3 Meals I'll Live on After Birth

The days after birth are tender, beautiful, and let’s be real, exhausting. Your body is working hard to heal, your energy is stretched thin, and your digestion is a little more delicate than usual. This is where food truly becomes medicine.

In many traditions, including those shared in The First 40 Days, new mothers are encouraged to focus on warm, easily digestible, and deeply nourishing meals. These foods don’t just fill your belly—they support healing, circulation, energy, and even milk supply.

Here are three of my go-to postpartum staples:

1. Bone Broth & Healing Soups

Rich in minerals and collagen, bone broth is like a warm hug for your body. It’s easy to sip throughout the day, keeps you hydrated, and helps replenish strength. Add in gently spiced veggies, chicken, or lentils and you’ve got a complete meal in a bowl.

2. Oats & Chia Congee with Steamed Apples

Congee is a traditional postpartum dish across so many cultures, slow-cooked grains turned into a creamy, soothing porridge. This is my favorite version:

Recipe

  • 1 cup rolled oats, mix in steel-cut oats if you have available
  • 3–4 cups water (or broth for more depth)
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 apple, peeled and sliced
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp maple syrup (optional, for sweetness)

How to make it:

  1. In a pot, simmer the oats with water over low heat until soft and porridge-like (add more water if needed for creaminess).
  2. Stir in the chia seeds and let them thicken the congee for a few minutes.
  3. In a separate small pan or steamer, gently steam the apple slices until tender.
  4. Top the congee with warm apples, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and drizzle of maple syrup.
  5. It’s cozy, grounding, and just sweet enough, perfect for those delicate postpartum days.

3. Stewed Fruits with Warming Spices

Simple but so healing: gently cooking pears, apples, or dates with ginger and cinnamon makes them easier to digest and naturally sweet. Perfect as a snack, breakfast side, or even dessert.

These foods may be simple, but that’s the beauty of postpartum nourishment, gentle, warm, and comforting meals that give your body exactly what it needs to recover and thrive.

✨ Save these ideas for your own postpartum plan or better yet, cook them for a friend who just welcomed a baby. Because truly, food is one of the most meaningful ways we can care for new moms.

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