Nourishing your body postpartum is so important, but with so many other things demanding our attention as new mothers, healthy eating often becomes an afterthought.

Enter postpartum meal prep to save the day.

Postpartum meal prep is similar to regular meal prep, with a few important changes.

First, postpartum meal prep focuses on specific nutrients that support healing, recovery, comfort, and milk production.
Next, postpartum meal prep prioritizes fully pre-made meals or meals that require very minimal effort to put together.
And finally, postpartum meal prep focuses on meals that have a long shelf life (think freezer meals & jarred pantry meals).

As I prepare for my own postpartum period, pre-making nourishing meals for those first few weeks after giving birth has been a key focus.

This image shows a woman ladling stew into a bowl. Stew is a perfect postpartum food.

Why Prepping for Postpartum is Essential

Postpartum presents many challenges that are unique to this period of life. As new mothers, we face the whole gamut of emotions, exhaustion, MASSIVE hormonal changes, and the demands of caring for a newborn. And we deal with all of that while our bodies are simultaneously undergoing enormous changes of their own. Our uterus is shrinking back to its pre-pregnancy size, we’re healing from birth, and, if breastfeeding, then we’re also demanding enormous energetic output from our bodies to produce milk for our newborns.

If this all sounds like a lot, that’s because it is! Which is why it’s mind-boggling to me that what we eat postpartum doesn’t get more attention.

When we nourish ourselves well postpartum and prioritize healthy eating, we actively assist our bodies in our physical recovery, boost energy levels and hormone health, and support breastfeeding.

And that’s not all! Aside from the obvious health benefits, what’s really got me focusing on postpartum meal prep is the mental and emotional relief I anticipate from having meals ready to go.

I see a lot of moms relying on store-bought freezer meals and take-out postpartum to avoid having to cook. Especially if you don’t have the support of family or friends nearby who can make food for you, take-out can seem like the only option. But it doesn’t have to be! As someone who lives on an entirely different continent from both mine and my husband’s families, trust me when I say that prepping for postpartum and pre-making a few weeks worth of meals for yourself even without the support of your family is entirely possible!

By planning ahead and dedicating a few hours in your final weeks of pregnancy to preparing meals, you can put together two weeks of postpartum meals that will support you mentally, emotionally, and physically.

This image shows containers of prepped food like chicken and veggies, baked salmon, and other nourishing foods perfect for postpartum.

The Importance of Nourishing, Ready-to-Eat Meals Postpartum

So what makes a meal postpartum worthy? Here are three things to consider that I took into account when crafting my two-week postpartum meal plan.

#1: Convenience

This isn’t the time for elaborate dinners or trying out new recipes (talking to myself here)! Rather, postpartum meals should be ultra-convenient – fully pre-made freezer meals that just need to be defrosted and reheated or pantry meals in jars that only require a pot and boiling water.

#2: Rest

It’s so important to take care of ourselves during this demanding period, which means any “to-do” from your normal daily life that you can take off your plate, you should! Having healthy meals (and a meal plan!) ready to go means one less thing to think about, so you can spend more time resting, recovering, and bonding with your adorable new baby.

#3: Healing

Your body goes through an immense physical event during labor. It’s called labor for a reason! Just as you would take recovery seriously after any intense physical exercise (like running a marathon or participating in a triathlon), you need to take the physical recovery of postpartum seriously. Opting for nutrient-dense meals in those first few weeks will go a long way to helping you recover by promoting tissue healing, supporting milk production, and replenishing depleted nutrient stores. As this is an intense energy and nutrient-draining time for us, focusing on meals that are rich in specific nutrients is key. The nutrients that deserve special attention postpartum include:

Extra protein: Important for tissue repair and muscle recovery
Iron: (Can be from both food sources and supplements) to replenish iron stores depleted during childbirth and prevent postpartum anemia
Lots of healthy fats: To support baby’s brain health, mom’s hormone production, and healthy milk supply
Complex Carbohydrates: For sustained energy levels and satiety
Hydration: To replace lost fluids (blood during and after childbirth, postpartum sweats, and breastmilk)

This image shows many of the foods that are beneficial for postpartum healing and recovery, and perfect to include in any postpartum meal prep.

My 1st Week Home Postpartum Meal Prep Guide

With all that in mind, I set about creating a meal prep guide for that first special week home postpartum. This began as a tool for myself, but I’m happy to be able to share it with you now, too. I wanted to make sure it would be nourishing, comforting, delicious, and easy, while prioritizing the nutrients of focus discussed above. Plus, I needed to be able to pre-make most of the meals in such a way that my husband could quickly and easily assemble them when the time came.

Following a similar eating routine to the one I followed during pregnancy, I included breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus three nutrient-rich snacks between my meals, and specific hydration-boosting teas.

You can download my 1st Week Home Postpartum Meal Prep Guide for free below! I recommend starting with pantry meals in jars about a month before your due date. Then, move on to freezer meals 2-3 weeks before you’re due. Don’t try to get it all done in a week. Instead, I found I felt best working in shorter blocks of a few hours at a time and making just 2 or 3 dishes each session. Most importantly, don’t over-tax yourself or get overwhelmed by the need to get it all done. Any postpartum meals you can prep will help when the time comes. Whether it's 5 freezer meals or an entire week of meals and snacks, it’s all helpful.

If you found this post helpful, share it with another pregnant friend. We can all use more support postpartum. And don’t forget to set aside time in your third trimester to do your own postpartum meal prep! Grab your copy of the Postpartum Meal Prep Guide above!

And if you need more support, consider signing up for my Postpartum Meal Service! It’s a complete two-week+ meal plan crafted by a perinatal nutritionist (me!) for new mothers who want to prioritize nourishment postpartum. It’s one of the best things you can do to support your healing and recovery postpartum. Sign up here.

Wishing you the absolute healthiest and happiest fourth trimester! I’m right there with you.

How to Postpartum Meal Prep for a Healthy Recovery