The Most Important Nutrients You Need for Healing After Birth
When you give birth, some sort of blood loss and wound creation happens. Even in the most straightforward vaginal birth you are likely to lose around 500ml of blood. This is roughly what is taken during blood donation. If you have a C-section or any intervention during the birth, this can be much more, sometimes double the amount.
This means your body has to put some effort into wound healing and skin repair to help your body recover after giving birth. This is on top of the sheer energy and nutrient loss that happens from the endurance race that is childbirth.
So after giving birth is the most important time to focus on rest and healing. Imagine you are an athlete who has just run a marathon. You would probably expect to have a plan in place to properly rest and recuperate after the race. Giving birth is just the same - except on top of you having to recover, you also have to look after a tiny human being that has just entered your life!
Unsurprisingly, what you eat play a huge role in how well you recover. How body needs the nutrients we eat from food to function properly, and the immune system depends on these four key nutrients to do its job of healing properly:
Vitamin C - an integral component of the collagen than makes up joints, ligaments and skin
Vitamin E - vital for wound healing, promoting hormonal balance and for closing scars
Iron - replenishing stores after birth is vital due to the amount of blood that can be lost. The body’s ability to use iron is influenced by a good balance of healthy bacteria in the body.
Zinc - supports the immune system and hormone production. Low zinc levels can be a factor in mood health.
Supporting the immune system is hugely undervalued in the postnatal phase. Very few new mums receive information on how best to look after themselves while healing - all the focus on postnatal focus tends to be on the new baby! Ensuring you get sufficient rest, drink enough water, eat the right food, get enough support and give yourself permission to just be with your new family will go a very long way to make sure you are supporting your immune system so that you can fully heal and recover.