Birth Control Triggers PPD, Allergy Meds Raise Risk, and My Seasonal Menu for You

In Today's Issue:

💥 Grateful, Fired Up, and Officially CEU Approved!

🤧 Allergies Medications Increases Postpartum Depression: What's Really Driving the Risk?

🎧 New on the Podcast: Why Women NEED Fat

📣 Is Birth Control Hijacking Postpartum Recovery?

🍽️ Seasonal Sanity Saver: My 6-Week Rotating Meal Plan 

💥 Grateful, Fired Up, and Officially CEU Approved!

🔥 Wow. Last week’s masterclass was on fire. The feedback has been pouring in—and I just want to say thank you. Your messages, insights, and aha moments reminded me why I do this work. These masterclasses are my way of giving back, of making sure this life-changing information reaches the people who need it most. And based on your responses… it’s working.

Now for the BIG news...

We are officially approved for 24 CEUs through NANP for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Program! This is such a massive milestone. NANP is an organization rooted in science, integrity, and truly holistic care—and we are so proud to be aligned with them. This is one more step toward making sure postpartum care is recognized, respected, and rooted in what actually works.

🎓 If you’re not already on the waitlist for the next cohort this fall, go do that now: www.PostpartumU.com/waitlist

Let’s keep raising the standard in postpartum together. 🙌

🤧 Allergies Medications Increases Postpartum Depression: What's Really Driving the Risk?

A new study out of Harvard is bringing important attention to something many of us see in practice but rarely talk about: the link between allergic rhinitis (AR) and postpartum depression (PPD).

The data is compelling—pregnant women with AR are significantly more likely to experience PPD, and several factors increase that risk even further with the use of anti-allergy medications used during pregnancy.

But this raises a bigger question:
Is it the medications themselves? Or are we actually looking at the severity of symptoms and underlying inflammation that requires those meds in the first place?

We know that allergic rhinitis is more than a stuffy nose. It’s a chronic inflammatory condition—and inflammation is a well-established precursor to depression. That makes this more than a seasonal issue. It's a systemic one.

This study doesn’t give us all the answers, but it adds fuel to a critical conversation. As we keep digging into the immune-nervous system connection in postpartum, this is yet another sign that we need integrative, root-cause care—not just for physical comfort, but for mental health outcomes, too.

👉 Read the full study: Allergic Rhinitis and Postpartum Depression: A Nomogram-Based Predictive Model

🎧 New on the Podcast: Why Women NEED Fat

What if everything we’ve been told about fat, weight, and women’s health was built for men? In this episode, Dr. Beth Westie breaks down why women’s bodies are biologically wired to need more fat, especially in the postpartum years—and what happens when we don’t get enough. From hormones to healing to the myth of "bouncing back," this conversation will leave you rethinking everything about how we nourish ourselves.
👉 Listen here

📣 Is Birth Control Hijacking Postpartum Recovery?

At the standard 6-week postpartum checkup, often the only follow-up visit a mother receives, there’s one thing you can count on being offered: birth control. Not nourishment. Not nervous system support. Not an assessment of trauma, digestion, hormones, or mental health. Just contraception.

And now? We have compelling research that shows this routine practice is actually be causing harm.

A new study of over 610,000 first-time mothers published in JAMA Network Open just dropped a bombshell: Hormonal contraceptive use postpartum is associated with a 49% higher risk of developing depression within the first year after birth.

The type of birth control mattered too:

• Combined oral contraceptives showed the strongest association with negative outcomes.

• Progestogen-only pills had a unique trajectory—showing lower risk early postpartum, but increased risk later in the year.

• The overall takeaway? This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

This research raises critical questions:
🧠 Is hormonal birth control in the early postpartum period interacting with inflammation, depletion, and hormonal upheaval in ways we haven’t fully understood?
🌿 Should we be prioritizing healing and recovery before layering on synthetic hormones?
📣 And most importantly—why is this the default care?

This isn’t about demonizing birth control—it’s about demanding better, more nuanced care. Postpartum women deserve more than a prescription. They deserve real recovery.

🔬 Read the full study here

🍽️ Seasonal Sanity Saver: My 6-Week Rotating Meal Plan 

Every season, I sit down and create a 6-week rotating meal plan for my family. It’s simple, nourishing, and saves me from decision fatigue every single day. I build it based on what we’ve got stocked from our freezer and what we canned last fall—because here in Alaska, that’s how we roll.

Now, fun fact… I have four freezers.

We fish for salmon and halibut, hunt moose, and order a whole cow every year. It sounds intense, and it kind of is. But up here, you’re not really Alaskan unless you’ve got more than one freezer. (Wild, considering the outdoors is one giant freezer half the year.)

But here's the important part: You absolutely do not need multiple freezers to use this meal plan.

Whether your fridge is jam-packed or you're just trying to make weeknight meals easier, this rotation is built to work with any lifestyle. Google the recipes you like, swap ingredients for what you have, and make it your own.

Here’s a peek at what’s on our seasonal menu right now—real food, zero stress, and yes… moose burgers included.

Check out my menu here.

This is what helps me feed my family well without reinventing the wheel every week. Hope it helps you too. 💛

Talk soon,
Maranda Bower
CEO & Founder of Postpartum University®
www.PostpartumU.com

Current Ways You Can Work With Postpartum University®
🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
🎒FREE Provider's Postpartum Nutrition Toolkit
🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training

🌟 New! Nominate a Postpartum Pro for the Spotlight

💌 Know someone who gets it?
This newsletter is basically a secret handshake for providers who are done with surface-level postpartum care and want something deeper, realer, and rooted in truth. Forward this to your people—the ones who need to be in on these conversations.

👉 They can join us here: www.postpartumu.com/newsletter