Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth: The New Mom's Guide to Navigating the Fourth Trimester

by Jolene Brighten

You’ve been preparing for this moment over the last 9 months. You’ve meticulously poured over decisions to make your baby’s transition into this world just right. But how much thought and planning have gone into your transition into motherhood? In this comprehensive and warmhearted guide, Dr. Jolene Brighten, a Naturopathic Doctor and mother, shares her tips, natural techniques, and over 30 herbal and nutritional recipes to support healing and the transition into motherhood. Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth provides answers and solutions to common postpartum conditions, - Breastfeeding support and natural solutions to enhance milk supply - Herbal preparations to heal vaginal tissues, cracked nipples and more - Natural approaches to elevating mood and easing anxiety - Autoimmune thyroid, urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, digestive support and many other conditions that can arise from childbirth

Genres: Parenting, Health, Nonfiction, Family

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2015

About the author

Jolene Brighten, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Physician with a specialized clinical focus in autoimmune disease and hormonal health.

Dr. Jolene Brighten earned her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. She received her BS in Nutrition Science and completed graduate coursework in molecular nutrition at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Reviews

[Paige Cuthbertson| Turning_Every_Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minus one star because there’s a shocking lack of cited sources. That always bugs me. Especially in a more natural health-type work— we need to be citing our sources! This is the reason everyone thinks natural remedies and whole nutrition is just quack medicine.

However, there is a lot of helpful info in here. Definitely recommend for postpartum mamas.

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering how few resources exist for mothers postpartum, this book should probably earn 4 stars for that alone. It's short enough to read straight through in a couple of nursing sections and packaged as a small enough paperback that you can read it while nursing without worrying that you will drop it on the baby's head. There is also a nice section on how to recognize common thyroid symptoms postpartum, including the tests to request, in the case of extra fatigue and postpartum depression. The one thing that could make this book better would be a much more beefed up section on recovering from a c-section. Considering how many women have c-sections each year, the paucity of information regarding recovery is really deplorable. This book includes a short list of vitamins and food that will be good to include post c-section, but it really doesn't deal with any of the problems that come up in a c-section recovery.

[Genevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very helpful! There are lots of practical suggestions for healing all the different areas affected by childbirth, with recipes and herbal formulations for specific needs. I think the biggest plus to me is that the whole book is written with such understanding for what postpartum women are really going through, and it helps to be reminded to be gentle with ourselves throughout this process. I will definitely be referring back to this as needed.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice to have something in hand, instead of scouring the internet for sometimes dubious or contradictory advice. I'm currently taking the recommended mood supplements, and did the herbal soaking bath for healing... so far I feel great and think the advice was really helpful!

[zeknir · Rating 4 out of 5]

very quick read. hopefully this will be useful. it’s a very practical guide packed with remedies for all sorts of situations after childbirth. if you’re into homeopathy, you might have a greater use for some of the remedies. i haven’t gotten into that method of healing, so those are not applicable for me. there are a great many traditional herbal remedies, though, and i marked many pages to refer back to. lots of great tips throughout. i just can’t say yet if any of them actually work, but i’m 38 weeks pregnant so i’ll get back to you on that!

i will say, there was a lack of reasoning behind some of the remedies. it’s a very “if this, then that” sort of mentality. i’d love to know more about the why behind choosing certain remedies, or when to pick one over the other (or avoid one!) instead of randomly choosing something out of the list. if i didn’t have any herbal background, i would feel very overwhelmed by the choices, and not know where to start.

all in all, it fell a little short of what i was hoping for. but only a little. if the content is spot-on useful, then it would be a very useful, practical guide without any frills. if the remedies fall short… well, then we will have a problem.

[Helen Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took note of the food for recovery period and recipes and supplements. The book is a godsend, I think. The author underwent Caesarian surgery as well and is a homeopathic expert. I love it, although I still have some mixed reviews or hesitations regarding the use of turmeric for tea while breastfeeding a newborn. There are a lot of interesting and encouraging concepts in this book that will really help me in my recovery after surgery. I am glad I was able to read it and it was available on my Kindle Unlimited trial.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick and easy read full of tons of useful information. I know I’m going to reference it again and again for myself and other moms I know.

I highly recommend grabbing it for yourself or as a baby shower gift for someone else.

My only complaint is that I wish there were even more ideas and recipes to use.

[Emily Blasik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and helpful resource to refer back to during the fourth trimester and beyond. Covers breastfeeding, postpartum healing, sex and libido, digestion, mood disorders, thyroid and adrenal health, self-care, and nutrition.

[Coco Whit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of helpful information packed into this book. I anticipate I’ll be reading and re-reading for years to come. Easy-to-incorporate practices that support holistic healing postpartum from the mind and mood to tissue repair and everything in between.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do not recomend. Numerous editing errors, looks poorly self published. Information is not backed by evidence and seems to be mostly opinion based. Would recomend "The First 40 Days" by Heng Ou or "Nuture" by Erica ChidibCohen over this book.

[Brittany O'bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the natural mindset and practicality this book offers. I would definitely recommend it to my pregnant friends to have as a handbook for postpartum

[Katieloowho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great flip through guide to a better recovery!

[Kristiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful compilation of different natural remedies for all things postpartum.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited.

Quick read; full of smoothie recipes and skin soothing recipes. Some typos and repeated sentences - could use an edit.

[Lindsay Pieper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good info! Quick read for reference. Jolene Brighten is very wise!

[Kristell Tovar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es muy práctico, al punto y ayuda mucho con la información que trae.

[Holly Scudero · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth" will help new mamas and those who love them learn about the steps they can take to take care of themselves after giving birth!

Jolene Brighten is a naturopathic doctor who truly knows what she’s talking about. In particular, she has an extensive knowledge of how pregnancy can affect a woman’s thyroid and adrenals, which is a subject that many care providers sadly know little about. She uses her knowledge about the topic to educate readers, providing information about both hyper- and hypothyroidism, as well as adrenal dysfunction. She talks about treatment options and provides effective–and safe–natural remedies to help women take control of their own health.

Dr. Brighten provides similar information on a whole host of postpartum topics. Breastfeeding mamas will appreciate ideas for natural ways for soothing hurting breasts, remedies for thrush, and recipes for making your own lactation tea. Mamas who gave birth vaginally will surely find comfort in an herbal sitz bath and appreciate knowing what supplements they can take to help ease postpartum discomfort. C-section mamas will be thankful for her recipe for an herbal wash to help keep infection away.

There are ideas for dealing with common postpartum complaints: constipation, “baby blues” (and information about how to distinguish between simple blues and actual depression), low energy, vaginal dryness, stress, and more. There are recipes for all kinds of teas, soups, and smoothies, and even body scrubs for self-care and delicious cookies. There supplements that will help with all manner of healing. There is information on postpartum nutrition, including how to support yourself through breastfeeding.

The information in "Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth" will make a tremendous difference in the postpartum experience of any new mama, and as such is highly recommended for both expecting mamas as well as those who have recently given birth. Midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and anyone else who works with pregnant women will find great value in this book as well.