Here at Markid, our goal is to make your life easier. This week, we have specific tips and advice on how new moms can make the postpartum experience a bit better, from the best foods for healing, to how to ask for help!  

ASK THE EXPERT: The Best Foods to Help during Postpartum

This is part II of our interview with Jane Baecher, Founder of Anya, a postpartum recovery plan. This interview has been edited for time and clarity. 

–

At Anya, you have vitamins and tonics that help give women the nutrients they need postpartum. You focus a lot on nutrition. Why is that so important? 

We hear from women who say they’re just so happy to eat all the things they couldn’t eat during pregnancy, without thinking about nutrition. Once the baby was out, they thought it didn’t matter. But it actually matters even more; you have to support the additional demands on the body, the healing. And if you’re breastfeeding, nutrition is even more important. But it’s also hard because you have no time. 

What are some of the best foods women should eat during this time? 

Your digestive system is compromised so you need food so you can easily extract nutrients. Bone broth is an amazing food for a new mother. So are soups. Stew broths are the superfood. Grains like rice. Eggs. Stewed, steamed greens. Oatmeal is also a great food for lactation. 

Also getting enough water! 

What are some of your go-to’s? 

You need to think about convenience and things that are easy to grab, that are high fat (but good fat). So things like nuts, popcorn, and seeds. I love these little bars from Novitas. Something you can grab easily because the hunger hits quick. 

Any foods to avoid? 

Avoid raw vegetables because it’s really hard on your system. The best thing is cooked vegetables. 

Besides nutrition, any other practical advice for new moms? 

In my research of other cultures and also in talking to moms, it’s really important to lean on a partner more. And it’s good to have those conversations before the baby comes. Get on the same page: Which feedings can you take? How can we get some more sleep? Letting your partner take on some of the stuff– cleaning bottles, ordering in, doing laundry, writing thank you notes, managing guests. It all adds up and prevents a mom from sleeping or “sleeping when the baby is sleeping.” 

Why do you think it’s so hard for new moms to ask for help? 

We have a hard time asking for help societally. I got this from a lot of friends who said they were so surprised it was so hard (for me personally, after the birth of my kids). And I guess I just sucked it up and pretended it was easy. I wish I had done a better job of being brutally honest with my friends and telling them all the crazy stuff going on so they would be there for me. It can be lonely and isolating for a lot of women, and if we were honest about what it was like it would really help. It can be better if we have a community around us.