This Nutritionist Encourages You To Find Many Forms Of Maternal Support

Around 2015, I started a yoga training program and became inspired by a pregnancy module to pursue further training in pre and postnatal yoga—which then led me to my master’s program. I was truly inspired by the body, the needs of pregnancy and postpartum, along with the need for a whole-person focused nutritionist and program—especially to serve this very unique life stage. Prior to that, in college, I had worked as a Personal Assistant at a very early-stage meal delivery company in Santa Barbara. This was really the first time I truly learned about alternative salts and sugars, dietary preferences—way before the big meal companies of today. I then sought further training in lactation and doula work, because so many of my clients needed integrative support. In 2016, an existing yoga client was seeking postpartum meal support and allowed my private practice to evolve which eventually led us to where we are today with Chiyo.

With my first, my go to meals were Korean! We lived in New York City at the time, and luckily, a very delicious Korean restaurant opened up in the Lower East Side-Chinatown area where we were. We didn’t have to travel too far into Koreatown, so I went there a couple times a week just absolutely craving all the beautiful banchan, including kimchi, bean sprouts and cucumbers.

There are so many key nutrients—which is why diet and supplements can play such an important role in pregnancy. The one thing I think is quite overlooked is Vitamin D. Most people don’t know their Vitamin D status, since it doesn’t come on a regular blood panel typically. When blood results come back, ask your doctor for an evaluation of the entire panel, including Vitamin D. Vitamin D is such an important vitamin, and most people are deficient. Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption along with cell growth, immune function and glucose metabolism.

Definitely. When determining the best supplement for any client, I truly assess their lifestyle, current diet, and supplement routine. For many people, pregnancy is the very first time they’re taking supplements and will just gravitate towards whatever is most convenient—which is totally fine—but this decision should also mindfully depend on other lifestyle factors. For example, if you’re vegan or vegetarian, I will likely recommend a more comprehensive prenatal. For each client, we talk about the different factors to find the right supplements for them.

Nutrition can play a vital role in egg and sperm health. It can play a huge part in overall egg quality, energy production, and implantation as well as sperm motility, quality and quantity. There is so much you can do with nutrition to support and increase your chances of conceiving. For example, CoQ10 is a potent antioxidant that can support energy production in egg quality, especially for older eggs.

We recommend at least three or four months before the estimated due date, if not sooner. So many folks typically don’t plan them at all, and are so focused on labor and delivery—which is such a blimp in the timeline. I think a lot of people get caught up in the baby registry, but don’t register for anything for themselves and their partners. Along with meals, think about the other support you might need—whether its parents, friends, doulas, pelvic floor physical therapy, lactation support, and more. These are the additional resources you should have available before you’re in the thick of it.

I always like to say that nutrition and diet is just a piece of the puzzle. Check in with stress levels, movement, environment and even friends, family and work. A lot of self-care is just actual care you should focus on consistently—like massages, acupuncture, pelvic floor therapy, and your mental health—they all play a vital part in your overall health. Preventative care and maintenance will help your health in the long term.

Consistent timing of meals and calories, as a foundation, will help with lactation. Stress and poor sleep will hinder lactation. As for specific foods or drinks, there is new research that supports the use of fenugreek—so using it as a spice or in tea can be helpful. We also infuse our herbal broths and tonics with key herbs that have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years—they support lactation, tissue repair, fatigue and mood.

Chiyo is a stage-and-symptom-specific holistic nutritional therapy platform and program, personalized to your journey. We provide nutrition, education, and meal programs for fertility, pregnancy, postpartum and beyond. Irene was initially inspired when her aunt had a baby and her mom was sending her very traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and foods. She knew that something similar must exist in the market—but there didn’t seem to be anything that was for the modern person, with an ode to the heritage and infused with nutritional science. I was doing this exact thing already in my private practice—creating nutritional focused programs for pregnant and postpartum people and their families. So in 2020 we created a pilot program together, and well, the rest is history. Our food philosophy very much bridges the gap between Eastern food therapy and nutritional science, as we utilize Traditional Chinese Medicine along with the latest nutritional research to improve fertility outcomes, address common pregnancy symptoms, and support postpartum healing and recovery. Our foundational meals are always gluten free, dairy free, organic, and local whenever available, and we focus on sustainable fish, grass-fed beef and cage-free and antibiotic-free poultry. We take great pride in our sourcing, all the way to our salt-alternative garnishes and packaging. We work very hard every day to always improve this experience and the quality of our products.

We definitely recognize that it is a premium service right now, and we are working very hard to make it more accessible to more people—including looking to HSA/FSA and employer coverage. Setting up a Chiyo fund on Little Honey Money is also a great option for families. If our full meal plans are not within reach, our smaller bundles like our Broth + Tonic Bundle, Pantry Starter Kit, and One Day Trial will all provide you with much-needed support. Your body will thank you for any bit you nourish it! We also provide discounts for SNAP/EBT recipients as well as practitioner discounts, if you are a part of the birth community in any way. We want this to be the standard of care that everyone deserves, so we encourage reaching out to us if you’re interested in the programs but can’t afford them.