Mother Food

“Liquid Food” for milk supply

Sometimes drinking can be easier (quicker, less fuss) than eating after childbirth.

Beverages that are “tweaked” with spices and ingredients that support milk supply have been loved by mothers around the world: lactation teas, grain-drinks, smoothies, nut-milks, coconut milk and a wide variety of soup.

It seems as though getting your nutrition mixed into liquid has some special “magic” to it — kind of like mother’s milk, too!

Read Mother Food for recipes and ideas. And don’t forget to pick up your Free Lactogenic Diet Handouts in English and Spanish!

Aboard the Motherhood Train

As we become adults, we hopefully feel that we have arrived at a place where we are in control of our lives, that we stand on firm ground, a place of solidity from where we can confidently move forward.

But if we then have children, it might become evident that we are no longer standing on firm ground. Rather, we have boarded a train, a train that rumbles and bumps along swiftly of its own volition.

The motherhood train comes to us from the foggiest beginnings of time. It is going–we know not where. And whereas before we might have thought that we were the confident driver of our life, we recognize now that we are just one small wagon in a long sequence of wagons, and that we do not know exactly who, or what, is driving.

Our grandparents’ car is close behind, and behind them again all the previous generations; before us, we can just detect the blurred outline of the uncountable wagons of future generations.

We only know for sure that it is now our job to figure out how to be on top of multiple tasks, hurdles, and challenges. We need to be the best we can be, to honor the past and protect the future, and that takes all our energy and then some.

Sometimes we wonder how past generations managed, how humanity survived, considering how challenging it all is. But as we go forward, we find out. And know in our hearts of hearts that it is worth it.

The Healing Journey

When mothers are overcome by birth trauma or breastfeeding struggles and grief, we need help and understanding — but finding the right person to listen, understand, and help us to heal is not always possible.

My book Healing Breastfeeding Grief was written with this in mind: to take mothers by the hand and guide them through difficult emotions, in combination with simple mindfulness, breathwork, and somatic healing exercises, until we feel able to move forward with renewed strength, confidence, calm, and joy. 

Healing Breastfeeding Grief serves as a guide for mothers, therapists, doulas, midwives–and anyone working with mothers after childbirth.