Seaweed Soup and Traditional Postpartum Practices

Seaweed soup with rice and a few side dishes

There's a Korean postpartum practice for the mother (or other family members) of the new mother to help them recover from birth for about a month while the new mother is pretty much on bed rest. When I heard about this before I got pregnant, I was resistant to the suggestion to stay at my mom's house while she cooks for me and helps take care of the baby as well as not showering, staying indoors - essentially being home bound for a month. I was a modern woman and didn't need to follow these silly traditions that seem to restrict me from my freedom!  

The new mother is also supposed to eat Korean seaweed soup (mee-yuk gook) as most of her diet for the entire month. Seaweed soup is attributed to helping to nourish and heal the new mother's body, help create new blood cells, stimulate milk production - pretty much everything you would want after the trauma of having a baby. Eating the same thing everyday did not seem appealing after pregnancy when all I thought I'd want is to eat everything I couldn't - gulp down a large iced coffee, gobble up some sushi and have a regular ham and cheese sandwich!

Funny how perspectives change once you have a baby, no? My mom and I made a compromise, where yes, she can help me and make me the soup but I stay in my own apartment. I know it doesn't sound much like a compromise for my mom to travel in from Queens to the city to cook and take care of me and the baby.  But she was insistent so we made this arrangement.

My mom came to my LES apartment every day (except weekends) for about three week and ate seaweed soup since the day I came home. Strangely enough as though my body needed it, I wasn't sick or bored of it for the three weeks I ate it. It was also great for digestion since it was easy on the stomach and I think the fluids and nutrients in the soup really did help my milk production.

Despite having a C-section M latched on right away after delivery and my milk came in on the fourth day - pretty much when it was supposed to and I haven't had a problem with my milk supply to this day.

There are other interesting traditional practices of postpartum care that seem to have the common thread of "mothering the mother." Here's an interesting article uncovering some of the most ancient practices.

My mom ended up following the same diet as me eating seaweed soup everyday from the large vat she made everyday.  It helped that it was her favorite dish.

Did any new moms out there have any special dishes or traditions they followed postpartum? If so, I'd love to hear about them.