Postpartum Care

I believe motherhood is the ultimate act of service. We give over our body, our sleep, our good eating habits, our self-care, and even the DHA fatty acids from our brain! We do this from a place of deep love and commitment to our mini-humans. The drive to do so is powerful.

Yet, along the way we can lose grip on the balancing act of caring for ourselves and caring for our family.

Our culture also perpetuates this. Somehow we’ve placed ridiculous value on the ‘getting back’. Back to our pre-baby body, to our work, to our social life, to our pre-baby life. This ignores and devalues the developmental passage and process of matrescence*.

For some mothers, their health is a gentle downward slope, progressing slowly but surely over time. Sometimes it’s a deep dive into a physical, emotional, and mentally depleted state. See postpartum depletion.

Unfortunately, standard medical care for (particularly new) mothers fails to address the full array of their needs at this time. Whereas, naturopathic support helps both the whole body - and brain - of the mother recalibrate optimally after pregnancy and birth.

Mother laying on bed smiling with small child and baby two children

*Matrescence is defined as the process of becoming a mother. It's a word used to describe the physical, psychological, and emotional changes people go through during the monumental transformation that is motherhood. First coined by the anthropologist Dana Raphael in 1973, then revived in 2010 through the teachings of clinical psychologist Dr. Aurélie Athan.

It’s time to seek help if you’re feeling…

  • Tired - all the time. Fatigue that’s not relieved from some good sleep.

  • Stressed out from motherhood, feeling anxious and hypervigilant

  • You have no energy to enjoy gentle movement, exercise, or to take time for yourself

  • Concerned about your weight after pregnancy (either weight gain or weight loss)

  • Your memory is poor, you have ‘brain fog’, difficulty concentrating, or lingering ‘baby brain’

  • You’re irritable, moody, teary, angry, disconnected, or ‘just going through the motions’

  • Your sleep is poor, restless, and non-refreshing (and not related to baby/children)

  • Your digestion is sluggish, or fluctuates from constipation to diarrhoea

  • Your motivation to nourish yourself has taken a back seat to your baby/children

  • Your libido had tanked

  • Your resilience and tolerance have tanked

  • Your menstrual cycle is not what it used to be, with PMS, painful cramping and/or heavy blood loss

  • Your immune system is poor, catching colds/flu, feeling generally run down

  • Your hair has thinned or you’re losing a lot (apart from the typical 4-6 month mark postpartum shedding)

  • You want to try for another baby but don’t feel you’ve fully recovered from the last one!

  • You feel your family is now complete, but you don’t feel you’ve recovered from the pregnancies/births

How can a Naturopath help?

Remember ‘postpartum’ is forever. So whether you are 3 months, 3 years, or even 7 years beyond your last birth, you will always be ‘postpartum’. This is because both pregnancy and birth change us. Both our body and our brain.

Naturopathic postpartum care will differ slightly according to where you are on the postpartum path.

Your needs at 6-8 weeks postpartum will be different than at 3-5 years postpartum. And your needs will be different if you’re not planning any more pregnancies, compared to if you wish to have another baby soon (ish).

Either way, care will generally focus on optimising hormone recalibration, supporting physical recovery, supporting breastfeeding demands, nutrient repletion, nervous system support, thyroid health, and hormonal health (if your menstrual cycle has returned).

Mamawise Naturopath Kristin Beckedahl at desk writing in notebook

Consultations are comprehensive and allow the time to understand both your health history (including your pregnancy and birth history) and your current issues.

I often utilise testing to gather further information. This helps rule in (or out) suspected causative or contributing factors. These may be blood, saliva, urine or stool tests, hair tissue mineral analysis, or vaginal microbiome testing.

Custom treatment plans are then devised for your individual needs. These include both short-term and long-term goals. I use a variety of practitioner-grade herbal medicines, nutraceuticals, and supplements.

I also implement various dietary, lifestyle and mindset changes to support the foundations of health (sleep/rest, nutrition/nourishment, movement/activity, stress, purpose, community). Referral to other practitioners may also occur if deemed appropriate.

Our follow-up appointments ensure your progress is on track and being monitored, your treatment plan remains manageable, and you’ve been able to implement the recommendations. We also use this time to troubleshoot or finetune treatment directions or goals.

Read more about My Approach.

See the FAQ.

Naturopath Kristin Beckedahl at herbal dispensary bench pouring herbal formula from cylinder into small amber bottle for client

“Herbal formulas are
individually customised for each mother’s needs.”

Areas of postpartum care

  • DEEP RECOVERY from pregnancy and birth - on all levels, physical, nutritional, and emotional, plus specific care relating to the mother’s unique pregnancy and birthing experience

  • NUTRIENT REPLETION - includes adequate testing and analysis for optimal ranges, plus dietary and supplement guidance. Common deficiencies that can have various knock-on effects throughout the body are iron, vitamin B12, zinc, vitamin D, essential fatty acids, magnesium

  • BREASTFEEDING SUPPORT - meeting nutritional needs of both mother and baby for breastfeeding, support for recurrent mastitis or breastmilk undersupply

  • HORMONAL SUPPORT - supporting the body to recalibrate optimally after the low hormonal state of postpartum, and/or the toll of sleep deprivation on the body, and/or adrenal/thyroid imbalance

  • THYROID SUPPORT - includes adequate testing and analysis for optimal, functional ranges. Support for postpartum thyroiditis, hypothyroidism, Hashimotos, Graves disease

  • MOOD SUPPORT - assessing possible causative factors, including hormonal, nutritional and neuroinflammation

  • GUT SUPPORT - identifying and addressing digestive issues such as bloating, reflux, constipation or irritable bowel, and/or food intolerances. Replenishing microbiome balance after antibiotics in labour, postpartum, or for mastitis

“After pregnancy and birth, mothers require as much care as their newborn - to recover, replete, repair and recalibrate.”