Traditional post-birth soups?

[magrat]

I know that in a lot of cultures they give mothers special foods and soups after they give birth. I'd love to follow this traditional wisdom and wondered if anyone has any recipes? I'd love to have some prepared and ready to go.

[ShwarmaQueen]

You might want to Xpost this in the Multicultural Families forum.

I'm very interested to see the responses!

[magrat]

Thanks for the suggestion, I just did that!

[Juvysen]

[ncavillones]

I'm interested in the responses, too! When I did a google search, I didn't come up with much, but korean seawood soup came up a lot. I feel like if I had been working really hard, I would want a broth-y, salty soup... nothing creamy or starchy.

[CageFreeFamily]

If you Xpost to Traditional Foods forum you're sure to get a lot of recipes.

My most important PP soups are made from homemade bone broths.
We make a chicken stock from the leftover carcass of a roasted chicken by breaking the bones to release the marrow, adding a Tb of apple cider vinegar, a quartered onion, couple stalks of celery, carrot pieces, a few cloves of crushed garlic, two bay leaves and some herbs. I like to use the Nourishing Traditions method and slow simmer it for 24 hours before straining out the solids.

Soup bones from beef or lamb can be used too by roasting them in a 400 degree oven til they are browned, putting them in a pot with the above mentioned add-ins, covering with water. I then deglaze the roasting pan with some red wine or water and add that liquid to the pot with the bones and veggies. Bring to a simmer and skim the scum off the top after about 20 min. Slow simmer for 4-24 hours.

These stocks are so amazingly nourishing that it hardly matters what you do to them once they are done. They make wonderful clear soups like Chicken noodle, beef and barley, etc.

There's a great thread in Traditional Foods right now about the benefits of Bone Broth.

HTH
\

[wholisticmidwife]

I am a midwife and very often I make a soup at births. I start it when I arrive and make everything from scratch. Many of the herbs and ingredients I bring from my garden. The parents also buy the stables like veggies and a chicken. If they are veggie I make a vegetarian version of the soup. I made it during my own first birth, but my second and third were too fast so I made it after. It has many healing qualities and brings warmth and circulation back to the mothers system(it is very similar to the Asian soups in Chinese medicine). It is also made with all the love I can put into it(LOTS!) so my client can feel just how much I love her and her baby, how rich I know her new life will be. And I make it BIG so she can have it for several days. It is a chicken/lemongrass/Thai coconut soup. I make it with a black chicken(silkie) if available.It is one of the best soups anyone has ever had.
Although for the first meal I usually make scrambled eggs. It sounds boring but I have a very special way of cooking the eggs so they are like eating clouds! Most people say they are the best they have ever had(just giving birth makes them even better!) Than they have the soup later and it just warms them to their toes. I was a chef before becoming a midwife.
I have a client who wants to write a home birth book for kids about the soup.
We jusr got 6 inches of snow and I making birth soup tomorrow. My kids really love it too.

[SalmonBayDoula]

Originally Posted by wholisticmidwife

I am a midwife and very often I make a soup at births. I start it when I arrive and make everything from scratch. Many of the herbs and ingredients I bring from my garden. The parents also buy the stables like veggies and a chicken. If they are veggie I make a vegetarian version of the soup. I made it during my own first birth, but my second and third were too fast so I made it after. It has many healing qualities and brings warmth and circulation back to the mothers system(it is very similar to the Asian soups in Chinese medicine). It is also made with all the love I can put into it(LOTS!) so my client can feel just how much I love her and her baby, how rich I know her new life will be. And I make it BIG so she can have it for several days. It is a chicken/lemongrass/Thai coconut soup. I make it with a black chicken(silkie) if available.It is one of the best soups anyone has ever had.
Although for the first meal I usually make scrambled eggs. It sounds boring but I have a very special way of cooking the eggs so they are like eating clouds! Most people say they are the best they have ever had(just giving birth makes them even better!) Than they have the soup later and it just warms them to their toes. I was a chef before becoming a midwife.
I have a client who wants to write a home birth book for kids about the soup.
We jusr got 6 inches of snow and I making birth soup tomorrow. My kids really love it too.

yummy! please do share your recipes for both!

Sharon

[xmasbaby7]

Yes, my Chinese neighbor said chicken bone broths are what she made in advance for herself to drink for several weeks post partum.

I always wonder about the scrambled eggs thing, as it is universal in this country. The second most common dish people seem to eat is lasagna. Both have a soft and comforting texture that I wonder resembles placenta, which we are still distantly wired to eat in some form.

Just a wacky theory.

[stilllearning85]

I made a BUNCH of chicken soupd from homemade stock and froze it in indivual sizes so that I can have it on hand for days after the birth!

[Juvysen]

i wonder if these things help at all w/PPD...

[xmasbaby7]

Originally Posted by Juvysen

i wonder if these things help at all w/PPD...

placenta has been linked to helping ppd, but I don't think the soups would.

People dehydrate it and powder it into capsules.

[MsBlack]

Originally Posted by xmasbaby7

Yes, my Chinese neighbor said chicken bone broths are what she made in advance for herself to drink for several weeks post partum.

I always wonder about the scrambled eggs thing, as it is universal in this country.

First--yes to bone broths prepared in advance and immediately available (for those who don't mind eating animal products).

As for scrambled eggs being 'universal'--guess I never read that guideline In the first 30-60 min following birth (depending on the mama), I want her to eat *something*, but will ask her what she wants or at least thinks she will eat a few bites of. No one has ever asked for scrambled eggs! Some want a meal with substance (and often there is a casserole, soup, or crockpot meal waiting in the wings for birth and immediate pp hours); some only want a few bites of yogurt, or some toast or fruit. Later, if mom hasn't eaten much in that first hour or is still hungry anyway, then we will move on to more of a meal with substance but I still give mom the choice.

I don't think I've ever made eggs for anyone. At least not until that second feeding, and only by request. I wonder if eggs became a norm because they are nutritious AND very quick/easy to prepare--less work for the helpers that is

I don't know as there is anything special about eggs that can't be found in other foods--protein, some fat, warmth....

[xmasbaby7]

Originally Posted by MsBlack

First--yes to bone broths prepared in advance and immediately available (for those who don't mind eating animal products).

As for scrambled eggs being 'universal'--guess I never read that guideline In the first 30-60 min following birth (depending on the mama), I want her to eat *something*, but will ask her what she wants or at least thinks she will eat a few bites of. No one has ever asked for scrambled eggs! Some want a meal with substance (and often there is a casserole, soup, or crockpot meal waiting in the wings for birth and immediate pp hours); some only want a few bites of yogurt, or some toast or fruit. Later, if mom hasn't eaten much in that first hour or is still hungry anyway, then we will move on to more of a meal with substance but I still give mom the choice.

I don't think I've ever made eggs for anyone. At least not until that second feeding, and only by request. I wonder if eggs became a norm because they are nutritious AND very quick/easy to prepare--less work for the helpers that is

I don't know as there is anything special about eggs that can't be found in other foods--protein, some fat, warmth....

I just meant that when I have talked with maybe 50 homebirth moms about this, 80% had had scrambled eggs, and 20% had asked for lasagna. There wasn't even a 3rd option discussed. My MWs said they were the two most popular dishes in their experience, too. Perhaps it is regional? Yes, they are easy and quick, but I still think a fried egg is, too, and everyone wanted scrambled!

Oh well, so much for my theory!

[Kidzaplenty]

[Lorette]