Frances Ren Postpartum Care Consultant

24/10/2017

https://www.rebeccawood.com/recipes/bone-broth-with-chinese-medicinal-herbs/

Drink at least 2 giant bowls of soups everyday after you give birth to give you energy and strength! 💪 There is a reason our Chinese ancestors has soup with every meal, and even tons of medicinal broths for women after giving birth.
This is the basic bone broth recipe I like to recommend for my patients. Make it and freeze it!

Chinese herbs enhance the healing power of this medicinal bone broth recipe; includes an herb glossary.

09/10/2017

http://www.singaporenbeyond.com/yoga-classes-in-singapore/

👩 Grateful to be mentioned within the community of yoga healers. Thank you for the write-up!

Looking to heal your mind and strengthen your body? Here are 5 different yoga classes in Singapore to rediscover the art of yoga.

25/09/2017

Have a good week ahead, and take care mamas! 😁💁‍♀️👩‍👧‍👧💓

A few people commented on the recent viral babymoon post about it not being realistic. Or it's just millennial mom crap. Here's the thing, mothering the mother is not new. Many cultures have/had a lying in period of up to 40 days. A babymoon is not selfish. It's critical to recovery. The United States has one of the worst maternity/paternity leaves in the WORLD. Mothers AND fathers NEED time off. Believe me, it's not a vacation.

While the mom in the photo we recently posted looks happy, new moms have a lot going on! Crazy hormones, leaking breasts, bleeding, a placenta sized wound in their uterus, after pains, very little sleep, not to mention they just GAVE birth....whether vaginally or surgical they need to recover. Being a new mom is NO joke. Our country NEEDS to support new families.

Having this time will save healthcare. It will help mental health, it will help with pelvic floor and overall health of mom, it creates more bonding with child. The list goes on and on.

The photo also was to raise awareness. Many do not know what the new moms in their life need. Offer to bring a meal (if you don't have time to cook, get them Chipotle!), switch over the laundry, or take the big kids on a play date. What if we all did this for the new families in our lives?! What if this was the new normal?

Pictured: OSM co-owner with her 4 kids.

PS. If you're a mom, we would be honored to have you join our amazingly supportive and completely free community. One Strong Mama

30/06/2017

Are you getting those solid home visits from
caretakers that are cooing after your wellbeing? 😇❤️👩🏼‍⚕️👩🏼‍🍳 https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/6/26/15872734/what-no-one-tells-new-moms-about-what-happens-after-childbirth

Postnatal care in America is pitiful. The Senate health bill would make it worse.

16/06/2017

{Breakfast to Heal 💪- Recipes Below}

🍚Yellow Millet Porridge + 🍲Stir-Fried Ginger with Black Cloud Ear Fungus + 🍳Egg of Your Choice

🍚 Yellow Millet Porridge
✳️ In ancient Chinese Medicine, we call this the king ingredient of postpartum healing. Chinese women has eaten this every morning during their postpartum month for centuries. This amazing seed (yes, it is a seed) soothes the nervous system, hastening the recovery of your body tissue, digests easy, and keeps your colon healthy!

-1/4 cup of millet
-1 cup of water
- pinch of salt

1. Cook on medium fire until the millet seeds opens slightly, about 12 minutes and then continue to cook to your desire consistency: lots of water, creamy, or dense

🍲 Stir-Fried Ginger with Black Cloud Ear Fungus
✳️Cloud-ear fungus is high in iron, and vitamin B-2 which helps with fatigue, dizziness, and loss of blood- all needed after birth! Remember to cook it with ginger to balance out the cooling property of the black wood ear fungus. Oh, yes and it is also high in fiber!

- 2 inches of ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp of black sesame oil
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup of dried cloud ear fungus (organically dried) soaked in warm water, and hydrated

1. In a non-stick pan, heat up the sesame oil until fragrant; add the sliced ginger and stir-fry until it caramelised and brown.
2. Add the black cloud ear fungus and stir-fry until it is coated with the ginger and sesame oil, about 2 minutes; taste with salt

🍳 Egg of Your Choice, organic please
✳️Egg is a great quick protein; in Chinese Medicine it is written as a must-have for women after birth to help with blood loss, tonifies your lack of energy, and hasten the arrival of the mother's milk.

Ways to cook your egg of the day!
- Poached Egg
- Steamed Egg
- Scrambled Egg
- Homemade Salted Brined Duck Egg (picture shown)

👉 remember breakfast is super important for new mothers!

14/06/2017

For all the to-be moms and new moms out there 😇💪❤️. Sounds easy, but it is good to be reminded of! What are your favorite reminders from friends and family?

{ Top 5 Things to Mentally Prepare for Before/After Birth }

💁Relax

Let your everyday worries go. You forgot to get milk and coffee and now your husband is looking at you for a solution? Your little one only wants you to go to the bathroom with her? You realise the clothes are piling high and no one has clean un**es? Oh well - and not your problem (at least for the first month). First, make sure every member in the family knows how important this month is for you and everyone needs to step up and make everything around you work seamlessly. Plus, I am sure everyone will step up once they realise you aren’t the caretaker in the family for awhile. If you know you don’t have those key family members around that will make this happen, spend money to make it work: it is worth every penny.

✋Set your boundaries

Friends, family, and people close to you will want to visit and give you advice. Choose wisely who you let near that will benefit you 100% emotionally. Set those boundaries before you give birth so you know there will be no regrets when the time comes and you are on the bed with your b**b hanging out, and wobbling around in an adult diaper with no makeup on.

🛀Be cared for, constantly

A lot of women aren’t used to be cared for because we are caretakers ourselves, so when your caretaker is fussing over you just let them! Let them take your dirty clothes and wash them; allow them to take the baby and soothe it for you. Hungry again? Someone else can warm up your soup because you don’t need to move around too much. Allow yourself to be pampered wholesomely and enjoy this short moment of not-doing-anything.

🍲Have water, more water, and eat good food

Trust me when I say you need more water than you think. Drink water, drink soup, and eat lots of veggies (because they contain water). The fight and flight hormone that you have just released needs hydration to calm, soothe, and initiate your metabolism. In addition, have bits and pieces of wholesome delicious homemade food easy to reach to physically support this healing process.

💆Get a massage

This is a very simple request, but rarely we do it because we are too busy figuring out our little one! Have one planned before you give birth, and enjoy a good massage to improve the flow of your lymphatic fluid, take away any stress and tension we hold since we got pregnant (and holding our little ones), and it also helps improve our circulation!

04/06/2017

There's too much pressure to get back on it after giving birth. Retreat, repair, replenish.

19/05/2017

How long do you think standard maternity leave should be?

http://redtri.com/new-study-reveals-moms-need-a-full-year-for-recovery-after-giving-birth/?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=NATL&utm_campaign=FB-NATL

New mothers may be told by books and doctors that they'll be back to 'normal' within six weeks of giving birth, but a new study has found that most women take much longer to recover.

19/05/2017

Good conversation this morning at today's Mama & Me gathering by Sassy Mama Singapore. It is so good to build awareness and share knowledge between mothers about the importance of loving yourself.

01/05/2017

Good blog with some useful info on pelvic floor and the dreaded D**R***.
https://www.facebook.com/NatalieHodsonOfficial/posts/1280857081992010

There's no need to deal with embarrassing moments ever again! Learn how to...

28/04/2017

Happy Long weekend folks! Found this lovely blog, beautifully written along side gorgeous photography. Ok it's not post partum care but interesting just the same.
Enjoy http://meetthewildes.com/this-is-my-perfect-body/

Forty weeks pregnant. I am the moon. The strangers beneath my skin thrash and shift like kittens wrapped in clingfilm and strangers stare at me in horror during my daily commute. My desk in the… View Post

20/04/2017

This is a great article on post partum care and the pictures are real-so refreshing!!
The real 'baby moon'
https://www.facebook.com/pregnantbristol/posts/1650472128316313

"By prioritizing the integration of a newborn into your life in slow and gentle ways, and by allowing yourself to be supported by your family, community, plant allies, and spirit guides, you are participating in a crucial culture shift that is essential in healing the planet and its fut