significant change, while also helping bring sacredness & intentionality into the monotonous, repetitive days of early postpartum.
The power of community.
In order for the five pillars of traditional postpartum care to stand strong, they must rest on a solid foundation of community. Many of us no longer live in tribes or communities, where grandmothers, aunties, sisters & cousins can fill our homes for many hours a day cooking our meals, taking care of other children & giving us daily massage. However, we must commit to finding new ways forward, drawing on ancient postpartum wisdom & bringing it into our modern lifestyles in a way that resonates with us & works with the resources we have available at the time. There is no one right way to navigate postpartum & we must give ourselves permission to let go of the rigid rules & “should’s”, while asking ourselves what we really need to feel nourished & secure as we heal & care for our baby. A mother’s community needs to be those who she feels safe with, & will care for her without needing something in return. More importantly, a mother’s community should be able to hold space for a mother, while always reflecting back to her the truth of who she is, pointing her back to her intuition again & again.
With love,
Amy
