Postpartum Food Principles

In the US we want comfort food after the hard work of having a baby. We crave mac and cheese, lasagna, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. The days and weeks after having a baby are consumed with caring for our new chum, and who wants to bother with special dietary needs?

But, during the fourth trimester (the first 6 weeks after giving birth) the mother and her baby do have special needs. In addition to rest, no chores or meal preparation, a mother needs a special diet. A mother’s digestive tract is cool and needs to be given warm, easily digestible foods so her baby won’t get colic. A baby’s digestive tract is more like a net than a tube. So foods that are not fully digested by mom can cause irritation and lead to colic.

Ayurvedic medicine teaches that all foods postpartum need to be

Liquid or moist
Oily
Warm
Spiced
Cooked

This is especially important in the first two weeks postpartum

Great Foods for the Postpartum

Cooked Vegetables

Asparagus
Beets
Carrots
Celery
Celery Root (Celeric)
Green leafy vegetables cooked
Parsnips
Rutabagas
Sweet potatoes
Winter Squash

Fruit

Dates
Warm stewed dried fruits like prunes
Raisins rested in warm water until not wrinkled
If your baby does not have colic and is older than two weeks, you can add in room temperature fruit not on the list of fruits to avoid

Grains (whole, unmilled)

Amranth
Brown rice
Buckwheat
Millet
Oats (if you are not gluten free)
Quinoa
Other whole, non-allergenic grains

Oils (cold pressed)

Almond (raw)
Coconut
Flaxseed (raw)
Ghee
Olive
Sesame

Proteins

Almonds soaked
Cashews soaked
Organic chicken
Lamb
Lentils (these are known as masoor dal. They are brown when whole (and what most people think of as lentils, and look orange when split)
Mung beans (found in the health food or indian food store whole (green), split (green), or split with no skin (yellow)
Split peas
Tofu
Organic Turkey
Stewed Meat
Wild-caught salmon
Wild game