How Food Traditions Nourish New Moms
Feb. 25, 2021
When Jennifer Chowdhury, a New York City-based journalist, gave birth to a baby girl three months ago, her Bangladeshi mother and maternal aunt fed her kalijira bhorta, or black cumin mash, in the immediate postpartum period. Kalijira bhorta is an aromatic and flavorful dish, often seasoned with garlic and mustard oil, and served with rice. Bengalis also believe it stimulates lochia, or postpartum vaginal discharge, and increases milk supply.
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Kalijira bhorta, a cumin-based Bengali dish, is served to mothers during postpartum recovery.Credit.Olivia Fields
Dr. Sharon Okonkwo-Holmes is a family physician and an instructor of clinical science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, Calif. When she became a parent, her Nigerian emigrant mother prepared pepper-leaf soup that Dr. Okonkwo-Holmes ate twice a day. “The soup, which came from her village, Oba, includes scent leaf, utazi, uda, uziza