The weeks after birth are a demanding time, and across cultures and centuries, families have answered it the same way: with warm, slow-cooked, nourishing food. This guide looks at those traditions and offers practical, honest advice on where liver and broth can fit in, and when to check with your doctor or midwife first.
Postpartum food traditions around the world
In Chinese tradition, zuo yue zi ("sitting the month") is a period of rest after birth built around warming foods, including broths and organ meats. Liver appears in traditional texts such as the Compendium of Materia Medica (Li Shizhen, 1578).
In many Latin American families, la cuarentena is a roughly 40-day period of rest and restorative home cooking after birth. Similar practices of rest, warmth and nourishing soups show up in cultures all over the world.
What these traditions share is simple: rest, support, and food that's easy to eat and made with care.
Where broth fits
A cup of bone broth is warm, savoury and quick, which helps when you're feeding a newborn around the clock. Stir a scoop of our broth powder into hot water, or use it as stock for soups and stews you can batch-cook before the baby arrives.
Where liver fits, and when to be careful
Liver has long been part of postpartum cooking. Most new parents have no time or appetite to cook it, which is why some choose capsules. Our Organic Chicken Liver Capsules contain one ingredient: certified organic, pasture-raised chicken liver, gently dried at low temperature.
Please read this part. Liver is naturally high in vitamin A. Too much preformed vitamin A can be harmful during pregnancy, and your overall intake matters while breastfeeding too, especially if you take a prenatal or other supplement that also contains vitamin A.
- Talk to your GP, obstetrician or midwife before taking liver capsules during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
- Bring your other supplements to that conversation, so they can check your total vitamin A.
- Don't take more than the label says. The serving is 1–2 capsules a day, up to 4. More isn't better.
- If you're worried about your iron levels, ask your doctor for a blood test rather than relying on food or supplements alone.
Practical tips for the early weeks
- Batch-cook before birth. Soups and stews made with broth freeze well.
- Keep it simple. A mug of broth is a quick, warm option when you're feeding at 3am.
- Let people help. Many postpartum traditions centre on family cooking for the new mother. Say yes when people offer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take chicken liver capsules while breastfeeding?
Check with your doctor or midwife first, and bring along any other supplements you take. Liver is naturally high in vitamin A, and your total intake matters.
Can I take them while pregnant?
Only with your doctor's or midwife's advice. Too much preformed vitamin A can be harmful in pregnancy.
How many capsules make a serve?
Two capsules (1g) is one serve. The label recommends 1–2 capsules a day, and no more than 4.
What's in the capsules?
Certified organic, pasture-raised chicken liver, gently dried, in a capsule shell. Nothing else.
References
- Li Shizhen. Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu). 1578.
- Clagett-Dame M, DeLuca HF. The role of vitamin A in mammalian reproduction and embryonic development. Annual Review of Nutrition. 2002;22:347–381.
