Photo credit: Pexels
Sometimes, postpartum conversations focus on calories, baby weight, or supplements. But Jovanka Ciares, herbalist and Mahmee wellness coach, offers a completely different language for recovery - one that’s focused on nourishment and using foods to heal after birth.
“Pregnancy,” she says, “is one of the biggest losses of essence in a person’s life. You’re giving out a lot of you - fluids, essence, energy, nutrients,” she explains. “We want to make sure people understand the importance of restoring that for your life and through the life of your child.”
Ciares sees postpartum as a way to slowly rebuild what was given away. Her tips are grounded in tradition, medicine, science, and herbalism, and a reverence for women’s bodies that has zero to do with “bouncing back” after baby.
The first rule of rebuilding, she says, is to keep feeding yourself as if you’re still growing life. “From a nutritional standpoint, assume you’re still pregnant.” That means no crash diets, no “detoxes,” no racing back to old routines. Instead, she urges mothers to keep eating warm, cooked, and hydrating meals - essentially the kind of food that comforts from the inside out.
Cold smoothies and raw salads can wait because in those early weeks, the body needs heat. Soups, stews, and porridges help rebuild the blood and restore energy. “Nature tells you what you need,” Ciares says. “When you need to build your blood, eat foods that are the color of blood.” She points to beets, cherries, berries, and carrots. These are foods that are dense with iron and color. “The red and purple pigments are nature’s way of saying, ‘this will fill you back up.’”
Mothers may notice that their brains feel like they have changed after childbirth. “It’s like your brain has four lanes, and now two of those lanes are gone, because one goes to the baby, and the other is too exhausted to function.” To support clarity and mood, she encourages foods rich in omega-3s and steady energy: nuts, seeds, grains, and teas.
Her approach to herbs is pragmatic. “Teas and herbs are grounding,” she says. “They help the body adapt to stress without being aggressive.” Lemon balm for calm, shatavari or ashwagandha for rebuilding strength (once birth is complete), and mineral-rich broths as a daily ritual, and a small act of repair.
These days, perfectionism often shadows new motherhood. “Moms are overwhelmed,” she says. “But, you have to give yourself grace.” That grace might look like accepting a friend’s meal instead of cooking, using a delivery service, or simply microwaving broth between feedings.
Postpartum, in her view, is about learning how to nourish this new person that you’ve become. “Pregnancy isn’t just something that happens,” she says. “It’s a huge giving of yourself. Postpartum is where you learn how to call that self back.”
That calling begins with food - particularly warm, colorful, deliberate food - eaten slowly, gratefully, as a way of saying: I’m rebuilding. I’m still here.
If you have questions about nutrition in pregnancy or getting support during in the postpartum journey, the team at Mahmee is here to help.
