Overview

Many women do not fully recover from conceiving, carrying, and birthing children. The healthcare model often times downplay the nutritional need, physical demand, and dramatic hormonal and social shifts the mother endures. Understandably, many women continue to struggle hormonally, nutritionally, and emotionally years after birth. Many suffer from fatigue, joint aches and pain, poor energy levels, low libido, weight resistance, thinning hair, and irritability. This grouping of symptoms affects all aspects of a women's life and was coined by Dr. Oscar Serrallach as Postnatal Depletion Syndrome.

Postnatal depletion syndrome is defined as a collection of symptoms describing a mother's experience due to nutrient deficiencies, sleep deprivation, drastic change of a new mother's role, and social isolation. Welcoming a baby into the world is undoubtedly miraculous, however, a mother's ability to acclimate to her new role is directly linked to her body's ability to heal and replenish through nutrition.

Learning Objectives

• Define what is the postnatal depletion syndrome, common symptoms, and how long it can impact women
• Review literature as it relates to nutritional demands during the postnatal time-frame
• Using a NutrEval Profile case, discuss common patterns viewed with nutrition testing

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