Functional Nutrition for Pregnancy & Postpartum: Support Your Health and Your Baby’s Wellbeing
Pregnancy and postpartum are often painted as joyful seasons—but the truth is, they can also feel overwhelming, exhausting, and full of confusing symptoms. Maybe you’ve been told your bloating, constipation, or fatigue are “just part of postpartum.” Or that your baby’s fussiness is normal and they’ll eventually grow out of it. Perhaps you’ve even been advised to “just cut out dairy” without anyone looking deeper into what’s really going on.
Published Oct 5, 2025
Author: Robin Kaplan, M.Ed, IBCLC, FNC
Pregnancy and postpartum are often painted as joyful seasons—but the truth is, they can also feel overwhelming, exhausting, and full of confusing symptoms. Maybe you’ve been told your bloating, constipation, or fatigue are “just part of postpartum.” Or that your baby’s fussiness is normal and they’ll eventually grow out of it. Perhaps you’ve even been advised to “just cut out dairy” without anyone looking deeper into what’s really going on.
ABOUT SDBFC
The San Diego Breastfeeding Center was established in 2009 by Robin Kaplan, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Functional Nutritionist, and parent. Her vision was to create a judgment-free, inclusive support system for families navigating infant feeding challenges.
SDBFC offers a wide range of one-on-one breastfeeding, infant feeding, and nutrition consultations - as well as classes, support groups, online articles, and social media - making it your one-stop-shop for all things infant feeding!
Why Functional Nutrition Matters for Lactating Parents
Our medical history and diet play a huge role in shaping our gut microbiome. Over time, things like thyroid conditions, insulin sensitivity, PCOS, antibiotics, or food intolerances can cause inflammation in the body. This inflammation impacts how we digest food, absorb nutrients, process hormones like insulin and estrogen, and how our body feels overall.
When you’re producing milk, this becomes an even bigger part of the story. If your gut isn’t breaking down proteins well, your baby may react to some of the foods you eat—not because the food itself is “bad,” but because of how your body is processing it. That’s why simply removing dairy or waiting for your baby to “grow out of it” is often just a band-aid. Functional nutrition looks deeper at your health history to heal your gut, which in turn helps your baby digest your milk more comfortably.
And if antibiotics were given during pregnancy, labor, or postpartum, rebuilding “good” bacteria for both parent and baby can help remedy mucus in stool, colic-like symptoms, constipation, and yeast.
What if you didn’t have to just wait it out? With the right support, you can address the root causes of your symptoms, restore balance, and help both you and your baby thrive.
What is Functional Nutrition?
Functional nutrition connects the dots between symptoms and their root causes. Instead of quick fixes, it looks at diet, lifestyle, illness, stress, environment, and genetics to create a personalized plan that supports long-term health for you and your baby.
Who Benefits from a Prenatal Functional Nutrition Appointment?
Pregnancy is the perfect time to lay a strong foundation for both your health and your baby’s development. Functional nutrition may be especially helpful if you are:
Preparing for lactation after a history of low milk supply or breastfeeding/chestfeeding challenges
Managing conditions like PCOS, thyroid imbalance, or gestational diabetes
Looking for a holistic, evidence-based approach to support pregnancy and baby’s growth
Who Benefits from a Postpartum Functional Nutrition Appointment?
The postpartum period brings healing, shifting hormones, and new demands—especially if you’re lactating. Support may be most helpful for:
Adults with chronic inflammation, autoimmune conditions, PCOS, insulin resistance, or gut challenges
Lactating parents struggling with unexplained low supply, plugged ducts, or recurring breast infections
Parents or babies experiencing constipation, diarrhea, bloating, or other digestive discomfort
Babies with reflux, colic, suspected food intolerances, or yeast-related issues
Benefits of Meeting with a Functional Nutrition Counselor
One of the biggest benefits? Being heard. Instead of dismissing symptoms, functional nutrition helps uncover the why behind them—so you can heal and feel better long term. Outcomes may include:
Improved digestion and gut health (for parent and baby!)
Reduced inflammation and food/nutrient absorption
Enhanced immune function
Balanced hormones
Robust milk supply
Improved mood and mental health
Lower risk of chronic conditions like thyroid imbalance, insulin resistance, and autoimmune disorders
Do All Functional Nutrition Counselors Recommend Elimination Diets?
Not at all. Functional nutrition is personalized, not one-size-fits-all. While elimination diets can help identify food sensitivities, they’re not always needed.
Food journals may be used to spot patterns and triggers
If an elimination diet is suggested, it’s usually temporary. And we always provide replacement food recommendations and recipes!
The goal is to heal underlying issues so foods can be reintroduced
Recommendations may also include supplements and lifestyle changes for lasting results
Taking the Next Step
If you’re curious about whether functional nutrition could help during pregnancy or postpartum, the best place to start is with a conversation.
Here’s how to get started:
Book your appointment with our IBCLC + functional nutrition counselor, Robin Kaplan (SDBFC Founder and Owner!)
Fill out our comprehensive intake form so we can understand your full health picture, as well as your baby’s.
Begin your personalized journey with a plan designed just for you and your baby
Whether you’re navigating pregnancy, the early postpartum weeks, or beyond, functional nutrition can be the key to feeling more energized, balanced, and healthy. We can’t wait to help you and your baby thrive.
Don’t let milk supply or digestion troubles cause stress for you or your baby! At each functional nutrition appointment, our IBCLC/Functional Nutritionist completes a full medical history and lactation intake, discusses feeding patterns and symptoms, and offers strategies for supporting your milk supply and healing underlying conditions. Plus, if you are already working with a lactation consultant, we will work collaboratively to support their recommendations and weave in functional nutrition components! Book a one-on-one functional nutrition consultation today
SDBFC is committed to providing high-quality lactation and functional nutrition consultations to parents in San Diego and beyond. Explore our postpartum, prenatal, and functional nutrition consultations, take a breastfeeding class or attend a workshop.
About the Author
Robin Kaplan has been an IBCLC since 2009, the same year that she opened up the San Diego Breastfeeding Center. Robin was the founding host of the Boob Group podcast and published her first book, Latch: a Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence at Every Stage in 2018. Melding her passions for supporting lactating parents and holistic health, Robin finished her Functional Nutrition Certification in 2023. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her two teenage boys, hiking, traveling, weaving, cooking, and searching for the best chai latte.
Help a Mama Out: Surviving Your Baby’s Witching Hours
‘Help a Mama Out’ Topic of the Week: What are Your Best Tips for Surviving Your Baby’s Witching Hours?
Ashley: Wearing the baby during the evening hours. Prepping dinner earlier in the day so that I didn’t have to do it during my baby’s fussy time. Setting aside special activities for my then 3-year old that she could do on her own or with little help from me, just in case I needed to be sitting on the couch, constantly nursing the baby. Reminding myself that this was temporary and would pass!
Karen: Feeding a little at a time, more frequently. I read when #4 had HORRIBLE colic that there are some cultures where babies never experience colic. In all of these communities, babies are worn and are on and off the boob all day, so they eat small meals very frequently.
Kat: Support from my husband was really crucial during this time. I would nurse my son and concentrate on him while my husband got dinner ready. Holding and wearing baby helped the most. Also, fresh air worked wonders!
Lori: Babywearing…. I would also batch cook on the weekend when Daddy was home so that come dinner time, all I had to do was heat it up.
Catie: Remain calm…. Baby seemed to sense the angst and it only made things worse. Often baby and I both needed a breather. My husband was deployed when my son went through the worst of it so handing him off wasn’t an option. I would set him down in a swing or bouncy chair with a toy, walk to another room and take 30 seconds minimum to breathe, drink some water, etc. If baby was happy, I took a break away from him since we were obviously over-stimulating each other. Then, back to nursing, rocking, wearing, walking, etc…. until we could both get a good nap!
Janina: Babywearing, smaller feedings, burp a lot, white noise, gripe water at the first sign of crying, rocking, and time.
Christina: Wearing and then walking – close to mom, plus amazing fresh air and rhythmic movements. Sometimes getting into a warm bath with my daughter helped, too.
Shelly: Lowering my expectations. Fussy babies meant nothing was getting done except baby care. Going for a walk helped clear my head and the change of scenery almost always calmed them down.
Kathryn: Bouncing on the exercise ball and the vacuum was a lifesaver.
Grace: Adjusting my diet (cutting out gluten and dairy because those were his colic culprits). Make the day less chaotic by staying home or no visitors, low lights, soothing music. Skin to skin. Take a warm bath with baby on my chest. Baby massage with some coconut oil and lavender oil. Colic Calm if it lasts more than an hour.
Turath: Our baby’s witching hour turned out to be a dairy sensitivity, so after I cut out dairy we haven’t had any problems. Definitely babywearing! This article has lots of great tips…. It’s sleep related, but I think many of the tips will work for calming a fussy baby. http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/fussy-baby/31-ways-get-your-baby-sleep-and-stay-asleep
Rhianna: Try putting them to bed earlier. Once we instituted a 6pm bedtime, it was MUCH easier!
Kenyatta: Wear them! Familiarity (routine, music, lighting, smells) and calm.
Here are a few of my favorite articles:
A Checklist of 36 Time-Tested Baby Calmers
The Phenomenon of Late Afternoon/Early Evening Infant Crying: Part 1
The Phenomenon of Late Afternoon/Early Evening Infant Crying: Part 2