My passion as a naturopathic physician has been reignited since becoming a mother because I want to integrate my experience in naturopathic medicine with my experience of being a mom to help women. A colleague recently introduced me to the book The Postnatal Depletion Cure by Dr. Oscar Serrallach, and I think this postpartum period needs much more attention that we give it. When a woman is asked to think about her postpartum health, I think the majority of women think about two things: postpartum depression and delivery recovery. Both of those topics are extremely important but they only skim the surface of a topic that is much deeper in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realms.
I have enjoyed reading the book by Dr. Serrallach because he connects a myriad of symptoms that many women report after giving birth and attributes them to the normal process of creating life, which is essentially a depletion of a woman’s resources. He defines postnatal depletion as “a constellation of symptoms affecting all sphere of a mother’s life after she gives birth. These symptoms arise from physiological issues, hormonal changes, and interruption of the circadian day/night rhythm of her sleep cycle, layered with psychological, mental, and emotional components (page 4).” That is an in-depth, complicated definition that so accurately reflects the complexity of the postpartum period. Why then are women left to fend for themselves during this time? Why aren’t there more resources for moms during this postpartum season where they can begin to address all these new and sudden changes to their health? As a new mom we’re trying to figure out how to keep a little human alive, we don’t have the time, energy or resources to figure out how to address our health too. This is why it’s so important to have postpartum resources, which removes the guesswork and allows someone else to take care of you during this critical time.
So what exactly are the symptoms of postnatal depletion syndrome? Here are some of the most common ones:
- Baby brain
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Loss of self confidence and self esteem
- Any new medical condition that started during or
after pregnancy - Digestive issues that worsened or began since
giving birth - Severe fatigue
- Low sex drive and libido
I also want to point out that mothers can suffer with the above symptoms for many, many years after giving birth. I truly believe this is because women are not encouraged to make their own health the number 1 priority. Women in our society aren’t given the time, resources or support to address the health changes that occur due to pregnancy.
According to Dr. Serrallach, postnatal depletion occurs when there is a drain of a woman’s resources from multiple levels. He believes the primary causes of depletion are the following:
- Enormous amounts of nutrients are taken from the
mother during the process of creating a baby. The placenta is an organ that is
created in a woman’s uterus when she is pregnant. The sole purpose of this
organ is to nourish the growing fetus with mom’s nutrients through the
umbilical cord. The intelligent design of a woman’s body prioritizes the baby’s
nourishment over mom’s well being. This means that if a woman isn’t consuming
all nutrients necessary for baby’s development, those resources will be pulled
from mom’s reserves. Let’s not forget
that this depletion of nutrients can continue after birth if a mother decides
to breastfeed. - Severe and chronic sleep deprivation that occurs
because infants naturally wake many times a night to feed. The interrupted
sleep and lack of restorative deep sleep impacts all aspects of life - The drastic and sudden change in a new mother’s
life can lead to a completely new social lifestyle which can be isolating,
overwhelming and stressful. The sudden shift to funneling most of your energy,
time and resources to the baby is extremely draining on one’s psychological
health. Talk about an identity crisis! - Substantial hormonal changes occur during
pregnancy and the postpartum period. These shifts in hormones have significant
impacts on our physiology. Ever wonder why you all of the sudden developed an
autoimmune thyroid condition after pregnancy? Or dealt with gallbladder issues
while pregnant? Or started reacting negatively to foods that never bothered you
before? Hormones are the culprits because they work hand in hand with our
immune system. - Stress…being a new mom is stressful no matter
how you cut it. Chronic stress will negatively impact one’s health and worsen nutrient
depletion. - Lack of societal support is a massive drain on a
woman’s self-confidence and exacerbates overall stress. - Preexisting factors that were present even
before getting pregnant can contribute to postnatal depletion syndrome. Dr.
Serrallach talks about the huge role inflammation plays and as a naturopathic
physician, I can attest to this. Inflammation is the underlying culprit of so
many chronic diseases and syndromes. - Environmental toxin load has a massive impact on
our body’s health. This is an enormously dense topic that I will unpack in a
later blog post
Some refer to the postpartum period as the fourth trimester and I wish this concept were more mainstream. Women diligently go to all their OB appointments in the first 3 trimesters and then once the baby is born we are sent on our way with no real support for our own health. We need to do better because we are leaving women vulnerable to developing debilitating physical, mental and emotional symptoms.
Dr. Shannon Estrada
