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Fr An ND’s Experience as a First-Time Mom
There is no better feeling than the first time you hold your newborn in your arms. After months of anticipation and hours of labour, those first moments just feel so surreal. I was prepared to bring my new daughter home, but I am not sure that I was really prepared for the first weeks and months of navigating this monumental change. From one new mom to another, here are some things that I found helped to keep us grounded during this exciting time.
Rest
Your body just grew a small human in about 40 weeks and then went through some sort of labour, delivery, or surgery to get them out into this world. It takes time and a ton of energy to recover from this, not to mention the trauma that your tissues experienced to make it all happen. The more you can rest in those first few weeks, the faster you will get back to feeling yourself again. This is where your village (if you are fortunate enough to have one) comes in. Having support from the people around you can make all the difference. Do not be afraid to ask for help; the people who love you want to help and are—more often than not—happy to do it. Having the support of others around you will not only help you get back on your feet more quickly, but can also help prevent you from feeling even more overwhelmed than you may already feel.
Getting out and doing the things that you love can also be therapeutic and restful. Being alone with your baby all day can feel isolating. Incorporating some alone time to go for a walk, visit friends, or get back
to an activity that you enjoy can be helpful to ensure that you don’t lose your own identity and are getting a mental break from always being in “mom mode.”
Diet
For the same reason as rest, diet is extremely important for healing in the postpartum period, but if you will be breast-feeding, diet is also very important for encouraging lactation. In general, a well-balanced diet, rich in fruits, vegetable, proteins, and quality fats, is ideal.[1] Protein is vital for tissue and wound healing.[2] We also know that lactating mothers have a higher protein requirement during this period to sustain both milk production and their own recovery.[3] Fruits and vegetables are often rich in vitamin C, among many other nutrients, which has been shown to improve tissue healing.[4]
Fat is also a significant addition to the diet, through foods such as nuts and seeds, avocados, fish, eggs, and olive oil. The amount of fat that is present in breast milk will be impacted by dietary intake, so making sure that you eat enough is important.[5]
The first few weeks and months of postpartum are really hard. This is when you need to recover and settle into your “new normal,” but it is also a very exciting time for you and the people closest to you. Keep in mind that, in addition to your body and life changing dramatically, your hormones have, too, and this can change the way you feel or what you feel up to doing hour by hour and day by day. Setting boundaries early on or even before the birth is so important. Family and friends have the best intentions, but they can’t understand the bond between you and your baby. Sometimes they feel as though they are helping by trying to soothe your baby, but you are feeling stressed and overstimulated. In those first few weeks, I learned that it is okay to ask people to leave so the baby can sleep, to tell them that they cannot come for a visit, or to simply bring your baby to another room for some quiet times alone together. Remember that this time is yours to recover, to heal, and to bond with your new baby… Mom really does know best.
Supplements
My daughter was born in the middle of winter, so keeping her healthy and safe were our biggest priorities. Aside from limiting visitors, insisting on hand washing and physical precautions, I also wanted to make sure that both she and I were getting all the nutrients we needed. I also know that less is often more when it comes to babies and breast-feeding, so I had a few key supplements in my repertoire. We both took vitamin D, to prevent illness and to support her growing bones.[6] We also introduced probiotics to our daughter after a few months to support her digestive health. Probiotics have been studied and are thought to be supportive for preventing regurgitation in infants.[7]
The first year of motherhood is an experience that no one can prepare you for. There are times where you can feel isolated, overwhelmed, and exhausted, but, from my experience, the joy and love are so much more powerful. Some days are harder than others, but the love you feel and the pride that overcomes you when your baby accomplishes something new, makes everything worth it.
Dr. Kaitlyn Richardson, ND, HbSc
A naturopathic doctor in Milton, Ontario, with a clinical focus in sports and performance medicine, she believes in using individualized, holistic, and evidence-based strategies to help active individuals feel and perform their best.
drkaitlynrichardson.com
References
1. Aparicio, E., C. Jardí, C. Bedmar, M. Pallejà, J. Basora, V. Arija, and the ECLIPSES Study Group. “Nutrient intake during pregnancy and post-partum: ECLIPSES study.” Nutrients, Vol. 12, No. 5 (2020): 1325.
2. Wang, X., Z. Yu, S. Zhou, S. Shen, and W. Chen. “The effect of a compound protein on wound healing and nutritional status.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol. 2022 (2022): 4231516, 12 pages.
3. Rasmussen, B., M. Ennis, P. Pencharz, R. Ball, G. Courtney‑Martin, and R. Elango. “Protein requirements of healthy lactating women are higher than the current recommendations.” Current Developments in Nutrition, Vol. 4, Suppl. 2 (2020): nzaa049_046.
4. Bechara, N., V.M. Flood, and J.E. Gunton. “A systematic review on the role of vitamin C in tissue healing.” Antioxidants, Vol. 11, No. 8 (2022): 1605.
5. Martin, C., P.‑R. Ling, and G.L. Blackburn. “Review of infant feeding: Key features of breast milk and infant formula.” Nutrients, Vol. 8, No. 5 (2016): 279.
6. National Institutes of Health. Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin D. Fact sheet for consumers. Updated 2022‑11‑08. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-Consumer/
7. Foster, J.P., H.G. Dahlen, S. Fijan, N. Badawi, V. Schmied, C. Thornton, C. Smith, and K. Psaila. “Probiotics for preventing and treating infant regurgitation: A systematic review and meta‐analysis.” Maternal & Child Nutrition, Vol. 18, No. 1 (2021): e13290.