Postpartum Focus

By Anne Salazar RH (AHG), Clinical Herbalist

  Postpartum is an extraordinarily important time (1), for both mother and child. How a woman is able to recover and rejuvenate from pregnancy, birthing, and beginning the lactation process affects her health not only post-birth but throughout her lifetime. The parameters are not the same as pre-natal; it is a decidedly different time and requires different support.

  As a clinician, I see many women facing a variety of challenges, including the perimenopause and menopause transition. I often notice that how well they move through this phase is closely connected to the support they received during their postpartum period. Of course, there are other factors such as chronic hormonal imbalance and/or chronic stress through life up until the menopausal phase. It's all about maintaining balance and self-care through one’s lifetime. It's best and easiest to support health through life, rather than deal with challenges once they become overwhelming.

Ancestral Wisdom

  Up until modern times, postpartum care was an integral part of childbirth. It was understood that caring for a woman after birth supported the long-term health of the mother, the child, and the community. Today, many of our cultural habits prioritize speed and productivity, often at the expense of recovery, self-care, and prevention.

 One excellent example of a traditional perspective on maternal care comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (2). Unlike conventional practice, TCM distinguishes clearly between prenatal and postpartum care; in contrast, conventional medicine often relies on prenatal vitamins even during the postpartum period. Postpartum needs are very different from the needs of gestation. The rigors of pregnancy, birthing, and lactation require specialized care and nourishing. For example, the idea of building all aspects of healthy blood comes into play, as well as warming up the mother with food and lifestyle choices (in TCM lingo: re-building Yin). It also is important to support uterine health and proper contraction to pre-pregnancy health as well as addressing rebuilding after the rigors of birth, and replenishing all vital forces in the body. This takes proper nourishing and REST. This will then support healthy lactation, assist in mitigating fatigue, and lessen the possibility of Postpartum Depression. In addition this will also assist in lessening issues downstream with other challenging times of life. I have met many women who never recovered properly from childbirth, and often I need to treat them as if they are recently postpartum, with the same attention to the above issues before I can get traction on any other protocol.  Rebuilding and healing doesn’t happen automatically on its own! A fantastic TCM based formula supplement we carry at Remedy is PostPartum Formula. 

  Additionally, diet is very important.  Foods that are blood building, warming, and easily assimilated are key. I highly recommend the assistance of a well trained Doula who understands whole food nutrition, herbal medicine, and traditional treatments. You can plan ahead properly with guidance from someone who is trained in these practices. Some will even cook for you, if you prefer! If you need a referral, I am happy to share. I have mentored some really excellent Doulas; just contact me at the store if you need direction. 

Basic Nutritional Suggestions

  • Bone broth- there are lots of good recipes

  • Vegan broth- using seaweeds, medicinal mushrooms, veggies, herbs (nettle, oatstraw, etc) and spices (ginger, turmeric, rosemary). There are good recipes if you look in the right direction.

  • Tonifying/building foods during week 3-5, like oats, yams, asparagus, mushrooms,cabbage, squash, sweet potato, avocado, apples, cherries, dates, black beans, kidney beans, black sesame seeds, molasses, bee pollen, spinach, and figs.

  • Tea herbs such as nettle, red raspberry, fennel, lavender, chamomile,rose petals, holy basil, are multi-beneficial.

  • Helpful supplements: Magnesium, Fish Oil (essential fatty acids), probiotics, B complex, Vitamin D

  • Avoid all cold foods for at least the first month. This includes cold temperature foods (like smoothies, iced/cold drinks, raw foods, etc)

Help with Nursing

  Overall, there are three basic reasons why a woman might struggle with lactation; Immunity, nutrition, and hormonal stress (includes exhaustion).

There are many herbs that are considered galactagogues (lactation enhancing); among these are Alfalfa, Blessed Thistle, Vitex, Fennel, Goat’s Rue. There are so many from various traditions! A blend of these  galactagogues work best. More Milk Plus by Motherlove is one good example. If you are really struggling, my go-to for moms is Vitanica’s Lactation Blend. See my more extensive blog on herbs for breast-feeding.

Getting personalized help at any stage; fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum can make a huge difference in finding success. You can schedule a private consultation for individualized, specific guidance.

  1. Postpartum care: we can and should do better
    Thung, Stephen F. et al.
    American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Volume 202, Issue 1, 1 - 4

  2. Li, Qingge MSNa; Xu, Jin BSNa; Chen, Yan BSNb; Jin, Ying BSNa,*. Traditional Chinese medicine nursing technology for postpartum rehabilitation: A bibliometric and visualized analysis. Medicine 104(46):p e45985, November 14, 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/MD.000000000004