There is no greater hormonal shift documented in humankind than the hormonal shift after a woman gives birth. That’s right! Mothers endure not only labour and birth, but a phenomenal and unparalleled drop in hormones. The most empowering part: we have much control over how our body responds to and adapts to this incredible change and it begins during or before pregnancy. Balanced hormones, a healthy gut and habits that support mental and physical wellbeing can be achieved by implementing the guidance below!
Many of the undesirable effects of pregnancy are due to unaddressed hormonal imbalances and lack of postpartum planning. Many women who do not prioritize their own health before and during pregnancy and do not make a plan for postpartum support struggle with overwhelm, fatigue, mood swings, and physical challenges that feel unmanageable, such as stubborn weight gain and inability to lose weight. Recognizing these symptoms is the first step in reclaiming harmony, as is knowing when to seek professional help for proper assessments and treatments.
In this article, we will explore the best ways to adapt our habits now for hormonal balance later. This will support you on this life changing journey of becoming a mother and birthing a whole new version of yourself. From nutritional improvements to the top supplements and self-care strategies, rest assured, you will come back to “you” feeling stronger and more empowered than ever before.
Hormonal Changes Postpartum
The postpartum period is an unprecedented time of significant hormonal fluctuations, and major changes to all facets of life, and this has a major impact on parents, particularly new parents and new mothers. This naturally leads to symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, stubborn weight and irregular menstrual cycles. These hormonal shifts often lead to postpartum depression, which impacts about one in six new mothers.
For many, estrogen and progesterone will naturally shift back to pre-pregnancy levels around six months postpartum. However, there are many factors and hormones which impact a new mothers wellbeing postpartum. Cortisol, adrenaline, oxytocin and a cascade of other hormones must be balanced and tended to. Whether and how long one chooses to breastfeed, quality of sleep, stress management techniques and the amount of support and other duties all impact how a woman recovers and when her hormones stabilize.
| Timeline | Status of Hormonal Balance |
| Immediate Postpartum | Rapid hormonal drops (especially estrogen and progesterone) |
| Up to 6 Months | Hormone |
| 6 Months (bu t up to 1 year) | Gradual return to pre-pregnancy levels |
Understanding these variations helps manage expectations and highlights the importance of self-care in navigating hormonal changes postpartum.
Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance
The months postpartum include a challenging combination of increased stress and decreased quality sleep. These two factors alone may greatly impact the overall wellbeing of the new mother. Additional burden from a poor diet or preexisting imbalances, as well as lack of support or a judgemental environment, often result in a whirlwind of emotions and bodily changes. Some noticeable symptoms of hormonal imbalance include: insomnia, weeping, intense sugar cravings, excessive thirst, sadness, mood swings, and trouble focusing.
Common symptoms include night sweats, bleeding, excessive sweating, stubborn excess weight, increased blood pressure, fluctuating body temperatures, and hair loss.
Postpartum symptoms such as night sweats may last more than 6 weeks. Others may last 6 months. A full recovery and return to homeostasis, to feeling like “yourself” may take 6 months. With proper support and self care all symptoms may be managed and minimized.
If symptoms persist past the 3-6 month period, or you simply feel something is “off” it is worth getting support from a holistic health practitioner and having a blood panel completed by a functional medicine doctor. Keep reading for the specific labs you need.
Full Blood Panels – Diagnostics
A full blood panel and diagnostic testing can be your compass back to balance and wellbeing. Starting at 3 months postpartum and as prescribed, or every 3 months until your symptoms have resolved, you may get a clear view as well as detailed feedback that will help you pinpoint what to focus on in your recovery.
Comprehensive Hormone Panels
Our hormones plummet post-birth, with cortisol and oxytocin undergoing ongoing fluctuations, depending our environment, support and routine. Comprehensive hormone panels help us to begin to establish baselines and track areas of concern, making any recovery plan more effective. Low estrogen levels, low progesterone, as well as low Testosterone levels or even DHEA are all flags that can show us where to begin or focus our efforts.
Tailored testing allows a chosen care team to craft a personalized treatment plan – whether that includes an acupuncturist or a functional medicine doctor or multiple modalities and care members!
Cortisol Testing
Caring for a new baby places an invisible and constant new layer of stress on the system of the new mother. However, there are many cortisol management strategies that are accessible and effective. It is important to understand how your cortisol levels fluctuate and the symptoms they may be causing. This is a hormone to monitor across several/ongoing panels. Chronic stress not only impacts mood, sleep and metabolism, as well as gut health, it can ultimately lead to dysfunction of the HPA axis. A thorough panel and equally important, an empathetic and specialized, holistic doctor, can help guide you from panel results to restored health. Tests are knowledge and knowledge is power. Hormone panels are absolutely critical to postpartum recovery and they go hand in hand with identifying nutrient deficiencies and the results of your other panels.
Thyroid Panels
Thyroid health often plays an unsung yet essential role in the postpartum period. A full thyroid panel can unearth imbalances in hormone levels such as TSH, T4, T3, and other vital markers that could be contributing to fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and cold intolerance.
Women who have a history of thyroid disease, like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Graves’ disease, need to be especially vigilant. Changes in the immune system post-pregnancy can heighten the risk of thyroid imbalances, making testing around 6 to 12 weeks postpartum crucial. Remember, postpartum thyroiditis can mimic symptoms of both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Thorough testing not only aids in symptom management but also bolsters your journey back to, or even beyond, pre-pregnancy levels of health.
Nutrition for Hormonal Balance
Bringing your hormones back into balance postpartum can be daunting. However, proper nutrition is the key to your recovery! From fatigue to mood swings to stubborn excess weight, eating for nutrient density and satiety is absolutely vital to healing.
Consistent Protein Intake
30 grams of protein at breakfast is the perfect starting point for your day and ultimately your recovery. Making it a daily priority – whether it is a fillet of wild salmon quickly pan cooked or a large batch of beef mince seasoned and spiced to your liking and heated each morning – will change your day, week and ultimately, your life. Protein is the key to hormonal balance. 80-90 grams per day, achieved by including a palm sized piece of animal protein at each meal is the foundation for your health’s future. Animal protein is a complete protein with all necessary amino acids, as well as critical nutrients such as choline, B vitamins, iron and vitamin A. It is essential for hormone metabolism, balanced blood sugar and weight as well as mood management. With each protein-forward meal, whether you choose chicken thighs, grass fed beef, lamb chops, eggs or a nice piece of fish, you are helping your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, and supporting appetite-related hormones such as ghrelin and leptin.
Creating a balanced plate with complex carbohydrates, greens, fiber and fats will not only support all aspects of your gut, immune and hormone systems, it will help you produce high quality nutrient dense milk and keep you satisfied as you conquer your new role!
Healing with Healthy Fats
Healthy fats are absolutely essential to women’s health. Fats are the cornerstone for hormone production; they are key contributors to hormonal balance. Incorporating ghee, butter, avocados, almonds, and olive oil into your meals to help stabilize blood sugar levels and mitigate the stress hormone cortisol, as well as ensure fat soluble vitamins from your veggies and fruits are absorbed. Fatty fish, rich in Omega-3s, not only support hormonal harmony but provide necessary DHA. The medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut oil will support your body’s response to insulin, smoothing those hormonal fluctuations that come with postpartum.
Focus on Nutrient-Dense Foods
A nutrient-dense diet will be the foundation of your postpartum recovery. Focus on foods rich in essential nutrients such as liver, grass fed and finished beef and lamb, fatty fish, and dark leafy greens. Zinc, Vitamin A, all of the B Vitamins, Vitamin D as well as iron, zinc and selenium are vital to recovery, healing, hormone health and preventing nutrient deficiencies while you adjust to your expanded role. You may benefit from adding beetroot and dates to your meals to support blood and qi, and to maintain oxytocin levels. Additionally, flax, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds feed our hormone receptors the nutrients they need to thrive and balance.
Hydration is also key to overall health and nutrient absorption. Drinking water we are not absorbing simply flushes out critical minerals. Adding in nutrient-rich fluids like bone broth and red raspberry leaf, nettle, as well as herbal teas, assists with healing and promotes hormonal balance.
Avoiding inflammatory foods such as processed foods, seed oils, factory farmed animal proteins and excessive sugars and nightshades will allow your body to find alkalinity, foster healing and bring hormones into harmony.
Mindfully nourishing our bodies can be a beautiful self-care practice, serving not only our body but our mind and soul, as well as that of our new baby.
Supplements for Hormonal Health
With food as the foundation, we can look to supplements to boost our nutrient stores and fill any gaps from our diet. High quality, tailored supplements can help new mothers struggling to get adequate nutrition and meals. Additionally, they can help expedite the replenishment of key vitamins and minerals lost after birth and pregnancy.
Vitamin D, Magnesium, B12, B6, Calcium, Choline and food-based iron supplements (such as powdered liver and spleen) as well as liposomal vitamin C can be game changing for how we feel and recover. Chaste Tree Berry (Vitex) is specifically known and traditionally used to boost progesterone levels; this wonder berry may harmonize hormone levels naturally.
Adaptogens can be particularly effective for managing stress, fatigue, broken sleep and emotional imbalance. Reishi, Ashwagandha, Maca, Rhodiola and Schisandra are powerful yet gentle and can be dosed to support your cortisol levels and improve stress responses and sleep patterns.
Consulting a holistic healthcare practitioner and functional medicine doctor early in the recovery period, to assess nutrient levels and fill gaps as well as monitor improvement over a longer period, is a great way to ensure we don’t just survive, we thrive.
Hormonal Balance Begins with Holistic Health
Holistic Health requires us to assess all components of how we live. How we eat, sleep, move and manage stress. In addition to a dedicated focus on nutrition, we can adapt our stress management practices (or implement them for this first time!) as well as improve our sleep and implement regular movement. Mind, body and spirit in balance will lead us to better hormonal balance.
Sleep Quality and Routine
Quality sleep is synonymous with balanced hormones. Regulating cortisol and stabilizing our mood with consistently poor sleep is a real challenge. Improving the quality of sleep is just as important as the quantity. Setting your (and your baby’s) circadian rhythm immediately after birth, by starting the day with sun exposure and having your last meal outside when possible, sets the foundation for a circadian synchronization and better sleep. Melatonin will be more naturally produced at the right times. A relaxing night time routine for baby and mother reduces stress and anxiety and increases sleep for the entire household. A bath time routine, black out curtains, a sound machine and a full feed before bed every night, completing the same steps in the same order, at the same time each night, will result in a better night of sleep.
Stress Management Practices
Beyond adaptogens and better sleep, we can utilize baby’s nap time for reducing our stress levels. Instead of mindless scrolling, running in circles cleaning up mess, let us enlist support for household duties so we may carve out 30-60 minutes per day for relaxation. This may be yoga nidra, a nap, a slow yoga flow, a breathwork practice or a warm bath with relaxing music. Rest, relax and rejuvenate when the baby sleeps. Simply put, spikes in cortisol levels, the body’s primary stress hormone, can cause fatigue, anxiety, and even postpartum depression. These stress management techniques are an empowering way to take control of your physical and mental health.
Regular Movement and Exercise
One of the most powerful ways to restore hormonal balance postpartum is regular movement. Physical activity helps regulate blood sugar levels, prevents insulin resistance and supports metabolism-boosting muscle. It also provides energy and endorphins, two things all new mothers can benefit from!
Exercise can boost testosterone, which in turn boosts confidence and self esteem. Exercise helps your system to manage cortisol levels and aids in stress management. Just a short burst of movement (10 minutes of weights or 20 minutes of pilates) improves hormone regulation, maintains metabolism-boosting muscle mass and helps to control appetite. Regular, moderate exercise, once cleared by your doctor, will help stabilize mood and maintain hormonal balance, leading you to greater contentment within yourself and a more enjoyable postpartum.
A delicate balance and consistent commitment to nutrition, stress management, quality sleep, and regular exercise, will balance your hormones postpartum and help you to feel like yourself again; mind, body and spirit. You will feel uplifted and empowered when all components of your holistic health are tended to. While this does require dedication and effort during an already busy time, the payoff is massive and will benefit not only you, but your entire family and long term health outcomes.
Seeking Support
Seeking support can be invaluable in helping new mothers find equilibrium and recover. Family, friends as well as new mothers’ groups, holistic health practitioners who specialize in women’s issues and birth recovery and a trusted functional MD will help you get back to you faster. A postpartum doula, masseuse, osteopath, acupuncturist, naturopath and/or therapist are worth considering as you navigate this new territory.
Integrative and Functional Medicine Doctors
Integrative and functional medicine offers a holistic approach to addressing hormone imbalances by examining nutritional deficiencies, toxins, gut health and stress—all of which may impact your holistic health and may have been of concern prior to pregnancy. A comprehensive health evaluation by an integrative doctor is more likely to help you identify the root cause of any hormonal or physical issues and work to resolve them using natural methods and remedies.
You may receive hormone-supporting, food-based or herbal supplements specific to your unique health needs. This approach supports long-term holistic health versus a quick fix with major consequences down the track, such as during the menopausal period.
Postpartum Bloodwork and Check Ups
Unfortunately, there is not a consistent standard of care for women during this delicate postpartum period. It is ideal for women to have not only a check up with their obstetrician but a full blood panel including: full blood count, iron studies, electrolytes including corrected calcium and liver function tests, thyroid function tests including free T3, free T4, TSH, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies, vitamin B12, 25-OH vitamin D levels, plasma zinc, serum copper, ceruloplasmin, homocysteine and whole blood histamine. Urine tests should include morning spot iodine and 24 hour urinary magnesium.
Preventing postnatal depletion is an absolute priority for all new mothers. Working with a health coach or nutritionist may help you prevent common nutritional deficiencies which result from the mammoth effort of growing and birthing a human in just 9 months. Some important micronutrients to consider, include:
Iron
Zinc
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D
Copper
Magnesium
Trace elements including iodine, selenium, molybdenum and manganese
Other B vitamins
Vitamin C
Fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A, E and K2
Hormonal Balance Postpartum
Immediately after birth, estrogen and progesterone levels plunge. This may lead to emotional changes and even the baby blues, postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety. This dramatic reduction in hormones represents the most profound hormonal shift documented. Women should be so proud of all that we conquer to bring our babies into the world! It is not a 9 month commitment, it is years long and incredibly beautiful and admirable!
By six months postpartum estrogen and progesterone levels often normalize back to pre-pregnancy levels but it may take up to 12 months. Breastfeeding plays a major role in hormone stabilization. Oxytocin (the love hormone) from breastfeeding is highly beneficial to mothers and whenever breastfeeding is stopped there be a large hormonal and emotional adjustment in addition to the gradual calibration during the 6-12 months post birth. Either after breastfeeding is concluded or within the first 12 months, most women’s period returns.
Timeline for Hormonal Normalization:
| Time Postpartum | Hormonal Changes |
| First 48 Hours | Largest documented hormonal drop in man and womankind’s history; mood shifts can be expected |
| 3 days to 3 Months | Night sweats, sugar cravings, emotional instability |
| 3-6 Months | Estrogen and progesterone levels typically recalibrate |
| 12 months | Stabilized hormones and a return to self |
Though most women find balance within six months, some may face prolonged hormonal imbalances. Expecting 12 months for a full recovery, hormonal recalibration and return to feeling like yourself is a healthy approach, particularly with 2nd and 3rd births.
Self-Care Tips for New Mothers
Navigating the postpartum period can be overwhelming, but prioritizing self-care plays an essential role in restoring hormonal balance and overall well-being. Here are some tips to help you on this unique journey:
- Prepare Support in Advance: postpartum planning, paid or familial, is key to feeling supported and having the bandwidth for self care after birth
- Stay Properly Hydrated: drinking excess water and flushing fluids depletes essential minerals. Add celtic sea salt and lemon to your water. Start the day with a liter of mineralized water. Drinking plenty of water with minerals helps balance hormone levels and supports recovery, especially if you are breastfeeding. Drinking bone broth and coconut water with celtic sea salt provides additional hydration and mineralization.
- Walk Daily: once you have conquered the initial recovery, particularly if you had a c-section, walking a few kms or miles per day will boost your mood, flush your lymphatics and and support better sleep. Once you are ready, maintain a regular exercise schedule (pilates, strength) as it aids in physical recovery and regulates hormones like estrogen and progesterone.
- Practice Stress Reduction: Incorporate yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises into your routine. These activities can lower cortisol and enhance emotional well-being.
- Prioritize Self-Care: Recognize and attend to your personal needs. A little self-care can go a long way in healing and recovery during the first few months postpartum.
By integrating these self-care practices, new mothers will find homeostasis faster, feel better in themselves and have the ability to care for their growing family with evermore patience, harmony and balance.
Key Points & Conclusion
Healthy lifestyle choices play a vital role in balancing hormones postpartum. Incorporating postnatal vitamins, regular exercise, and a nutritious diet, including foods like high quality fats, proteins, complex carbohydrates and plenty of leafy greens, will support your recovery. These habits will not only help recovery, they will build a foundation of health that will last a lifetime. Remember, each postpartum journey is unique, so always listen to your body, trust your intuition and never hesitate to seek support.
