The Gut Knows: Postnatal Depletion and the Forgotten Organ of Motherhood
By Sofia Erica Lane
There’s something quietly disorienting about feeling full when you’ve barely eaten. About waking up with a bloated belly after a night of broken sleep and wondering how, after giving birth to another human being, your own body still feels swollen, heavy, and unfamiliar.
For many mothers, gut discomfort is one of the most persistent yet overlooked symptoms of postnatal depletion. And while the body is often praised for its ability to grow and deliver life, it is rarely cared for when its internal systems especially the gut begin to fray in the aftermath.
The Gut: Motherhood’s Unsung Regulator
The gut is not just where we digest food it’s where we process emotion, regulate hormones, and modulate the immune system. Known as the “second brain,” the gut contains over 100 million neurons and produces nearly 90% of the body's serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for mood and emotional balance.
During pregnancy and postpartum, the gut doesn’t simply “pause.” It undergoes seismic shifts:
Progesterone slows digestion during pregnancy, often leading to constipation and gas
Post-birth, sudden hormone drops and shifts in the microbiome destabilize gut motility
Abdominal muscles remain stretched, impairing natural digestion and elimination
Sleep deprivation, stress, antibiotics, and iron supplements can all negatively impact gut flora
And yet, when a new mother reports bloating, sluggish digestion, or irregular bowels, she’s often met with vague suggestions: “Drink more water,” “Walk it off,” or the most harmful of all—“It’s just part of motherhood.”
A Global Blind Spot
While gut health has become a wellness buzzword, postpartum women are often excluded from this conversation. Yet studies show:
Over 60% of postpartum women report chronic bloating
Digestive complaints like constipation, food sensitivities, and reflux are common in the first year post-birth
Gut-brain axis disruption is linked to increased postpartum anxiety and depression
Postnatal women often experience reduced microbial diversity, which impacts mood, metabolism, immunity, and energy
One 2021 review in the Journal of Women’s Health called the maternal gut microbiome “an unaddressed frontier in postpartum care.” Another study showed that gut permeability (or "leaky gut") may increase after childbirth, leading to systemic inflammation, brain fog, and hormonal imbalance.
When Bloating Becomes Emotional
The postpartum experience is already filled with physical changes, but bloating carries a particular kind of weight. It’s not just uncomfortable it’s aesthetic, emotional, and symbolic.
In a culture that romanticises the “snapback,” a constantly swollen stomach can feel like a betrayal. Clothes don’t fit. Energy is low. And digestion becomes a daily battleground.
Many mothers internalize this discomfort as a personal failure. They blame their diet, their hormones, their willpower. But what they rarely realise is that the gut is depleted, not disobedient.
A More Compassionate Gut Reset
What postpartum digestion needs is not harsh cleanses or restrictive diets, but restoration. A blend of prebiotics, fiber, gentle movement, emotional regulation, and herbal support.
Here’s what research and tradition agree on:
Prebiotic fiber (like inulin and acacia gum) feeds good bacteria and improves regularity
Psyllium husk and oat fiber help sweep the colon without strain
Herbs like ginger, fennel, and moringa aid in reducing gas and promoting motility
Hydration + magnesium support natural bowel movements and calm the nervous system
Breathwork and vagal nerve stimulation improve the gut-brain connection
In traditional Javanese postpartum practices, women are given warm herbal tonics and abdominal massages daily not just to “get the belly down,” but to aid digestion, eliminate stagnation, and restore internal flow. These rituals weren’t cosmetic. They were deeply intelligent.
The Message the Gut Is Sending
If you are a mother who feels constantly bloated, tired, and disconnected from your body, you are not broken you are likely depleted. Your gut is trying to tell you something:
Slow down.
Replenish.
Let go of the pressure to look “back to normal.”
Digestion is a mirror of what we are holding in nutritionally, emotionally, and energetically. It deserves as much reverence as any other part of your recovery.
From One Mother to Another
Healing your gut postpartum is not about shrinking your waistline. It’s about making space for nourishment, for emotional regulation, for energy to return. It’s about giving your internal systems the same care you gave your birth plan.
Because when the gut is healed, the body begins to feel safe again. And in that safety, a woman can begin to come back to herself.