How To Avoid The Most Common Postpartum Issues
Bringing a new bundle of joy into this world is a life-changing event. Not only are you in charge of a new tiny human being now, but your body goes through a lot of changes to get them here!
This journey is perceived as a beautiful one...however, sometimes it’s not all rainbows and butterflies like it’s made out to be.
Motherhood is tough! Especially those first few weeks, months, and even years after giving birth.
It can be physically and mentally exhausting. Many new mothers experience sore breasts and nipples, vaginal or cesarean healing, constipation, and hemorrhoids. And this is the stuff just seen on the surface...not even the cellular health, deeper imbalances that often persist years after birth!
But the more common postpartum issues I see in my health clients are:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Autoimmune issues
- Thyroid issues
While many of these postpartum issues are common, they aren’t necessarily “normal”. Many of these problems arise because our society doesn’t value the importance of postpartum recovery and a thorough health evaluation during this major transition in your body and life. This often results in biochemical imbalances in your body, leaving you with nagging and sometimes serious symptoms affecting your life.
Postpartum Anxiety
Many people have heard of postpartum depression, but another common issue I see is postpartum anxiety disorder. It affects around 10% of new mamas. Think about that for a moment...10 out of 100 Mommas!
This is when women experience excessive worrisome thoughts, feelings of dread, or racing thoughts. You may have difficulty relaxing, concentrating, sleeping or sitting still due to anxiety. It can also show up as “perfectionism” or obsessive-compulsive (OCD) tendencies.
Don’t get me wrong, many women will experience some level of this when you bring home a baby for the first time! But when these thoughts and feelings start to affect your daily activities and functioning, then it becomes a problem. You don’t want to feel constantly on edge!
Postpartum anxiety looks different for every woman. Your thoughts may fixate on something worrisome, drain you of your energy and joy, and make it difficult for you to be truly present and enjoy your little one!
The combinations of huge hormonal shifts after giving birth, being sleep deprived, learning how to adapt to this new stage in life, changes in your feelings towards your significant other, and the expectation that this is supposed to be “the happiest time in your life”, can all enhance postpartum anxiety.
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression is more than just “baby blues”. Depression after birth can be a very real and scary issue.
Postpartum depression can manifest as mood swings, sleep issues, appetite changes, sense of doubt, fear of injury, serious concerns about the baby, sadness and crying, difficulty in concentrating, lack of interest in daily activities, and even severe thoughts of death and suicide.
While many providers see this as purely a mental health issue; there are many underlying physical imbalances that often contribute to this state and that are sadly overlooked and not explored further. As we know, the body, mind and soul are incredibly interconnected!
Postpartum depression and anxiety is often a SYMPTOM of deeper biological issues:
- Nutrient & mineral deficiencies
- Anemia
- Thyroid imbalances
- Hormonal imbalances
- Unhealthy gut
- Autoimmune Issues
- Autoimmune conditions are when your own immune system attacks healthy tissue or organs in your body. This may be one of the fastest growing health conditions of our time and unfortunately, the vast majority of women are found somewhere on this autoimmunity spectrum, with pregnancy drastically increasing your risk.
This may be from hormonal shifts that happen during pregnancy and after, and/or from fetal microchimerism, which is when your baby’s cells get into the mother’s bloodstream. The theory is that since those fetus cells get into the mother’s bloodstream, it can cause an immune response even years after giving birth.
In addition to these two possible causes, autoimmune conditions could also arise from an unhealthy gut. When your intestinal barrier becomes weakened, larger chemicals that are supposed to stay within the gut, can escape and get into the bloodstream. This allows those harmful chemicals to travel throughout your body, causing your immune system to respond and initiate inflammation against its own cells and organs. Not ideal!
Thyroid Issues
It’s very common for pregnant and postpartum women to struggle with hypothyroidism. For some women, this issue goes away after giving birth. However in 7–10% of women, the issue sticks around, leading to postpartum thyroiditis.
Thyroid issues can stay around past pregnancy for a couple of reasons.
You may be breastfeeding and you aren't eating enough calories or getting enough necessary nutrients. This can impact the way your body converts T4 into the active thyroid form, T3.
Not getting enough sleep and experiencing chronic stress from having a newborn can affect your adrenals, producing excess amounts of cortisol (your stress hormone), which then impacts your thyroid production.
You may have had a previous thyroid issue, and pregnancy just exacerbated the issue.
Some signs that you may have a thyroid issue are:
- Weight changes
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- Dry skin
- Depression
- Elevated blood cholesterol levels
- Heavier than normal or irregular menstrual periods
- Sensitivity to cold temperatures
- Thinning hair or nails
- Trouble concentrating
- Muscle aches or joint pain
Underlying Causes
While these health conditions are some of the more common postpartum issues I see, it doesn't mean that they are “normal” problems during postpartum. Instead of ignoring these symptoms (which can range from mild to severe), you need to drill down and find out what’s causing them in the first place.
Often times these are:
- Hormonal imbalances
- Inflammation
- Food and environmental triggers
- Nutrient or mineral deficiencies
- Immune dysregulation
- Heavy metal toxicities
- Digestive dysfunctions
- Structural imbalances
- Toxic emotions (fear, grief, shame, etc.)
Please know that you don’t have to struggle through your postpartum period. You can feel joyful and energized during this precious time of your life - with the right professional guidance and tools! To help you avoid postpartum complications, I want to offer some tips to help guide you towards a happy and healthy postpartum journey!
Tips For A Healthy Postpartum
Load up on nutrient dense foods
Sometimes grabbing fast food or processed snacks seems to be the easiest option in the moment. But in order to keep your energy and mood levels up, you need to give your body it’s daily essential nutrients and minerals.
Minimize processed foods
Incorporate an abundance of fruits and vegetables into your diet
Eat quality animal products that are free of antibiotics, hormones, and additives.
Focus on organic, whole foods as much as possible to sustain your health.
Consume healthy fats from foods like nuts, seeds, and avocados
If you are breastfeeding, your body requires 300-500 more calories/day!
Don’t Stop Your Prenatal Vitamin
If you are breastfeeding, you’ll especially want to continue your prenatal vitamin. But even if you aren’t, you should continue your prenatal up to 6 months after delivery.
It can help your body keep its vitamin stores up, as well as give your baby the vital nutrients it needs for optimal development and growth. Be sure to get tested for any nutrient or mineral deficiencies as well to know if you need additional supplements.
You’ll want to choose a prenatal that is of high quality and tested from a third-party source. Ask your provider for a quality brand that they recommend and trust.
Restore your gut health
As stated above, numerous health conditions can arise from poor gut health. To reduce many of your nagging postpartum symptoms, you want to take care of your gut.
- Eat a variety of colorful, organic whole foods
- Eat prebiotic rich foods (onions, garlic, asparagus, banana, etc.)
- Avoid sugars, processed foods, and alcohol
- Avoid environmental triggers- synthetic fragrances, pesticides in foods, etc.
- Investigate possible imbalances or infections residing in your gut (comprehensive stool testing done in comfort of your home for the win!)
- Engage in parasympathetic nervous system regulating practices a few mins daily
Ask for help
This journey is a rewarding one, but it’s definitely not an easy one! Make sure to talk to loved ones (friends and family), be open with your partner when you need help. Don’t be afraid to ask friends or family to give you a break to catch up on some rest (I’m sure they wouldn’t mind some baby snuggles). We aren't supposed to do this alone. It truly takes a village to raise a child!
If you want to experience a vital and healthy postpartum and beyond, please reach out to Jaclyn Bacon, your Holistic Nurse Practitioner & Health Coach. She offers 1:1 private consults, and provides each client with deep, restorative care along with advanced specialty lab testing.
She detects imbalances in your body so you can get back to your energized self again. Contact Jaclyn if you are ready to feel your absolute best and actually enjoy this incredible chapter of motherhood.