Many Indian families have a postpartum diet for mothers to help them recover from delivery and lactate better, if breastfeeding. This diet is followed for 1-3 months so that mother or newborn baby (if breastfeeding) doesn’t struggle with constipation, bloating or cold. I have made list of things I followed while staying away from India with both of my pregnancies , one being natural and other being cesarean.
Drink a lot of water, preferable warm or room temperature. Also, though I hated it, I used to be given 1-2 bottle of water boiled with carom seeds(ajwain) to avoid being gassy ( and helps baby as well) especially with C-sec or dry ginger to avoid catching a cold.
Eat lot of Garlic! This smelly wonderness helps with lactation. It may be one of the weirdest thing you might drink , but I drank 1-2 cups warm milk with some palm sugar and half teaspoon of garlic powder to boosts milk supply . You can start seeing results in 3-4 days.
In the mornings, have half teaspoon of overnight soaked fenugreek seeds (methi) which also helps a ton with lactation.
Avoid processed foods, sugar etc if you can for few weeks.
If possible, limit coffee and tea intake. I didn’t have any in my first kid till I breastfed but second one is whole different story :).
You can have Mothers milk tea bags that help with lactation.
In Northern India, we make Gondh Laddus, which has Gondh or Edible Gum which helps in healing the back post delivery.
In Southern India, there is natural postpartum powder called “Prasava Lehiyum“ which is given to help shrink the uterus and help with healing. It has amazing ingredients so try to include it.
Include more fiber, greens, urid dal, nuts, lotus flower or makhana in diet and if breastfeeding, avoid gassy/root vegetables for few weeks if you want peaceful nights :). Anything mother eats had impact of the milk so include light vegetables and multiple times a day which keeps the calorie up for lactation. If C-sec, this diet helps with healing and avoiding constipation.
Below are examples of vegetable , fruits for first few weeks after delivery (will
share recipes separately) :-
Vegetables
Bottle gourd
Snake gourd
Ridge gourd
Tindora/Parval
Drumstick
Chow Chow
Coriander
Collard greens
Kale
Mustard leaves
Methi Leaves
Moringa Leaves
Pudina Leaves
Basil
Banana stem
Banana flower
Carrot (limited)
pumpkin/butternut/acorn squash (after 3 weeks)
Okra/Bhindi (after 3 weeks)
Cucumber (after 3 weeks)
Spinach, Swiss chard (after 3 weeks)
Karela (after few weeks)
Fruits
Banana (Very limited in summer)
Blueberries
Avocado
Apple
Cantaloupe
Orange
All other food items
Milk
Pasteurized cheese / Paneer (after a week)
Rice (boiled rice)
Wheat flour
Ragi or other millets (can use package noodles with millets)
Bajra/Jowar (after few weeks)
Pepper
Mallatakkali / Sundaka powder ( South Indian)
Dry Neem flower
Turmeric
Caron seeds or Ajwain
Fennel seeds or Saunf
Poppy seeds (once a week)
Sesame seeds
Nuts
Dates
Jaggery
Palm Sugar
Garlic
Ginger
Urid dal
Moong dal
Heeng
Bansi Rava
Lotus flower (Makhana)
Oats , if it suits the baby
Quinoa , if it suits the baby
I will be sharing more postpartum recipes in my blog!
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