The Postnatal Depletion Cure: A Complete Guide to Rebuilding Your Health and Reclaiming Your Energy for Mothers of Newborns, Toddlers and Young Children

I'm going to write the review that I wish was out there when I was considering whether to buy this book or not.I've had 3 kids in 3.5 years, in my late thirties. Last winter pushed me to the edge: I collapsed at home, went to see a GP about it, and was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics to clear a chest infection. I was utterly depleted, with three children under three relying on me completely and a husband who works very long hours, and no family living locally. Antibiotics did not cut it, and whilst the NHS is good for acute medicine, it has no way of dealing with someone who's just under that acute threshold. Eventually I found a good herbalist who got me through the crisis point, but I'm still running at full pelt, feeling exhausted and depleted and holding on by the skin of my teeth most of the time. I am the perfect audience for this book, and I really need the information that its author Dr. Serrallach has to offer.Having read it, I'm left feeling a bit frustrated. If you're a rich American woman, I've no doubt this book will be helpful to you. If you're a British woman without access to private healthcare or childcare, it won't be much help at all. For example, Dr. Serrallach writes, "See you doctor and ask for the recommended tests: iron studies, full blood count (CBC/FBC), electrolytes (EUC/BUN) including corrected calcium and liver function tests, thyroid blood tests including free T3, free T4, TSH, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies, vitamin B12, 25-OH vitamin D levels, plasma zinc, serum copper, ceruloplastmin, homocysteine, and whole blood histamine. Urine tests should include morning spot iodine and twenty-four-hour urinary magnesium. Saliva hormone testing should include...." ... Well, you get the picture. Can you imagine walking into your local NHS GP's office and getting that on demand?! Hahaha! HAHAHA! Sorry, I can't stop laughing.Dr. Serrallach recommends "micronutrient rebuilding" and runs through a list of things in which women can be postnatally deficient: iron, zinc, vitamins, copper, magnesium. There are a few questionnaires where you can tick questions like "Are you experiencing hair loss?" and "Are you suffering from fatigue?" to help you determine where the deficiency lies. When I ran through the checklists, all this basically left me with was the impression that I should head down to Holland & Barratt (other high street health food stores are available) and buy up literally every supplement going, because I'm deficient in pretty much every micronutrient there is.But wait! As if that wasn't enough tubs of pills to buy, there's more! You've also got to "rebuild macronutrients". Basically, fats, protein, and carbs. Dr. Serrallach says, "I include DHA supplementation in almost all my protocols for my patients. The best source of DHA is fish oil." So throw a tub of fish oil capsules into that shopping basket too.The stuff about getting good protein from eggs, meat, fish, and eating complex carbs is basic common sense. It's stuff we all know in theory but is so hard to do in practice, when you're trying to get a double buggy on the bus to do a shop with three whining children who generally refuse to eat anything other than fish fingers and chips (which is all you can manage to throw in the oven while they're distracted by CBeebies). Dr. Serallach says, "I refer them [his patients] to our nutritionist, who devises meal plans with them and helps create the shopping lists." Oh for a nutritionist and a personal meal-planner. That must be nice. Us mere readers-of-the-book must make do with the 'Optimal Energy Food Plan' however. It's basically a Paleo diet. No, I didn't know what that was either, but having read the book I can now tell you that "the Paleo diet prohibits grains, favoring instead quality proteins and the liberal consumption of healthy fats." Dr. Serrallach helpfully gives meal plans for two days of family meals. Now, I don't know what his family is like, but MY kids took one look at the Chia pudding with coconut yoghurt and fruits and burst into tears. As for quinoa, millet, and buckwheat noodles, I saved myself the hassle and didn't even try to offer it to them.Because that's the thing when you have kids at home: you eat when they eat, and you eat what they eat, otherwise you're cooking and cleaning twice over. So the food plan has to work for little kids too. Mine draw the line at miso soup and sauerkraut. My husband wasn't too enthused about spirulina, either.If your husband and kids are out all day, and you only have yourself to think about for most of the day, I'd say the Paleo-diet meal plans in this book are do-able. If, like me, you're planning and delivering three meals a day for a baby, a toddler, and a pre-schooler, and eating with them, it's going to be a challenge.Right, so we've done the micronutrients, the macronutrients, and the Paleo-diet 'Optimal Energy Food Plan'. What's next? Before we get on to the'Optimal Energy Exercise Plan', and after you've persuaded your NHS GP to run the full gamut of tests on your hormone levels, you've got to get to sort out "alternative therapies and better sleep." Ladies, we're talking acupuncture, meditation, and 'restorative yoga' here. Because of course you have the time and financial resources for this. Of course you do.My favourite bit of the whole book has to be this, on meditation: "Meditation is a truly wonderful thing to do for yourself. All you need is a quiet room and a few minutes..." HAHAHA!! If I had a quiet room (never) and a few minutes (never), I would not be meditating. I would be asleep. Or hoovering.Also this, on "cardiac coherence training", which is - apparently - "one way to relax": whilst you're waiting for your child "at school pickup, sports training, or dance class" and "once you've loaded a biofeedback app or program on any of your electronic devices, you can check your HRV [heart rate variability] and use this information to get yourself back into a positive relaxation state." Oh yes, my many electronic devices. Does a cracked iPhone 5 on its last legs count? It's got no space for photos let alone "biofeedback" apps. Also, I love the idea that a busy mum might actually be *waiting* because I am never waiting but always behind, always scrabbling to get there on time, always running late, always just scraping to be the last mum but one at pick-up time.Infact, I really don't have the time to be writing this review - there's a sink full of breakfast waiting to be cleared up and the kids are in front of the telly - but I'm considering it my public duty to give other mums the information to make an informed purchase here. Because none of us really have the time to be reading books that don't ultimately help.On to the 'Optimal Exercise Plan'. Dr. Serallach gives a mix of yoga stretches and pilates moves, because that is naturally what you feel like doing after a day on your feet wrangling small children. He recommends swimming, yoga, free weights - all of which you can only do because of course you have childcare.Ultimately, what's in this book is stuff we already know: eat well, get lots of sleep, do some gentle exercise, pop a few vitamin pills. Basic self-care sounds so easy doesn't it? Unless you're a mum with small kids. Dr. Serrallach's plan seems to hinge on mums having the financial resources for childcare so you can find the time to implement the plan, and on having the financial resources to do yoga, acupuncture, have a private doctor and army of nutritionists and acupuncturists and all the rest. It's not really for the likes of me. I'm screwed.

I first heard about this book from the Motherland podcast where the author gave an interview on one of the episodes. What I heard on that episode really resonated with me and I immediately ordered the book for next day delivery. I've not finished it yet but what I have read so far is so enlightening; I recognise in myself a lot of what is mentioned as symptoms of post-natal depletion and I'm eager to get to implementing the recommendations made on how to recover. Understanding what may have happened in my case though has already been so helpful and reassuring.I think this book is perfect for any mother who is feeling like she's not operating quite at optimal level and it's great for any mother to be. Knowing how important it is to put the mother's recovery higher up the priority list in the post labour period is an invaluable lesson; something I wish I'd understood more 2.5years ago.I would caveat this firm recommendation by noting that this book is not an alternative to seeking support from a GP or a Health Visitor should a mother feel that she's "not quite right". An individual assessment with a medically trained professional is always best but this book is fantastic for explaining why we might feel incredibly tired and at times overwhelmed. Glib comments like "you are new mum, of course you are stressed and knackered" are neither comforting nor helpful and this book validates why you are feeling depleted and provides comment on what can be done to put it right.In summary, I'm really happy I heard about this book, grateful that the concept of post-natal depletion is out there and being discussed and I'm really looking forward to reading more of it.

Interesting read, lots of good information but unfortunately a lot of the ’cures’ given are expensive and not easily available to most women in the U.K., like so many books in this category. You’d have to get private health care, spend fortunes on various tests and even more fortune on homeopathic and other remedies. There are other more affordable and accessible ways to cure depletion which this book doesn’t go into enough in my opinion. My inner cynic feels like this book is a marketing tactic for the alternative healthcare system rather than genuinely helping women…

Great book, have really enjoyed reading. Arrived really quickly and I’m so glad because I was happy to dive right in!

Great enlightening book. A must read for all mums. You will probably find most of your health concerns are down to the factors mentioned in this book.