Hormones | Maternal health | Menstrual Cycle | Motherhood

Why does your first period postpartum suck?! Making sense of your menstrual cycle in early motherhood

Oct 30, 2023 | 0 comments

Many women find their first menstrual period after birth to be a difficult experience – something that catches many off guard and brings a new wave of challenges to postpartum and early motherhood.

For some women, pre-existing menstrual cycle challenges from before pregnancy are exacerbated or, for others, new challenges can arise.

Like so many of the challenges of early motherhood, there is so little conversation about why this is happening for so many women and how you can support yourself through the transition to menstruating as a mother. Let’s explore these questions together below.

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this blog is for your personal or other non-commercial, educational purposes. It should not be considered as medical or professional advice. We recommend you consult with a GP or other healthcare professional before taking or omitting to take any action based on this blog. While the author uses best endeavours to provide accurate and true content, the author makes no guarantees or promises and assumes no liability regarding the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information presented. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this blog are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this blog is done at your own risk.

Why do so many mothers find their first period postpartum difficult?

If you can relate to having a challenging first (or first few) menstrual cycle after birth, you might be wondering what the hell is going on?! Naturally, you may question if your hormones are out of balance. But while your reproductive hormones are integral to menstrual cycle health, they are just one small piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding menstrual cycle challenges like PMS.

Your menstrual cycle is your monthly health report card. Many refer to it as the ‘5th vital sign’ – meaning that it provides regular feedback and important information about the overall health of the body, not just an indication of what is going on with reproductive hormones.

We know that all kinds of things can influence your hormones and menstrual cycle, including nutrition and food, lifestyle factors, nervous system function, stress levels, environmental exposures, and more.

Motherhood ushers in a unique set of circumstances that can impact all of these areas and influence all areas of our wellbeing – our energy, mood, relationships, cognitive function, and our menstrual cycle.

These factors can be grouped into three main areas:

The social, environmental, and personal factors that surround motherhood
The physical factors that may change or be under a lot of pressure in early motherhood
The misalignment of the daily expectations of modern mothers with the natural monthly rhythm of our menstrual cycle

Your life is different:

social, environmental, and emotional factors unique to motherhood

As you adjust to life as a mother (whether it be the first, second, third or more rodeo), you may find that your life looks very different to what it used to, certainly compared to your prebaby maiden days. Your daily routines may have shifted significantly and you’re constantly trying to balance the demands of caring for little ones with tending to the needs of the house and family, while somehow also making time for yourself.

With limited time for self-care, rest and sleep, and probably increased emotional demands on you, your capacity for dealing with new or additional stresses might be reduced. Your first period can be one such stressor – like the final cherry on top that breaks you.

On top of this, you might be navigating ongoing broken sleep and lacking proper time to rest, have inadequate support around you to allow you time to focus more on yourself, or you might be trying to juggle the competing demands of working motherhood. All of this leaves very little time or space to align your needs more closely with the seasons or rhythm of your menstrual cycle (more on this below).

All of these factors can impact how you experience your menstrual cycle, particularly your first period after birth:

Changed family and personal circumstances
Decreased time to tend to your own basic needs
Less opportunity for sleep and rest
Less space to focus on yourself or align more closely with the inner seasons of your cycle
Lack of support
Difficulty asking for help or expressing your own needs
Reduced capacity for dealing with extra stresses
Emotional or cognitive depletion (which may or may not be part of burnout or postnatal depletion – more on this below)

Related blog: Do you have postnatal depletion?

Your body is different:

the physical and biochemical factors that may be different in motherhood

Through the demands of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, your body has likely undergone many physical and biochemical changes that can influence your menstrual cycle. Some of these changes are a natural and normal part of the perinatal journey, for example, changes to the anatomy of your uterus from pregnancy or the hormonal changes that occur while breastfeeding. While other changes are abnormal and require support, such as nutrient deficiencies or thyroid disorders.

All of these physical and biochemical factors that can be seen in early motherhood may be influencing your hormones and therefore how you experience your first period after birth:

Postnatal depletion or burnout
Hormone levels may still be recalibrating after pregnancy and/or breastfeeding
Ongoing breastfeeding may continue to influence female hormone levels and cause a push-pull between menstrual cycle hormones and breastfeeding hormones
Physical changes to female anatomy during pregnancy & birth can change menstrual blood loss
Chronic stress impacting hormone levels
Circadian rhythm (body clock) disruptions
Undernourishment & nutrient deficiencies
Thyroid disorders

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The misalignment of modern motherhood with the monthly rhythm of your menstrual cycle

As a modern mother, you are usually on call 24/7, required to show up to do the work of mothering in the same way every single day, regardless of your own wellbeing, your energy (or lack thereof), or even illness. These demands and expectations on us adhere to the circadian rhythm – the 24-hour cycle that aligns with the day/night cycle. This rhythm is well-suited to male physiology, where testosterone operates on a consistent daily cycle, but not exactly ideal for the monthly rhythm of the female menstrual cycle.

This mismatch between the demands of modern motherhood and the natural fluctuations of the menstrual cycle can result in a constant push to perform at the same pace each day, disregarding the innate need for rest and rejuvenation that coincides with some phases of the menstrual cycle (specifically the premenstrual and menstrual phases, which are typically more inwardly focused, lower energy phases of the cycle). This push can lead to heightened stress levels, feelings of overwhelm, and an increased susceptibility to burnout, as well as making our monthly experience of our menstrual cycle more difficult.

Understanding how to embrace the monthly rhythm of your cycle, attuning to the ‘seasons’ of your cycle, and acknowledging the natural ebbs and flows of physical energy, mood, and emotions is pivotal for navigating menstruation in motherhood with more ease.

What you can do differently

If your first or first few periods postpartum have been difficult, here are a few steps you can consider to help you find more ease with your menstrual cycle:

Reflect on what, if any, social, environmental, and personal factors are the biggest challenge for you right now. Can you discuss these with your partner or other support person, and make a plan for slowly shifting them
Get a thorough postpartum assessment completed to screen for any of the physical factors that may be contributing to your menstrual cycle challenges
Start tracking your menstrual cycle and making note of the times in your cycle you feel more energised and times when you feel more withdrawn. Over time you can start planning for the more inwardly focused phases.

Keep in mind that this is quite a general discussion about the menstrual cycle in motherhood and that we can get much more specific about what exactly is going on for you personally based on what symptoms you’re experiencing and understanding what factors are at play in your life, then putting a plan together for supporting you and addressing these things.

Check out the ways we can work together here if you would like support doing this.

Georgie xx