postpartum nutrition

Delicious & Nourishing Postpartum Meals Delivered to Your Door in Orange County

The postpartum period or what we like to call “the fourth trimester” is an incredibly sacred and special time in your life. It is a crucial time for rest, recovery, and bonding with your newborn. As you embrace those precious moments with your sweet baby, it's essential to prioritize your own well-being, and nutrition plays a key role in your postpartum recovery.

During this phase, your body craves nourishing, easy-to-digest foods that support healing and replenishment. Traditional postpartum cuisine, such as warm soups, stews, and broths, can provide the comfort and nutrition your body needs to recover from childbirth.

Ideally, you won’t be doing any cooking in the weeks after your baby arrives. Our hope is that you have a stash of freezer meals or have a meal train where friends and family can support you by dropping off nutritious food. If that’s not an option and if the thought of cooking feels overwhelming during those early days of exhaustion and adjustment, we have a great solution for you.

If you’ve been wondering if there’s a “postpartum meal service near me” - we’re here to tell you, yes there is! Mama Meals is a wonderful resource with their convenient postpartum meal delivery service in Orange County.

Mama Meals offers a selection of pre-made, nutritious dishes inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and the Weston A. Price philosophies. Each meal is carefully crafted using high-quality, whole-food ingredients, cooked to perfection, frozen for freshness, and delivered straight to your doorstep.

With Mama Meals, you can simply heat and serve, giving you more time to focus on rest, bonding with your baby, and adjusting to your new role as a parent.

Plus, as a special offer, use our affiliate code to receive $20 off your first order!

Remember, the best postpartum meals are those that are warm, soft, and easy-to-digest, providing clean, protein-rich nourishment to support your recovery. Stick to comforting options like soups, stews, porridge, and broths while avoiding cold, hard, or highly-processed foods that may hinder your healing process.

Take care of yourself, mama, and let Mama Meals take care of the cooking, so you can savor every moment with your precious newborn!

She Smiles: A Postpartum Support Story

It is seven o'clock. Her babies will not stop crying. As soon as she gets one of her twins settled, the other baby starts fussing. Laundry and receiving blankets draped over all the furniture, a bottle sticking out from between the couch cushions, and the sink is overflowing with dishes. She needs to make supper, but over the crying and through the fog of exhaustion, she cannot think of what to make.

She sits on the sofa, rocking the twin that she can't seem to soothe; the other sleeps in the bassinette beside her. She lets the tears flow. Postpartum was not supposed to be like this. She thought it would be different. She is not the woman who allows her house to get out of control. She is not the woman that does not shower in... how many days?  But tomorrow is going to be different. Through her tears...


She smiles.

Today she called Doulas of Orange County. Tomorrow her postpartum doula is coming—just one more night of take-out, and tears, and tired.

It was a long night.

​Or a short night. It depends on how you look at it.

She dresses. Rather, she changes into more presentable pajamas. The phone rings! Her postpartum doula wants to know if she needs anything from the shops. Milk, diapers... She peers into the almost empty fridge. Everything? No problem. Her postpartum doula will help her with a meal plan and the shopping.

Soon after, her postpartum doula arrives. Both babies are adored, and she heads to the bath for a much-needed soak. She luxuriates in the silence. Just water swishing. She conditions her hair and soaks away the tension. When she is finished in the tub, she takes her time, dressing, styling her hair, a little mascara. She feels human again.

In the kitchen, her postpartum doula has loaded the dishwasher, wiped all the counters, and banished the piles of pizza boxes. There is a pot of tea steeping on the counter and a plate of toast. It is for her. The babies who never sleep at the same time are magically content in their swings, so she curls up in her favorite chair and just watches them be.

Her postpartum doula sits down beside her, and together they plan meals based on family preferences. Her doula will whip up a few things for today from what is left in the house, and tomorrow she will pick up the groceries on her way.

One baby is hungry, and she is more than ready to be close to them again. With her postpartum doula's assistance, she tries a new breastfeeding position. While she feeds her baby, her postpartum doula gathers the laundry, sorts it, and starts the wash. She can do this. She knows it now.

That evening she puts her twins into her carrier the way her postpartum doula showed her. Her husband comes in and is blown away by the difference in her. Somehow, she became even more beautiful the day she became the mother of his children. She serves the stew from the slow cooker, and with the babies in their bassinettes nearby, they watch a movie while they eat.

She looks at her little family. She looks around at the house she has made a home. This is her life. Her beautiful life. This moment is perfect. It is everything she dreamed it would be.

She smiles.

5 Steps to Creating Your Postpartum Dream Team - FREE PRINTABLE

Pregnancy is anything if not a crash-course in decision making and preparing to hire a postpartum doula is no different! There are a variety of things to consider when hiring a postpartum doula - your budget, how many days or nights a week you want support, how many weeks or months you want your doula providing care or if you want to add on herbal or nutritional support, just to name a few!

Here at Doulas of Orange County it is our mission to help you find the best doula to support you as you welcome your baby home. But before we can match you with some incredible doulas, it’s important that you know what matters most to you for your postpartum journey…that’s why we’re sharing this free printable to help you create your postpartum dream team!

Our Favorite Pregnancy Friendly Smoothies

Pregnancy is such an important time to eat healthy, balanced meals. But what happens if your appetite is non-existent or you have food aversions from here to Texas? Getting nutrients in when you’re nauseated or when nothing sounds appetizing can be tough. Enter smoothies!

While we are typically proponents of eating whole foods to get the adequate nutrients in pregnancy, we know that it’s not always easy or even possible, especially if you’re a mom on the go. Smoothies are a great way to bridge the gap, to get your body the calories and nourishment it needs for a healthy pregnancy. You can also easily blend one of these up in early labor and sip on it for a constant energy source while you birth your baby.

Below are some of our favorite pregnancy friendly smoothie recipes! These are easy to make at home and if you’re crunched for time we recommend prepping the ingredients on the weekend and freezing them in individual servings so you can pop them in the blender each morning and be on your way.

The Pantry: Postpartum Pasta Salad

I really love cooking for postpartum clients - generally I make light and meals. This way I’m not spending the entire postpartum visit in the kitchen and can still help with breastfeeding, newborn care, and anything else the new parents need. Postpartum nutrition is incredibly important, especially for the first several months. Your body goes through a huge transition after giving birth and nourishing it with healthy, nutritious, and soul-filling foods goes a long way in supporting your postpartum recovery.

Talk to your postpartum doula about your nutritional needs, any allergies/sensitivities and cravings. Ask for her favorite crockpot recipes or snack ideas, I guarantee she’ll have tons to share!

Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite postpartum meals: Postpartum Pasta Salad.