Healing After Birth: A Journey For Mom

When we talk about “postpartum recovery,” many imagine physical healing of the uterus, managing breastfeeding, getting sleep, and perhaps restoring the strength of the pelvic floor. But healing after birth is far more than that. It is a systemic, multidimensional process: neurological, emotional, energetic, relational, and deeply sacred.

From my years as a chiropractor and holistic women’s health advocate, I see the postpartum period (the “fourth trimester”) as a time of rewiring: rebuilding neural balance, restoring structural alignment, easing the “invisible wounds” of birth trauma, and reclaiming your vitality.

Why the Postpartum Period Matters (Far Beyond Six Weeks)

Modern obstetric care often treats the “six-week check” as a cutoff: if you're “cleared,” then life goes on. However, in reality, the postpartum transition can take anywhere from a few months to a year or more. The body, hormones, nervous system, relationships, and psyche are still shifting. This is well known in traditional cultures: The First Forty Days (https://amzn.to/46GMsRd) tradition (a concept popularized by Heng Ou, Amely Greeven, and Marisa Belger) asserts that the first 40 days post-birth are a potent window for rest, nourishment, and protected transition.

Mama Natural emphasizes that your body doesn’t “snap back” — it has to reorganize, realign, and recalibrate. Christiane Northrup teaches that women emerge from birth not just healed but transformed. Carol Phillips (a midwife and herbalist) encourages honoring the process with herbs, rest, and nurturing practices. Aviva Romm, with her integrative medicine lens, would advise that supporting the endocrine and nervous systems is crucial for preventing chronic fatigue, postpartum mood challenges, and hormonal imbalances.

In short, postpartum is not a time to rush, but a time to rebuild.

The Nervous System Is the Foundation

Why place chiropractic first? Because the nervous system is the master regulator of every healing process — digestion, hormone balance, immune function, pain modulation, emotional regulation, sleep, and more. If nerve signals are flawed, the rest of the healing process becomes less efficient.

Birth itself is a neurophysiological stressor. Even in an “easy” delivery, the forces on the spine, pelvis, neck, and cranium can create areas of neural interference (what chiropractors call “subluxations”). Px Docs, in their material, articulate how postpartum chiropractic helps restore pelvic function, regulate autonomic balance, and relieve neuromuscular tension. pxdocs.com

When your nervous system is balanced:

• You are better able to shift out of a chronic “fight or flight” (sympathetic) dominance into restorative parasympathetic states.

• Hormonal messaging (oxytocin, prolactin, cortisol, thyroid, insulin, etc.) flows more smoothly.

• Neural plasticity allows your brain-body to rewire for your new life as mother.

• Pain, tension, and inflammation resolve more readily.

Chiropractic is not a “luxury add-on” — it is a core pillar of neurologic restoration in the postpartum period.

What Chiropractic Care Does in Postpartum

Here’s how adjusted care supports your healing:

1. Restores Pelvic and Spinal Alignment

   
   

    The pelvis and sacroiliac joints often shift during delivery; gentle adjustments help restore symmetry, relieve strain on ligaments and muscles, and support core engagement. Premier Chiropractic+2novachiroga.com+2

2. Eases NeuroTension, Especially in the Upper Cervical Region

   
   

    The head, neck, and upper spine are under tension from pushing, positions in labor, or interventions. Releasing these regions can improve vagal tone and restore calm regulation. Px Docs discusses how subluxations in these regions contribute to dysautonomia. pxdocs.com

3. Supports Hormonal & Immune Recovery

   
   

    By improving neural communication, the endocrine system can recalibrate more harmoniously — critical for postpartum thyroid, adrenal, insulin, and reproductive hormones. Inflammation is better managed when neural output is coherent.

4. Assists with Breastfeeding Mechanics & Nerve Input to the Breast

   
   

    Tension in thoracic vertebrae or the first ribs can impede nerve or vascular supply to breast tissue; spinal balance optimizes breastfeeding comfort and function.

5. Promotes Better Sleep, Mood, and Resilience

   
   

    With fewer pain triggers and better autonomic balance, your system is more able to enter restorative states—even amid the fragmented sleep of new motherhood.

6. Supports Co-Regulation with Baby

   
   

    As mom’s nervous system settles and regulates, the baby can more easily co-regulate (the dynamic alignment and attunement between mother and baby). When mom is structurally and neurologically stable, baby’s feeding, sleep, and regulation often improve.

Postpartum care should not be an afterthought: “birth is just the beginning,” and many mothers face subluxation and dysautonomia if left unaddressed. pxdocs.com

In practice, I have seen women’s back pain, pelvic instability, incontinence symptoms, neck strain from nursing, and emotional tension ease significantly when paired with a thoughtful chiropractic plan alongside rest and nutrition.

Complementary Supports for Holistic Healing

While chiropractic is foundational, it is vital to integrate other modalities and wisdom. Here are complementary supports drawn from luminaries:

Affirmations & Mind-Body (Louise Hay)

Louise Hay taught that our thoughts and emotions shape our body’s ability to heal. She would urge mothers to speak kindly to themselves, embracing affirmations like “I permit myself to rest and be restored,” or “I am worthy of love and ease.” louisehay.com+2Healing Brave+2

 By acknowledging the emotional terrain of motherhood (grief, identity shift, exhaustion) and offering self-compassion, you align mind-body healing with structural restoration.

Herbal, Nutritional & Hormonal Support (Aviva Romm)

Romm encourages postpartum mothers to support detoxification, liver function, adrenal balance, and blood sugar stability. Nutrient-dense foods (e.g. bone broth, greens, good fats), gentle adaptogenic herbs when appropriate, and mindfulness of postpartum thyroid demands all nurture deeper healing.

Rest, Ritual & Boundaries (First Forty Days / 4th Trimester)

The First Forty Days model encourages protected time, light movement, micro-rests (even 5 minutes), delegating tasks, supportive nourishment, and ritual (warm baths, herbs, belly binding). The 4th trimester philosophy echoes this: your recovery is not an afterthought, but a sacred process. (https://amzn.to/46GMsRd) 4th Trimester (https://amzn.to/4mFX4pF)

Body-Centered Therapies (Carol Phillips & Others)

Herbal sitz baths, warming abdominal compresses, pelvic massage / gentle fascial release, and intuitive bodywork (craniosacral, gentle myofascial) complement chiropractic alignment. Carol Phillips emphasizes the spirit-body connection and the gentle tending of tissues as you transition.

Community, Emotional Processing & Sistering

This is a time to ask for help, lean into trusted support, and engage in postpartum circles where women can share, weep, rest, and encourage each other. Emotional healing (mourning loss of prior identity, fear, overwhelm) is part of the terrain.

Sample Framework for Healing After Birth

Below is a sample (not prescriptive) framework for the first months postpartum, integrating chiropractic and holistic care:

Phase	Focus	Activities & Supports
Weeks 0–6	Rest, structural stabilization, calm regulation	Gentle Postpartum Specific chiropractic adjustments (post C-section specific if applicable), micro-rests, spinal support pillows, affirmations, nutrient-rich soups, belly binding, minimal lifting of baby, partner support
Weeks 6–12	Nourish, move gently, process	Continue chiropractic care 1–2×/week, restorative yoga / pelvic floor physical therapy, herbal support, journaling / affirmations, gentle walks, community
Months 3–6	Rebuilding strength, deep repair	Maintain periodic chiropractic care (tapering), core/pelvic rehab, more movement, emotional integration, rituals for letting go of burdens
Months 6+	Flourish, integrate, thrive	Chiropractic Adjustments, holistic self-care rhythm, mentor or coach to guide the next stage of motherhood and self-renewal

As your system reclaims balance, you may find your emotional resilience, energy, and clarity returning more robustly.

A Love Letter to Mothers in Transition

You have done the sacred work of bringing life into the world. Now, your body, your nervous system, your heart, and your spirit are asking: How will you receive support? Honor your structure. Walk slowly. Allow silence and stillness. Speak kindly to yourself. Breathe into the parts you feel have been “changed.” Nourish with foods, nurturing touch, alignment, and breath.

If there is one investment you make in these early months, let it be in your nervous system and spinal integrity. From that core of stability, all else flows with ease—your hormones, your mood, your energy, your capacity to mother.

Recommended Reading

Here are 4 books I frequently recommend for deeper wisdom, healing accompaniment, and expansion in the postpartum / life-healing journey:

1. The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou, Amely Greeven & Marisa Belger

2. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

3. Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup (https://amzn.to/3IE8bBw)

4. Ayurveda Mama by Dhyana Masla (https://amzn.to/46rMHRy)