An article by Physiotherapist, Sarah Parker

I want to open with a quote from Dr Jerry Tennant (MD):

“One must have the raw material necessary to make new cells and to eliminate the toxins or infections present that will damage the new cells. One can take all of the medications you like and do as much surgery as you like but you will not heal unless you have raw materials and lack of toxins”

I.e. we are only as healthy and strong as our bodies ability to detox old and make new cells.

We are lacking in raw materials due to over farmed soil (dead food) and we are extremely toxic due to high levels of man made materials in the world. This is a big deal for women as our immune systems are on high alert already. Having the ability to make life requires life and an immune system ready to fight for that life.

In the postnatal period healing is all you are doing and not only for yourself but the baby that is reliant upon you for their safety and healing especially in the 1st 9 months. Mammals our size should have 18 month gestation periods but due to the size of our heads we exit the womb prematurely and so in this period mum and baby are healing together. Healing is all we do as humans. The moment the cells begin to divide within the womb and begin to build life… this is healing.

We are all born with holes in our heart and leaky guts and it is exposure to life/microbiomes (fungus, bacteria and yeast) from the earth, air, that of other beings (mum and dad) and breast feeding that encourages this healing process and it never stops until the day we exit the physical realm.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and when it comes to healing is the source of fibroblasts (the most proliferate cell in connective tissue) which secrete collagen and give structure and the ability to build new tissue.

All connective tissue has changed in pregnancy due to the release of relaxin in the 1st trimester and will change again post birth - relaxin is present until approximately 3 months after breast-feeding stops. Not to mention the changes in the pelvic floor after vaginal birth (with or without tears/episiotomy) or the healing process of the lower abdomen after cesarean section. Either way your body has changed forever and we have to listen to and adapt to this change by building strength in the peripheral nervous system with movement/loading, functioning from the parasympathetic (rest, restore, regenerate) central nervous system state and nourishing those systems with the building blocks in this case COLLAGEN! (Minerals are also important but that’s for another blog).

How do I get my collagen in?

I never drink plain water and often you’ll find me walking with 2 litres of some sort of brown/yellow, murky fluid which is generally Ossa Organic Beef Bone Broth.

I add bone broth to my coffee along with Ossa Organic Ghee because I’m “disgusting” as my friends say but I am also pain free and feel great all of the time so I’ll take disgusting over 36 years of chronic pain.

I add bone broth to my food - soups, curry’s etc pretty much anywhere I can get it in it goes haha

Our power to heal as human beings is limitless if we know how and collagen is always a good place to start, along with breathing (again, for another blog) for everyone but particularly if you are postnatal.

Happy Healing