A mother-centered approach to balancing health and well-being
In Ayurveda, the journey of becoming a mother is acknowledged as a great transition. As in any transition, vata dosha, the energy of air and ether, is elevated after childbirth. Transition involves something leaving as it transforms or gives way to something else. For example, after childbirth, the void created means there is more space in the body, and thus, vata is increased. Vata is also naturally increased during labor, as vata is the force which moves the baby down the birth canal. Ayurveda offers a number of suggestions for new mothers to calm vata and support resilience.
New moms without vata-pacifying practices are likely to experience signs and symptoms of vata imbalance in the mind and body. Of course, depending on your constitution, the season and your environs, you may also experience pitta and/or kapha imbalance. However, irrespective of your vikruti (current state of doshas in the mind and body), vata balancing is the mainstay of the Ayurvedic approach for new mothers.
There is a vast and detailed science to approaching the health of both mother and baby in Ayurveda. Classical Ayurvedic obstetrics has a sub-science dedicated to the prasuta (postpartum woman), acknowledging the unique needs and care of mothers during the several weeks following birth. Many organs shift in their function and size as the body rebuilds. For first-time mothers, there is more as her entire identity changes. The mind naturally begins making decisions that reflect the needs of another person; for many women, intuition deepens.
Ayurvedic Suggestions for New Mothers
The suggestions below are ones I feel most relevant in our modern lives, and the ones that helped me most as a new mother:
1. Vata-reducing Diet for New Mothers
During the first two weeks after birth, there are very specific guidelines for the new mother’s dietary regimen that involve balancing the energy of the vata dosha. In any aspect of your life, this involves cultivating the qualities that are opposite to vata; these include foods that are warm, oily, moist, spicy, and cooked.
When vata builds up in the digestive system, there can be gas, cramping, constipation, and challenges with nutrient absorption. Reducing vata in the colon can reduce the incidence of these symptoms and ensures moist and soft stool, which protects against hemorrhoids (and straining that can put undue pressure on the perineum), and supports post-labor healing.
Ghee and warm grain cereals are important constituents of a balancing postpartum food medicine regimen. Across ancient cultures, warm foods high in healthy natural fats such as oil, ghee, coconut, nuts, and meat broths are encouraged for postpartum consumption. These calorie-dense foods also help to build healthy breast milk for baby and replenish the mother after the marathon of labor. However, foods high in fats and carbohydrates are not the easiest to digest, especially if a person’s digestive fire is low, so digestive teas and spices are important.
2. Daily Rituals for New Mothers
A significant part of a woman’s postpartum healing process is the resetting of internal rhythms. Setting up rituals to open and close the day helps maintain a circadian rhythm despite the strange sleeping patterns of being a new mom. It only takes a few minutes to anchor an internal clock with ritual, and the more you incorporate the five senses, the more the input is received by the body. An example of a simple morning ritual may include lighting incense, giving thanks, stretching, and sipping tea. The most important aspect of using this tool is consistency; it takes about two weeks to set a new internal rhythm.
3. The 90:10 Rule
As a new mother, I thought it was important to ensure that everything that touched my baby be organic. I quickly learned that this was turning me into a somewhat insensitive control freak. People are going to gift you plastic toys, and a family member may even give baby a French fry to suck on. It happens, and it’s okay. If you are providing what you want for baby 90% of the time, that’s clearly the bulk of baby’s influence. Give yourself, and your loved ones, the freedom to allow for contrast 10% of the time.
4. Self-care Regimen for New Mothers
One of the greatest lessons of motherhood is that you cannot meet the needs of anyone if you are not meeting your own. The six weeks following birth is the mother’s time to restore the many aspects of herself (physical, emotional, and spiritual). How you care for your healing body influences not only your ability to nurture your child, but also your health for the next few decades.
5. Time Alone
Many women view labor as the grand finale of the pregnancy experience and are eager to re-engage in their lives and daily activities. But wait a minute! It is important not to emerge too soon as this is still a time for being in the “cocoon” of mother-child bonding and healing (especially the first six weeks). New mothers — and baby, too — are still energetically open and vulnerable. Be discriminating about where you’re taking energy in from. It’s also important for new mothers to have time alone without baby. This could be during a predictable nap time, but if that’s not a regular thing, make it happen with a loved one on a regular basis. You need the time and space to assimilate all the change that’s happening.
6. Find Your New Mommy Community
The traditional circle of women available to care for the postpartum woman is often missing in today’s society; therefore, most women today must plan for appropriate postpartum support. Postpartum doulas are a great blessing for many of us when the women in our lives are busy tending to their own lives. All the new mothers I know found it helpful to commune with other new moms. Most cities have Meetups, or even Mommy and Baby classes. These are a great opportunity to relate to other women going through the same process.
7. Practice Being Happy
I expected that the love and nurturing for my children would come naturally, and it did. However, giving in this perpetual manner also means there will be more times of depletion. You’ll have to make decisions in a different way, in one that prioritizes your happiness. You are the greatest energy input for your babies; if you are happy and grounded, they will be, too.
There is so much more to be said and done to advocate for the needs of the new mother. In my upcoming book, Ayurvedic Motherhood, with Dr. Seeta Narsai, we discuss the need for Mother-Centered approaches in health care. Of course, this shift will begin in complimentary, alternative, and integrative health care venues, and will be driven by the mothers.
Why A Mother-Centered Approach?
Pregnancy is treated as an illness in our current medical institutions.
We don’t even acknowledge and address the “birth of the mother” in our modern society. Because becoming a mother is more than just pregnancy and childbirth. It’s sacrificing your identity to birth yourself as a mother.
Becoming a mother can actually shift your constitution (prakruti).
The mother deserves as much love and nurturing as the new child.
The journey of motherhood is an ongoing right of passage: a sacrifice and an empowerment and everything in between
Mothers are at the center of healing in all ancient cultures.
We regard our planet as mother.
Motherhood can happen in so many shapes and forms in this universe, and all of them are sacred.
The mother is an embodiment of primal creative power.
Dr. Siva Mohan integrates Ayurveda with modern medicine in her Ayurvedic wellness practice and educational programs to define and achieve whole-being wellness. Dr. Mohan specializes in addressing the psychospiritual basis of healing. svasthahealth.com.