Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth: The New Mom's Guide to Navigating the Fourth Trimester Paperback – January 11, 2016

Excellent detail in the book about childbirth and after. I wish I had this before I was born. I enjoy the natural help she gives.Celiac may make it hard to get pregnant and may lower nutrients absorbed in intestines and may cause depression/morning sickness. Tests may not work to diagnose Celiac. I need no gluten/dairy/soy/sugar/GMO/hidden gluten. I take vitamins/good oils/minerals...probiotic...LDN..detoxing. LDN can be taken during pregnancy..it helps heal the gut lining as it blocks hidden gluten.I was undiagnosed Celiac when I got pregnant and the pregnancy drained vitamins/good oils out of me and after 2 babies in a row my health collapsed...thyroid went down due to gluten and then MS started which is due to low oxygen in my brain. I only got Synthroid which did not convert from T4 to T3 without zinc/Se/enough iron/probiotic which I was low in. My first son was "high strung" and my 2nd son was ADD due being low in nutrients. Both myself and my sons didn't have enough nutrients. When my thyroid/adrenals burned out it was hard to make breast milk. Progesterone may help morning sickness/post depression along with fish oil/Mg/Zinc/no gluten/GMO etc. I didn't have much money and didn't know about the Celiac and didn't know much about supplements back then. I was also full of heavy metals. Detoxing should not be done while pregnant, but before. Breast feeding is awesome. Baby formula may be 1/2 sugar and GMO corn/soy. Colic in the baby maybe due to Celiac also. When I ate pizza (high in gluten) and breast fed my son he was very cranky.Th2 increasing may have helped make the antibodies to my thyroid worse. My thyroid was trying to stop since 8th grade due to gluten. My energy would turn off fast. Jolene gives excellent advise and details other books don't cover. Sitz baths with herbs may be awesome help. I ripped my labor stitches out sitting in a chair in the hospital that went back too far/too fast. I was very constipated but didn't tell my doctor being embarrassed, but that was a sign of low thyroid. Chia/Ca/Mg may help constipation or raw walnuts (open shells to avoid gluten) and eat citrus afterwards. I also got a clot during my 2nd pregnancy....due to low thyroid. I didn't know Serrapeptase could eat up the clot and that I needed to ask for thyroid medicine. I was too tired to hold my baby/breast milk was becoming less and no energy to do more than sit. Four months after my 2nd son was born my thyroid stopped...went into the doctor and said I think my thyroid stopped. They didn't like it that I knew the problem. Herbs for breast feeding may be great help also. Saving sex until a woman is healed is good. The husband can wait and he may view the body differently after having watched the delivery. He may realize sex may make a baby and it maybe hard on the body. Flax may hurt 80% of people who may not convert it into what is in fish oil. 2000mg of fish oil/coenyzmated B vitamins/Vit B12 methylcobalamin with intrinsic factor/MTHF/Vit C/no gluten/Amour thyroid and more may help raise oxygen and help depression. Sunlight/Vit D3 5000IU helped me stopped crying for no reason. Vit B12 methylcobalamin may help stress/hard crying. Zinc/Se/enough iron/probiotic may help T4 convert to T3 for thyroid. I was very tired...low in energy. I wish I knew more. This book is great help. I can't take turmeric...raises Th2..swells me. Rhodiola and coenyzme Q10 are great help. I take HCl and enzymes with meals and a strong probiotic far from stomach acid. Vit A 10,000IU with Zinc helped me soak air into my lungs and help the immune system/healing. I like Nature's plus- Source of life multiple. I think the prenatal vitamins given to women are too low in nutrients since gluten may hurt most people.Jolene writes in a great way and explains much. I hope she will make more paperback books to help others. I am at menopause and have Lyme. I take bioidentical hormones...estriol/progesterone/testosterone which help bones/energy/circulation/sleep/help the thyroid work/help the immune system/lower swelling and much more.I saw one woman take Vitex so she would get pregnant, but I said the baby may not be healthy if you get pregnant and it will drain vitamins/good oils out of you. She didn't care. Celiac help may help hormones/brain/body/nutrients absorbed/help a woman get pregnant in a healthy way so both are healthy always. Tests may not work to diagnose Celiac, but gluten may hurt most people. Eating pure organic foods may help. Nuts not sold in the shell/meat basting/some spices/certified gluten free/food with a label may have hidden gluten/GMO eat which may hurt the gut lining so less nutrients absorbed...then cells are not made right to work right.Keeping writing more books! Happiness....

Loved reading this. I’m not within a childbearing period, but this has a lot of great advice that could be applied beyond pregnancy and postpartum.

This book supports self-care and nutrient dense recovery for pp mommas. It has information interspersed with helpful recipes. The only con for me is that it was riddled with typos, so it seemed haphazardly put together for something that should be more professional.

This little book is A MUST for women approaching childbirth. Whether you plan to birth at home, at a birthing center, or a hospital - and whether you plan a natural or cesarean birth - this book is an excellent guide for the postpartum mother. It is absolutely FULL of recipes, remedies, and trouble-shooting that any mom can follow. Written in a concise, friendly, and highly-readable tone, Dr. Brighten gives the facts "straight-up" on everything from breastfeeding to vaginal tearing. She even touches on the rising practice of placenta encapsulation (a therapy that is nothing short of amazing for relieving postpartum depression and rebuilding mama's blood and vitality post-birth). As one of the leading experts in the nation on thyroid hormones, Hashimoto's, and pregnancy, Dr. Brighten goes the extra mile to include information on how to approach treatment of thyroid issues postpartum - information that simply cannot be found elsewhere. I will be recommending this quick and wonderful read to ALL my patients who come to me to treat their infertility. In fact, I wish I had this gem when I gave birth to my own daughter! Fantastic work, Dr. Brighten!

Dr. Jolene's book is easy to read, informative and so, SO helpful to new moms. I am a certified postpartum doula and I recommend this book to my clients in hopes of getting them prepared prenatally for their postpartum period or back on a healthy path to recovery if their baby is already here. There is so much great information in this book, honestly. Some of my favorites are recipes for delicious smoothies, helpful herbal teas and soothing homemade self care foot baths, and also herbal mood lifters and body sprays to support new moms with the baby blues. It's hard to pick just one or two to make - I want to try them all! I must admit, I am drawn to the "lighter side" of postpartum full of mother's milk teas, warm slow cooker recipes and sitz baths, Dr. Jolene gives symptoms of hypothyroidism to watch out for, ways to support adrenal health and what labs to order. She also shares her own struggles and hurdles in figuring out she had Hashimoto's thyroiditis.I definitely suggest this book!

Bottom line:Buy for: good recommendations, especially if you are a first time mom and/or new to natural remedies and modern diet/eat real food trends. Don't care about the price tag.Pros: Reason this book gets 3 starsHighly simplified - which is nice for the layperson. A "cliff notes" version of several good resources good to have all in one simple bookGood recommendations I agree with from experienceA LOT of herbal recipes for healingCons:Highly Simplified, therefore NOT a definitive guide. I would pay $15 not $25Again a "Cliff notes" of several good resources: LLLI, Kellymom, any healing diet blog (Paleo, broth, etc)Section (these are not chapters people) on Pelvic Floor Health - Kegels. Says they are only part of the equation, provides two short pages on "how-to" and never gives the other "part of the equation"I might be returning mine due to the cost and simplicity. Also, I don't think sex toys should be suggested in a book to reach the whole public due to differing belief systems. It is, however, a brief recommendation in a short list.