The Postpartum Nutrition Cookbook
A woman’s body undergoes incredible changes during pregnancy and delivery, so it’s only natural that it needs time and healthy nutrients to fully recover. While there is a lot of information available about pregnancy and delivery, there is very little about the postpartum recovery period. What is available often isn’t helpful, evidence-based, or easily accessible. It also tends to focus more on the baby’s needs than the mother’s.
As new mothers themselves, friends and Registered Dietitians Diana Licalzi and Ashley Reaver discovered just how limited the information was while they were going through their own postpartum periods and constantly looking for information about postpartum recovery and nutritional needs.
Through their ongoing searches and chats, they knew they needed to do something about the lack of information and decided to create a comprehensive resource so other new moms could easily access all the information they needed about the postpartum period and their body’s nutritional needs.
Their upcoming book, The Postpartum Nutrition Cookbook, is a comprehensive resource that provides parents with factual, detailed, and evidence-based information about the stages of pregnancy and post-pregnancy recovery.
The first two chapters cover everything moms need to know about the changes their bodies go through during the pregnancy, labour and delivery, lactation, and postpartum periods as well as their body’s nutritional needs during each period.
Their book provides detailed content about the postpartum period that is rarely found in other resources. The Postpartum Nutrition Cookbook covers the acute postpartum stage, which occurs within the first six weeks post-delivery, and the four distinct phases of healing during this stage. It also clearly discusses the short-term postpartum recovery, or the fourth trimester, which is 12 weeks post-delivery, and the long-term postpartum recovery period, which can take 18 to 24 months.
In part two of the book, Licalzi and Reaver discuss pantry and kitchen essentials that new moms need to help make meal preparation much easier. They also provide valuable tips on meal planning and stocking the freezer.
Part three has over 100 delicious, nutritious, and easy-to-make recipes. All the recipes come from Licalzi and Reaver and their families. Throughout the pages, parents will find simple, nutrient-dense, and delicious recipes for all three meals of the day as well as recipes for tasty snacks and desserts.
The authors include helpful tips and modification options with each recipe along with the nutritional information of each meal. The recipes are great for the whole family and were chosen by Licalzi and Reaver with long-term health goals in mind. The recipes were chosen so parents can continue to use the cookbook as their families grow and evolve.
As new moms who know how tiring the postpartum period is and how limited a parent’s time is, Licalzi and Reaver designed their book so that the content flows easily throughout the different sections so parents can easily navigate through the sections to find the information they’re looking for quickly.
All of the content is broken down into identifiable sections and is laid out in a consistent and easy-to-follow format. Parents can read the whole book or go right to a particular section or topic to find the information they are looking for.
The Postpartum Nutrition Cookbook will be available in September. The two are also developing an online course for new moms to complement the information in their book, which will come out at the same time the book is launched. For more information about healthy eating and postpartum recovery, parents can visit Licalzi and Reaver’s website, Postpartumdieticians.com
