postpartum care

In Ayurveda your digestive fire is the most important component to ensuring you are gaining the nutritional benefits of what you eat. If your digestive fire, or ‘Agni’ , is weak, then your capability to process and gain the benefits of the food, even if it is the highest quality, becomes very low. Symptoms like gas, bloating and constipation are quite common.

Ayurveda explains that during postpartum the Agni goes out completely or is very weak. Therefore our digestion and subsequent health is very vulnerable at this time. In order to recover and gain the nutrients for ourselves and for our babies we need to focus our postpartum cooking on recovering the digestive capability. Because Ayurveda as a health system is quite heavily focused around the digestive fire/Agni, their approach to postpartum care can be very beneficial, for the acute postpartum period as well as the woman’s ongoing health.

Ayurvedic cooking postpartum also helps mumma’s nervous system, meals filled with love and devotion, focused on grounding her. This also helps babes nervous system, as what mumma feels so does Bub.

What I offer:

• An Ayurvedic plan for each Mumma. Where I will cook and deliver the medicinal Ayurvedic food for the first 3 days postpartum. With the opportunity to book as many additional days worth of cooking as desired postpartum.

• This can all be tailored to your taste preferences, number of meal preferences etc.

• I can set up your meal train for you if so desired, filled with your family and friends but providing the Ayurvedic recipes and understanding.

• I have Postpartum Ayurvedic recipe cards, soon to be available for purchase for you to hand out to your own family and friends at your blessing way.

• I also will be conducting workshops to educate couples on how to prepare Ayurvedic meals themselves, at home. Educating the couple on this time.

During the postpartum period a mother has a large amount of ‘space’ or emptiness in her belly from where her baby has been growing for the last 9 months. She also has just experienced one of the biggest and strongest downward movements in the body through her labour. These qualities of movement, space/ emptiness and air are what we call ‘Vata’ qualities in Ayurveda. If left untreated, they can cause the Mumma to potentially feel empty, unstable, ungrounded, erratic, unsupported, dry and stressed within her nervous system. The mum may also be experiencing pain in her sacrum, spine or joints or other areas of the body due to the necessary, internal changes during pregnancy and labour .

Ayurvedic postpartum massage is a very nourishing way to help reduce the vata qualities in the new mother. It can help with sleep, relax her muscles, nourish her body, reduce pain and most importantly, help to calm her nervous system. As babies and mothers are said to have a ‘shared’ nervous system during this time, especially through breast feeding, it can be assumed that these benefits from postpartum massage on the nervous system can also be passed to the baby.

Through warm, grounding, herbal oil and massage techniques that help the mother feel held, supported and in her body, Ayurvedic massage can be a powerful tool in your postpartum journey.

These massages are offered as individual treatments or part of a postpartum doula package.

Treatments are mostly done at your own home, to align with your postpartum rest period. Where I bring the massage table all necessary items to set up where you feel most comfortable. However if you prefer to come into the clinic to have your treatment, this is also more than welcome.

Babies are always welcome to lay with Mumma for the treatment if they can’t settle at the time, if they need to feed or if Mumma simply wishes to do so.

Nourish yourself and your body for all it’s done for you and your baby.

Closing of the bones, also called “Cerrar la Cadera” or “Cerrada”, meaning to close the hips, or simply, to close.

This special ceremony has origins in Mexico, Russia, Morocco and many other places around the world. All varying in their own cultural differences, but the intention the same. To ‘close’ the women after such a deep, transformational opening. A call to reintegrate her back into her body after birth. This tradition comes from our shared physiological needs. Pregnancy and birth asks of us more than we even know we are capable of, more than we have ever been asked to do. In order for human life to grow and come through us into the world we are demanded to surrender, to open and expand physically and energetically.

Physically our abdominals open so much a gap arises between the muscles, our blood volume expands by almost double, our ligaments and tendons soften and become more elastic and our pelvis opens during birth.

Energetically, emotionally and mentally we may have memories arise from our past and childhood, fears can develop for our romantic relationships, we can have a quick maturation, altered family dynamics and we find ourselves stepping into new roles and duties in our family and community.

Such a HUGE rite of passage, with immense changes, that deserves and needs to be acknowledged in order to aid the transition of all that occurred in birth and all that has changed since. To honour the mother, to allow her space to let stuck emotions move, to shower her in the reverence and love she deserves for all she has sacrificed and courageously done for her babe, to aid her in closing physically and energetically, to come back home within herself and to reintegrate all the parts of her.

Offered as ceremony for all postpartum women. Inclusive of if you birthed years ago and still feel a need for closure of this time.

Details about the ceremony can be discussed if you are interested.

Reference: Soma Shakti