Postnatal Depletion

Being pregnant and giving birth can take a lot out of a new mother. There are lots of things your body is doing before giving birth. Then giving birth can take a lot of crucial nutrients from the mother as well as a lot of energy. Sometimes energy that you don’t have because you haven’t been sleeping very well with the big belly. Postnatal depletion refers to a combination of physical, emotional, and hormonal exhaustion after giving birth. It is also called postpartum depletion. This usually starts within the first few months after giving birth. While a new mother is recovering from giving birth and keeping up with her motherly duties.

Causes

Postnatal depletion occurs for a few reasons. Your body is depleted of crucial nutrients that it needs to function at its best. When you are pregnant you are consuming nutrients for you and your baby. In some cases you don’t consume enough nutrients so your baby gets all of them while leaving your nutrients low. Giving birth takes nutrients and energy. Having a poor diet. Breastfeeding calls for you to have enough nutrients for yourself and your baby. Having more than one baby close in age can also exacerbate postnatal depletion, if you haven’t had time to replenish your nutrients.

About half the women who give birth develop postnatal depletion at some point in their postpartum journey. For some women it will only last a few months, while others may be dealing with it for ten years after giving birth. This can happen especially if symptoms are left unaddressed.

Symptoms

Symptoms can start within the first few weeks of your baby’s birth. Some of them can be tied or waved off as new mother symptoms which is why sometimes they are pushed aside and not taken care of right away. Symptoms like fatigue, low energy, brain fog, mood swing, irritability, and emotional exhaustion. Other symptoms like hair loss, anxiety, OCD, overwhelm, hypervigilance, depression, rage, low libido, and insomnia can all be signs that your body is depleted and you are missing some crucial nutrients.

Nutritional Needs

There are nutrients that are crucial in making sure that you replenish after giving birth. The common ones that a woman who has given birth may be low on are vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin K. Nutrients that also may be low are folate, thiamine, choline, magnesium, iron, niacin, and zinc. These nutrients are crucial for physical and mental health. Having the right balance of these can help support energy levels, stabilize mood, and boost immune system function.

Diagnosis & Treatment

There is no exact diagnosis for postnatal depletion. It is usually misunderstood, overlooked, or waved off as normal new mother symptoms. Because of this there is no exact treatment plan in place.

The first thing to focus on after giving birth is to replenish your nutrients. In almost everyone who has given birth they have some nutrient that is deficient. Taking a postpartum supplement and helping replenish these nutrients. Finding other good quality supplements can also help replenish. Eating a well rounded healthy diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, protein, and healthy fats is also beneficial. It can be hard sometimes to get the needed daily nutrient amount from just your diet, so supplements can come in handy when trying to boost up your levels.

Balancing your hormones should come next. Imbalance hormones can make your symptoms from postnatal depletion worse. You can balance your hormones with stress reduction techniques, adequate sleep, and nutrient support.

Prioritize your sleep. This might sound impossible when you have a newborn at home who thinks nights are the time to be awake. Some things you can try are to sleep when the baby sleeps. This can be difficult if you have other children at home. But resting on the couch with your eyes closed for just thirty minutes can help boost your energy and your mood. Split night shifts with your partner. See if you can go to bed first and they take the first half the night with the baby and then switch to where you handle the baby the second half of the night. In inclusively breastfed babies this can be hard when mom is needed for every feeding. When the child gets to be around four months of age you can start sleep training in a technique that fits your parenting. When prioritizing sleep make sure you allow yourself to accept help from others. Allow a babysitter, or family member to watch over your baby for you to take a nap.

Getting outside can help boost your energy and your mood. You don’t have to jump right back into full exercises, but taking an easy walk around the neighborhood with your baby can help you feel more energized and happy.

Eventually with the proper care you will be normal again. It will take time and you will have to give yourself some grace that eventually you will feel normal but you will get there. For some mothers it takes only a few months, while others may struggle with symptoms for longer. Making sure you are replenishing your nutrients, prioritizing sleep, and giving yourself the permission to take a few minutes a day to yourself will help you not feel so exhausted or depleted.