#138 Nurturing All Phases of Birth with Nutritionist Tahlia Mynott

Holistic nutritionist and author Tahlia Mynott understands the importance of nourishing the mother through every phase of the birthing journey; So much so, that she has dedicated her career to it, along with women's health. In this very special Women's Series episode, Tahnee and Tahlia (both mothers) take us on a journey through the beautiful expanse that is motherhood. From the highs of postpartum oxytocin joy to the depths of menstrual healing and processing miscarriage (a topic that isn't talked about enough). In 2021 Tahlia self-published her first book, Nourishing Those Who Nurture, co-authored with doula and trauma-informed kinesiologist Caitlin Priday; The book is both a bible and an accessible guide for all women, regardless of their circumstances. The beautiful intention behind Nourishing Those Who Nurture is to take the overwhelm out of the postpartum rollercoaster through easy, nourishing, warming recipes (tailored to the needs of the postpartum mother) and preparation guidance for managing the massive shifts mother's traverse in their postpartum period. Tahlia and Tahnee dive deep into prenatal preparation, PCOS and menstrual cycle healing, the power of food as medicine, restoring the integrity of the pelvis after birth, postnatal care, and the emotional/physical complexities that come with experiencing a miscarriage. Tune in!

 

“I think it's important to be real that it does happen and that there's a spiritual aspect to miscarriage as well. You can be totally supported in what you've done, in terms of detoxing, nourishing, and it could still happen”.

 

 - Tahlia Mynott

 

 

Host and Guest discuss:

• Healing PCOS.
• Dysmenorrhea.
• Preconception.
• Miscarriage and healing.
• The Postpartum phase.
• Restoring the pelvic floor.
• Seed Cycling for hormones.
• Healing the menstrual cycle.
• Phases of the menstrual cycle.
• The transition from maiden to mother.
• Supporting hormonal health through food.

 

Who is Tahlia Mynott?

Tahlia is a Mother of two beautiful boys, Luca Mayar and Oka Sol. She birthed both of these beautiful beings into the world at her rainforest home at the base of Wollumbin.

Tahlia is a clinical nutritionist specifically interested in women's health; however, she brings much more than nutrition information to her clinic.
She conducts her work through her online clinic and workshops, online booklets, and podcasts with both her businesses Luna Holistic Nutrition and Living Hormoniously. In 2021, Tahlia released her first book, "Nourishing Those Who Nurture" - More than A Food Bible for New Mums.

 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST 

 

Resources:

@livinghormoniously
@lunaholisticnutrition
@nourishingthosewhonurture
www.lunaholisticnutrition.com
Reishi for helping heal PCOS
Schisandra for preconception
Seed Cycling for hormone balance
Nourishing Those Who Nurture Book
Mothering From Your Center Book
Brighton Baby book by Roy Dittmann
Spirit Babies book by Walter Makichen
Pregnancy Preparation with Tahnee (EP#14)
 

 

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Check Out The Transcript Here:

 

Tahnee: (00:00)

Hi, everybody. Welcome to the SuperFeast Podcast. I'm here today with Tahlia Mynott, and she's the mama of her two gorgeous boys, Luca and Oka, who were birthed up near our magical local mountain, Wollumbin. Tahlia's a clinical nutritionist and she has a special interest in women's health. She's bringing all of this work that she's done in clinic but also her work that she does workshops and offers a lot of support and coaching through her partnerships. You do some yoga stuff. You do a whole bunch of awesome things.

 

Tahnee: (00:32)

Now she's an incredible author of this book, Nourishing Those Who Nurture, which I'm really happy to have beside me and I've just finished reading this week. We're going to talk a little bit about the book today and about Tahlia's journey toward health and wellbeing, so thanks for having us here. I'm saying that backwards. Thanks for being here.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (00:50)

Thanks for having me. I know, that was a lot. I mean, my bio, there's a lot going on in my life at the moment. So when I hear it, I'm like, "Whoa, there's little bits and pieces everywhere."

 

Tahnee: (01:01)

I always feel like that too. I'm like, "I've done a thousand things." But I really love you guys. You had your really beautiful business made with your love and you brought that sort of clinical nutrition aspect to crafting product. And now you're more supporting women, so I think there's this really beautiful journey you guys have been on and now being a mummer of two.

 

Tahnee: (01:22)

Yeah. Tell us a little bit about how did you come to be a clinical nutritionist and how did you end up being where you are right now talking to me? How did we get here?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (01:30)

Yeah. Cool. Love this. I actually, well, I say I was gifted or blessed. Because well, I chose, I guess, and they chose somewhat to be in a family that was quite health conscious. So growing up, particularly my mom, and that's because of a story that she's had with the medical system in her life. She had something happen there that was quite intense, so then she went down a more natural course herself.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (01:59)

When she had me and my two sisters, she brought us up really natural. We had a lot of homoeopaths and naturopaths and all those awesome things that I'm so grateful that I was introduced to so early. I actually did my first liver cleanse, which is hilarious, in year 10.

 

Tahnee: (02:19)

Oh, no.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (02:21)

Which is so funny. At the time it didn't seem that big, but when I look back on it, I was like, "Wow, so I did my first liver cleanse in year 10." Probs didn't need it, but it was a thing we did as a family. That's, I guess, a little bit of background of my growing up. When I went to uni, it just made sense. I actually first started studying psychology and, oh gosh, I can't even remember the name of it. I think it was neuropsych, so a lot of brain stuff.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (02:50)

But I just still had so much interest in health and nutrition, so I actually switched degrees and actually did a double degree in psychology and nutrition thinking that I was going to finish and work with eating disorders, which I did do a little bit of work with, but it definitely wasn't where I saw myself. It didn't fit. I went there, did a little bit of work there and it didn't quite fit. Actually, in relation to women's health, it wasn't until about six years ago. So I actually graduated in 2018, which seems like aeons ago now. No, 2008. Sorry, not 2018, 2008.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (03:33)

It wasn't until roughly five or six years ago that I actually found the niche with women's health. The reason I found it is because I had suffered through my menstruating years a lot with dysmenorrhea, which is a really painful periods. And I also had amenorrhea for years, so that was absence of a cycle for... probably actually was more than a year. It was probably closer to 18 months. I was diagnosed with PCOS in my early 20s. And then around about the time that I really stepped into this work, I was going on my fertility journey. So I had started my preconception journey around that time, and I was just... I guess I wanted to heal parts of my menstrual cycle and then the things I was learning, I was just like, "Oh my gosh, how is this not taught to us? How as women do we not know these?"

 

Tahlia Mynott: (04:22)

I remember being with my mum one day walking, and I was like, "Mum, did you know there was four phases to women's menstrual cycle?" She was like, "No, I had no idea." I'm like, "How? How are you a 50-year-old woman and you have no idea about this?" I was like, "Okay, this is it." I was just so passionate about it that I was like, "This is where I'm meant to be.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (04:46)

Once I get passionate about something, I'm in. I'm all in. It was like podcasts, books, scientific literature, everything I could possibly read and get stuck into. It was my life. Yeah, I guess that's where I'm at today in many little facets, like you said. I do workshops with living harmoniously and also I do postpartum workshops with Esther, a friend of mind, but then I also have my clinic, which is Luna Holistic Nutrition. Now I have a postpartum book that I've co-authored, Nourishing Those Who Nurture. I mean, I guess there's a main section there, but there's all these little divots, which if I look back in my life, it's how my life has always been.

 

Tahnee: (05:33)

Yeah. I think it's so funny, though, every time I talk to people, I see this tapestry of... You can see the dots that connect when you look back, but when you're in it, I mean, I know for me it's like, "I don't know where I'm going." Then you turn around and you're like, "Ah, that led to that, which led to that." You know?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (05:51)

Totally.

 

Tahnee: (05:51)

I think I just see that in your journey. You've had that background in health, but then you still had some things to work through. And so you've used that kind of catalyst to develop your own offerings. Yeah, it's really beautiful. Because coming full circle like you've had to, really healthy boys, and you've got this gorgeous book and you're working with all these women. It's just yeah, it's a really exciting time for you, I think.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (06:14)

Yeah. Lots of birthings.

 

Tahnee: (06:17)

Yeah. I feel like you spoke a little bit about preconception there and it's a question we get asked a lot at SuperFeast. I had my own journey with that, but I'm curious, for you, how long was that period of time and what did you really focus on in terms of your preconception? Was there sort of a practise or protocol you followed, or was it just a bit more intuitive? How did you navigate that?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (06:39)

Yeah. I've actually listened to your... Was that one of your first podcasts that you did?

 

Tahnee: (06:43)

I think it was my first ever podcast.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (06:45)

Yeah. I loved that.

 

Tahnee: (06:46)

The weak and worst into it.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (06:48)

I actually think I've listened to that podcast twice. For those of you who haven't listened, if it's still up, it's amazing.

 

Tahnee: (06:55)

We will link in the show notes.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (06:57)

Yeah. I actually think I had quite a similar preconception journey to you and even the same book was gifted to me, so the Brighton Baby Method. I hope I've said that correctly. It's been a while since I've looked at it. I guess a little background. I was in my late 20s, early 30s, when I really decided that I wanted to have kids.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (07:22)

Pre-that, I actually wasn't sure that I wanted to have children. I didn't know if it was going to be part of my journey. But my partner who I'm with now, we actually thought we were pregnant very early on in our relationship, and the pregnancy test came back saying negative. The feeling I had was like a disappointment was the initial first feeling that was like, "Okay, I actually want to have kids."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (07:50)

I'd grown up really healthy, but I definitely had gone through my 20s with some partying, which was really fun at the time. But I knew there was a bit of detoxing to do. For me, the Brighton Baby Method was a beautiful book but a little bit overwhelming. It's quite in depth. So I guess I did gentle forms of that, I would say. It was around about 18 months, the whole preconception journey for me, 18 months to two years, roughly. I did a bit of gentle detoxing of the liver, a little bit of the kidneys, and then I did some focus on my colon as well and my gut health because they were places that were quite sensitive for me.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (08:38)

Oh, and something that's really important, I definitely did some heavy metal detoxing. But I guess the biggest thing for me was actually learning how to chart my cycle and learning much more in depth about the phases of my cycle and how to support those phases in terms of nutrition and movement and emotionally and just knowing exactly when I ovulated each month and knowing how long my phases were and supporting my hormones through those phases was probably... Well, I mean, I guess every element was big, but that was probably the biggest element for me and really healing those parts of my menstrual cycle that I'd had issues with previously.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (09:21)

I'd say I first got my first bleed when I was around about 15. I would say pretty much every bleed I had, so I never went on contraception because, thankfully, looking back, I actually turned into an absolute psycho when I was on it. I did try it, but mentally, it just didn't work for me so I actually didn't do it. I think every bleed I had up until I started healing was probably extremely painful. I had dysmenorrhea the whole way through. It would be really foreign to have a monthly bleed that didn't cause me pain.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (10:01)

In terms of the pain, it was like I'd have to take a day off work, for sure. There would be sometimes I vomited, but that wasn't often. But definitely enough pain to just keep me bedridden. So I knew that there was something not quite aligned, but I hadn't really had the support from doctors and I guess the people that I was seeing. I actually worked really closely with an acupuncturist and that was definitely just working out my hormones and my gut health and all of those things that were, I guess, the root cause of that was really pivotal for me.

 

Tahnee: (10:38)

I mean, in terms of did that resolve before you conceived or was it something...

 

Tahlia Mynott: (10:44)

Yes, yeah. I think, gosh, it's a while now ago before my first conception. Because my first conception too, I actually did miscarry, so that was around about five years ago, I think. I think I roughly had pain-free cycles for one to two years, which was incredible for me because I had gone around 14, 15 years of quite debilitating pain.

 

Tahnee: (11:11)

Yeah. It's one of these things I'm super passionate about communicating to women is you don't have to be in pain. But I also really appreciate the effort and the energy involved in transforming that, and it's this touchy subject, I think, because you don't want to be like, "You don't have to bleed and suffer. I don't bleed and suffer." I'm not trying to be a patronising pain in the ass, but it's an option to dig really deep and work out what's going on.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (11:39)

It's such and important thing you've said there too, because for many of those years too I thought it was normal. Because it's almost considered to be a normal aspect of your menstrual cycle, and it simply is not. It's okay to be having probably 30 to 60 minutes of very light cramping at the start where the uterus is starting to contract and the lining is shedding, but that really significant pain which quite a few women experience is simply not normal. We shouldn't be putting that in that category at all.

 

Tahnee: (12:15)

Yeah. You're absolutely right in terms of how we culturally... It's such an interesting thing because you see... I remember tampon ads growing up and these girls like, "Woo," with their tampon or whatever. But then also, the flip side of that is all of my friends, my mum, everyone bitching about their period, how much pain they're in, their emotional state. It's like you grow up in this context of suffering and even the monthly curse and all of this is a narrative, certainly for me in the '90s.

 

Tahnee: (12:47)

Then I get to university to study biology and the lecturers are telling us, "You don't need to have periods. Just use the pill to stop them." It's this really kind of interesting cultural thing around periods being so negative. And then full circle, here I am in my mid-30s going like... When my period came back after, I was like, "Oh. Hello, old friend." It's this really welcome visit.

 

Tahnee: (13:14)

For me, it's become so much of a, Lara Briden uses the term report card, but it's this sense of if I get my period and I'm angry or I'm feeling stressed or I get a headache or something, I know I've pushed myself too hard the month before. And I know that I've overdone it, and it's just a reminder for me that this is coming up for me and I need to address this with my next cycle. I've found that to be such a useful kind of personal development tool, I suppose, in just being really conscious of those warning signs. I've never had worse than a headache, and I think it's such a helpful thing to know how to come back.

 

Tahnee: (13:55)

So you did acupuncture. Were there other things? Like, you said you addressed your gut health, those kinds of things. What else was there that helped, do you think?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (14:05)

Yeah. I think that in terms of are you speaking just in relation to my menstrual cycle or the preconception more so?

 

Tahnee: (14:11)

Yeah. More the menstrual cycle healing. I guess I'm just really interested in if you have any tips or-

 

Tahlia Mynott: (14:18)

Definitely, I mean coming from a background of nutrition as well, definitely the food aspect was really important for me. I had been vegetarian for about 20 years, maybe slightly less, and also vegan and raw vegan for around five or six years, so raw vegan for about 12 months of that. I started introducing animal foods back into my diet, which was definitely really important and quite gradual for me. First fish, then eggs, then liver capsules.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (14:52)

Then actually not until I was pregnant with my second child did I actually start actually consuming meat, but that was definitely really supportive of my hormonal system just for me as an individual. I know that's really important to state probably while we're chatting is that everyone's very different. So for me as an individual, that was really supportive for me. Also, just specific foods that are in relation to hormones. It's just amazing. I'm always so amazed with myself and with clients and friends and all of that how powerful food as medicine is.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (15:32)

There were specific herbs that I was taking. Specifically, Schisandra I found to be really incredible, and I got quite into all the medicinal mushrooms, which is actually how you and I first met many, many years ago. They definitely, particularly reishi, there's been a lot of studies around reishi and PCOS. Which just quickly on that topic, I didn't have any PCOS symptoms for around about two years prior to conceiving as well, so I believe I completely healed all of that as well.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (16:11)

Some of the really amazing foods that I recommend for a lot of my clients are cruciferous vegetables in relation to hormonal health and always having them warmed or heated, cruciferous vegetables, trying never to have them raw. So things like broccoli, kale, cabbage, mustard greens. I know I'm missing some.

 

Tahnee: (16:32)

Cauli.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (16:34)

Yeah. There's such a big list of them. You can simply Google cruciferous vegetables. So ensuring that I had at least half a cup of cooked cruciferous vegetables daily and then also using specific seeds, which you would probably know about seed cycling. I actually have found that in my journey to be a really supportive tool too. So using specific seeds in the first two stages of the cycle and then others in the second two stages of the cycle to support both oestrogen and progesterone.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (17:07)

For me, I had, which is quite common, I had more of an oestrogen dominance so I focus more on supporting progesterone and ensuring that I had really good luteal phases, which is that phase just before the bleed. Because if that phase isn't supported, then conception is really challenging. Also, you want it to all be in flow as well, but specifically for the preconception journey, it was important for me to have that phase really supported.

 

Tahnee: (17:38)

Yeah. Seed cycling is sunflower seeds and pepitas. Actually, I've never personally done it, but I've read about it. But yeah, does it vary depending on the hormonal profile or is it pretty standard for the two phases? Or how do you approach that?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (17:53)

No. It's standard for the two phases, and I hope I get this right.

 

Tahnee: (17:56)

I won't hold you to it.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (18:00)

I'm pretty sure and you could Google seed cycling. It's flax seeds and pepitas for the first phase, which is more about oestrogen support. And then it's sunflower and sesame seeds for the second phase, which is more about progesterone support. It's such a simple... I recommend usually a tablespoon of ground seeds per day and a mix of both of those.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (18:25)

I say to my clients, "Just get a jar, roughly a 50/50 mix of your flaxseeds and your pepitas. Ground them up and then every day for those first two phases, so the follicular and the ovulation phase, be having a tablespoon of those seeds in whatever you can." Then similar with the sesame and sunflower in the progesterone supporting phase. So in your luteal and your menstruation phase, have a tablespoon of those ground every day.

 

Tahnee: (18:53)

Typically, if people have longer luteal phases or whatever, it doesn't matter? They're just still carrying on with that process through the whole time?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (18:59)

Yes. I still usually get them doing those things just because they're supportive overall anyway of colon health and zinc levels, which are really important for the menstruation cycle as well. Yeah, generally speaking, I would have them doing that whichever way their hormonal profile is going.

 

Tahnee: (19:20)

Yeah. I think seeds are such an underrated superfood. We're all into these bougie and expensive things, but it's like you've got this incredibly nutritious, easy to obtain, quite cheap products there. Yeah, really excited to talk about those. One thing, I mean, I really got out of your book is the simplicity of, and I don't mean this in a negative way, but I mean it in a, thank God, I don't have to spend hours in the kitchen kind of a way.

 

Tahnee: (19:50)

But I think being a mum yourself and actually, yes, you're a clinical nutritionist, but you know what it's like to be busy and you know what it's like to have a business and kids. It's like there was a real sense of reality in the book. Everything I could make and I could see myself making. I'm a good cook, but I'm like, "I don't have time." I get home at 5:00 and I have to have dinner on the table really fast. Yeah, is that something you've picked up from clinic is that you have to be realistic about what people can achieve?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (20:20)

100%. Honestly, it starts with yourself, right? So even myself, I'm very similar to you in that it's like I don't have the time to be creating extravagant meals. And if I'm frank, I actually don't enjoy it. I would prefer to be reading a book, doing some yoga, going for a swim in the beach, all those types of things rather than just spending hours in the kitchen. I mean sure, every now and then I love spending it, but on a daily basis that's not where I want to be focusing most of my time.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (20:50)

I'm so glad that you found that with the book. Because that was something that was really important to both Caitlin and I, who wrote the book, was that the meals, although we ensured that the nutrition profile was there and that the meals, they have the ingredients to support the postpartum phase, we wanted to ensure that they were simple and the ingredients were easy to obtain. And also, that they wouldn't take long in the kitchen and yeah, so that they weren't overwhelming because I think that's really important during this time.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (21:24)

You don't want to be opening a book, and any time in a mother's life, you don't want to be opening a recipe book or any type of book and looking at the recipe and just feeling totally overwhelmed by 20 ingredients and a method that goes over three pages. And you're just like, "Oh my God."

 

Tahnee: (21:42)

I mean you've had the raw phase, I've had the raw phase, the sprouting. God bless us and I mean, I still value that kind of food. We eat sprouts and things, but we do tend to buy them more these days. But I think there's just this reality around how much time food prep can take. The thing I liked is everything's really nutritionally dense. It's not like it's toast and toast for dinner. But yeah, it's really nutritionally dense.

 

Tahnee: (22:10)

I loved the key that you guys had with anti-inflammatory and all the different things. I thought that was really helpful. And I really liked how you classified the three sections of healing as well postpartum, to get a little bit into the book, but that was something I thought was really smart. Because yeah, there are really quite different phases, and I can even think about them even now. I have had these times where I've been like, "Oh, I'm back in this quite depleted state and I almost need to address myself like I'm postpartum again." Then it's like, no, I'm really abundant and vital and I can be a bit more loose with eating cold foods or whatever.

 

Tahnee: (22:48)

I think it's something people can take into their lives and be like, if you're convalescing or you've just been through some kind of big emotional process, lost somebody, whatever, you can go through using that same structure. Yeah, I thought that was a really cool way and a bit different for me. I've not seen that in other postpartum books.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (23:05)

Yeah. That was... Sorry.

 

Tahnee: (23:08)

How did you get to that? No, no.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (23:09)

I was just going to add to your question without you asking.

 

Tahnee: (23:11)

Well, you're reading my mind, so just go for it.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (23:17)

That's actually Caitlin had thought of that. That was an element that she brought to the book which I really loved as well. Yeah, we talk about four stages of the healing stages of the postpartum over the period over five weeks. Yeah, we've segmented different recipes into each phase as to what's going on during that phase. Obviously, it's amazing that you've actually...

 

Tahlia Mynott: (23:47)

What we were envisioning too is that, of course, this book is for postpartum, but this book can be used at any time that you are feeling slightly overwhelmed or depleted or your immune function is low. Whatever is going on, these types of foods are really supportive of that phase. The reason, I guess, why we segmented it as well was because for me personally, and I don't know if you can attest to this, but in the phase of postpartum, making decisions for self, because we've got so much going on, is sometimes tricky.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (24:23)

Even segmenting it is like, okay, there's not as many recipes so you're not going to open up the recipe part section of the book and be like, "Oh my gosh, there's 50 recipes. Which one do I do?" Each section has, I think it's around 10 recipes in each section, so it also takes a little bit of the overwhelm out of it as well and the decision making. But you can switch to any of those sections and we do say at the start to use your intuition about what you're feeling as well. I don't like being rigid at all, so we're not saying, "Hey, you have to be doing those recipes in that week and then when you switch, you need to be doing the recipes the next week." But if it's supportive of you to actually just be sticking to those weeks and those recipes, then absolutely.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (25:07)

As it gets further on, so in week five we do talk a little bit more about recipes that are a little bit more cooling on the system, like smoothies and salads, which we always say to try and have room temperature. But those types of recipes you probably, majority of people, again not all but majority of people really don't want to be doing those types of recipes in relation to healing and all of that in those first two weeks or three weeks which are really vital for the healing of the body.

 

Tahnee: (25:36)

Yeah. I mean, I picked that up from your book and it's great. There's such an emphasis on it because we both know from all the traditions, staying warm is so important postpartum. Can you speak a little bit to that just from your experience and what you've seen in clients and your own research? What's the meaning of that?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (25:57)

Yeah. It comes from a couple of traditions, mainly the TCM background and the Ayurvedic, which I can't speak to too much because that's definitely not where I've come from in terms of my learnings. But obviously, I've had a browse over them over the years. But all of the traditions just speak of the importance of staying warm during this time, and the reason is to keep the warmth inside the body in relation to healing.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (26:24)

That cool energy can cause, is it vata in the system? I think it's more vata in the terms of Ayurveda. That can be that feeling of feeling quite ungrounded or a little bit sketchy, and that can already be there in that postpartum phase, so you also want to calm that as well. Yeah, it's important for healing not just of the organs and everything that's going on in relation to the uterus and all of that, but it's also really healing in terms of the mental state as well and for production of milk if you are breastfeeding. There's many elements to keeping warmth in.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (27:05)

Obviously, we talk of it in terms of food and in the front section we do talk a little bit in terms of some traditions where they use scarves and beanies and all of that. Obviously, it's relative to your climate. So where we are, it's a little bit more tropical. When I birthed both my boys, it was beautiful spring and summer days. I definitely didn't want to be getting a beanie and scarf on, but I'm sure that I kept warm in terms of...

 

Tahlia Mynott: (27:32)

Actually, even one thing I'd love to chat about is the postpartum pads. Even with the postpartum pads, I see a lot of people talking about them now, which is incredible in terms of using witch hazel and aloe vera, all of these things, which are amazing. But there's quite an emphasis about putting them in the freezer I've seen going around. Even something like that, I think it's really important that women are actually not putting them in the freezer and actually having them warm so that the warmth isn't getting inside the uterus, which then can affect the healing somewhat.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (28:09)

Yeah, you don't necessarily have to be covering yourself up completely but just little elements of your postpartum phase, thinking about trying not to allow coolness into the system.

 

Tahnee: (28:22)

Yeah. I mean, that's a real issue. Even icing of injury is not okay in Chinese medicine, which obviously is really common practise here. They say that it causes chi and blood stagnation, which leads to slow healing. I've had the experience of twisting my ankle, so I didn't ice it. I actually heated it and I had heaps of acupuncture, and it healed really, really fast. We took lots of herbs and all those things. I'm like, really had that experience of the warmth is super important. And like you, I had Aiya in the bloody peak summer. It was impossible to wear clothes, but I did make an effort to still wear socks and stay pretty warm and obviously try to keep the food as warm as possible as well.

 

Tahnee: (29:04)

Yeah, I think it's just I've noticed a huge difference in my digestion from my 20s when I'd drink smoothies at least a couple of times a week, maybe daily, and cold, icy, thick, those delicious smoothies. But yeah, they just ruined my digestion and I'd be bloated. I'd have cold poos. It was just not a good situation. Yeah, I've really noticed a difference with myself. You mentioned that in the book that postpartum is a time of weakened digestive fire, so it's a time of convalescence and recovery. It's not a time to be using your resources digesting or using your resources doing even too much thinking or anything else. Yeah, I think it makes a lot of sense to be mindful of that kind of stuff.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (29:48)

Yeah. It's really like gentle, gentle, gentle with everything is how I think of it. Gentle with the food that you're consuming. Gentle with the visitors that you're allowing. Gentle with the warmth that's around you. Yeah, just keeping yourself in that beautiful cocoon for as long as possible.

 

Tahnee: (30:07)

Yeah. That's actually, non-visitor boundaries were really great and I think a really important one to read to everybody.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (30:15)

That was actually a big learning for me and why I really wanted to add that in there. So yeah, there is a page about visitor boundaries and we make some suggestions and questions in there. Because that was a big learning for me in my journey of postpartum with my firstborn, Luca, where I allowed people. And it was only family, but I did allow family. He was born at 2:00 AM after 30 hours of labour, so I was obviously exhausted but also running on a lot of adrenaline.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (30:42)

I had family come for the next couple of days, and I significantly noticed my depletion more so after having visitors there. I'm a very hostess of the house too, so it was me going up and getting cups of tea and all those types of things. So the second time round we didn't even have really family or visitors for I think around three to four weeks. We had beautiful people dropping food to us, but they rarely came in or we might just say hi through the door. Just looking at both those postpartum journeys and the second one I also had a toddler running around too, but I actually felt so much more supported in that second postpartum journey than the first.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (31:29)

It's a big learning. I went into that first one with... I had read a lot and I had studied a lot around it, so I had some ideas about it. But it's not until you go through it that you actually really understand how significant and dynamic that phase is.

 

Tahnee: (31:48)

I was chatting to Caitlin about that when she came round the other day to drop the books off, your co-author. And I thought, it's beautiful that you have both perspectives. You have someone who's a doula and who cares for women but who hasn't really had the experience, and then you've been through it and you have that lived visceral experience of what's happened. Yeah, I actually think it's a really beautiful combination of energies because you've got that maiden energy in there and then the mother energy. I think it's really special.

 

Tahnee: (32:18)

I think that transition, and you speak to that in the book as well, Caitlin and I were talking about it. It's like you know it's going to be big, but until you actually live it, you don't know how it's going to be big and what's going to show up for you. Yeah, I was surprised. I felt a little grief actually before Aiya was born, not so much when she was born. But I do remember looking at her and being like, "Oh my God, I've signed up for a lifetime of care and maybe I'm not ready for that."

 

Tahnee: (32:43)

I was like, "Ah!" And I didn't have all these blissful... I mean, I had a little blissful feelings, but I wasn't feeling them toward to her at the time. I was like, "Oh my God, this is a big commitment." That shifted over a few days, but I'll never forget that. And I was like, "Well, that's not what I expected when I looked at my new baby." Yeah, I think it's a really interesting-

 

Tahlia Mynott: (33:09)

But it's real and I'm sure that a lot of women experience that too. I actually remember my partner very significantly experiencing that. So like I said, Luca was born at 2:00 AM, and we birthed at home. It was all beautiful and amazing. We blissfully feel asleep. We woke up in the morning and I remember him looking at Luca. I still remember this and Luca's now nearly four, so this was nearly four years ago. He looked at Luca and looked at me and he's like, "Whoa, this is a lot, isn't it?" I'm like, "Um, just processing this now? Great."

 

Tahnee: (33:49)

Well, it's funny because I think too, and I've had a really different journey in each pregnancy and I'd love to hear a little bit about the differences, other things you learned from postpartum that was different for you from Luca to Oka and also your pregnancies. I had such, honestly, blissful pregnancy with Aiya. I was floating around like a fairy the whole time just being like, "Life is so magical." I just was in awe of my body and it was a very psychic experience for me. It was really different.

 

Tahnee: (34:24)

Whereas this one, I've been angry. Physically, I feel fine but I've been an emotional kind of machine of rage. Yeah, it's such a different pregnancy for me so I'm curious for you, how did those pregnancies alter your perspective and clinical practise and what you're sharing with us today? How did that change for you?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (34:44)

I'm always so grateful for every experience I have, particularly in this women's health region, because it allows me to have so much more empathy for other women, although I did hit a point a couple years ago where I was like, "Okay, I'm done with the lessons. Let's just stop for a little bit, universe. I think I've got enough empathy right now." But I actually, so I've been pregnant three times.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (35:09)

I miscarried the first pregnancy and that was such a pivotal moment and experience for me, which actually had a really positive outcome. Obviously, at the time there was a lot of grief, but I now can see why that was part of my story and why I needed to have that as part of my story.

 

Tahnee: (35:29)

Do you mind speaking to that a little? I really feel passionately that we don't talk about miscarriage enough, and you don't have to share anything that you're not comfortable with. But it's this one in four women, you say it in your book, experience miscarriage. That's a quarter of us walking around with this story. We don't speak of spirit babies as real babies even though they are. I know in certain circles we do, but it's something I've really observed.

 

Tahnee: (35:56)

I did a women's circle with 60 women last year in November two days before my wedding. I reckon at least 45 of those women had had a miscarriage or some kind of traumatic stillbirth or something that just was huge and so much to carry. I was humbled, really humbled by how common it was and how many women in that room had shared that. I'd be really interested if you could go deeper on that topic. I know it's a bit of a segue.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (36:30)

Yeah, absolutely. I'm very open with my life.

 

Tahnee: (36:30)

Fortunately.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (36:37)

Yeah. You're right, it's not something that's really commonly talked about and happens to so many women and I think something that we need to be more open about and real about. It was actually such a healing component for me was I just remember getting onto the computer and Googling miscarriage stories and trying to find as many miscarriage stories as I could to read. I was ringing friends that I knew who had had it and I also had friends reach out to me who I didn't know who had had it say, "Oh, I had a miscarriage too. I would ring them and just listen to their stories. And actually, having those women and their journeys actually really helped me as well.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (37:20)

I guess it was an interesting time because there it was definitely I had done the preconception journey, so in my head I was like, "Yeah, I've got this. I'm all good. Everything's sweet." Then I actually even got through the first trimester, so I miscarried the baby at 14 weeks so I was just into that second trimester. I guess also I'd hit that point of thinking, "Everything's totally... " The first trimester can be a little bit like, "Oh, I hope it's okay. Yeah, everything's fine." But once you get into that second trimester there's definitely a relief, I guess, or for me a little bit of relief like, "Okay, yeah. Everything should be sweet from here on in."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (38:02)

So miscarrying at 14 weeks was definitely a surprise, but I actually intuitively knew that something wasn't right at about nine weeks. When I miscarried at 14 weeks, they did an ultrasound. And when they did the ultrasound, they actually, the guy said, "Oh, the sac's only actually nine weeks old." It was such an interesting... At the time, obviously I couldn't really focus and think about all that. But looking back on it, I was like, "Wow, I intuitively knew that something wasn't right from that nine weeks."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (38:35)

I started bleeding a couple of days before I miscarried, and I had a bit of cramping throughout that first trimester, which can be completely normal. I actually had quite a bit of cramping with my recent pregnancy, Oka. It can be completely normal, so for anyone listening that's like, "Oh my gosh, I'm cramping," that's okay. I just want to say that so no one's freaking out. But yeah, I had quite a bit of cramping leading up.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (38:59)

Then I remember we were at a friend's house and I'd had a bit of brown spotting. I knew deep down but I was also being optimistic and hoping that it wasn't just my mind playing tricks. I was like, "Oh, maybe that's just a bit of stagnation from my last bleed and that's okay just because there's obviously a bit of weight with my uterus and baby and all of that kind of stuff." Then I remember yeah, being at a friend's house and wiping and seeing the red blood, and I knew. I did have quite a bit of cramping as well, and I knew red blood, cramping, those two together probably not a good sign.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (39:34)

Over the course of the next 24 hours, it did take a while, the bleeding started to intensify. We went to hospital just to confirm that I was having a miscarriage and then went back home. It was actually a full moon the day that I miscarried, which being in this field as well and very connected to the moons and the menstrual cycle, and the full moon is often, as you would know, in spiritual talk the letting go.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (40:06)

It was a full moon and I'd found out that the baby, there was no heartbeat. But my body was still holding on to the baby, so we went to the beach that day and obviously cried and kept setting intentions of... I really wanted to miscarry naturally. I didn't want to have to go to hospital, although I had booked in for a day in say two days later. The doctor really wanted me to book it in the next day because it was actually a Sunday that we went in, so they couldn't do it on a Sunday. I was like, "No, no. I just want to give it a little bit of time and see if this can happen naturally."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (40:42)

So yes, we went to the beach that day, got home that night. Then I really started to bleed quite heavily. There's two really significant parts to it. I still remember bleeding. For some reason, Scott and I had not got pads. Even though we knew I was going to miscarry, we hadn't got pads. So he went out to get pads, and I was sitting on the bed just on some towels. I actually just remember I had beautiful music on and so it was like we'd set up this space for a home birth almost but obviously thinking of it as a miscarriage.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (41:21)

Mentally, we were somewhat prepared. I remember sitting on the bed and when the bleed really came actually feeling a sense of relief and just a real letting go. It happened on that full moon, so letting go and actually felt really at peace with it. I can still significantly tune back into that moment. Most of my miscarriage did happen at home and I passed the sac at home, which was really beautiful that that happened there.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (41:51)

But it did get quite intense and that can be quite normal for... I've forgotten the phrase exactly. Oh, a missed miscarriage is what they usually call it where the sac is actually or the baby has actually passed a lot earlier than what you've miscarried. So there can be a lot of tissue and stagnation and a lot of things happening in the uterus. The bleed was very substantial for me. I was losing clots the size of my hand nearly every 15 to 20 minutes, so we did have to go to hospital. I spent 16 hours in emergency, but that also was a very significant time for me.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (42:35)

I had had quite an aversion to hospitals in general growing up with what my mom had been through. Yeah, I actually felt, anxiety is not something that I really attune to too much, but I actually would have anxiety going near hospitals. When I fell pregnant that first time, I had a planned home birth, but I definitely had this fear around hospitals. And even when I was miscarrying, I really was trying to stay at home, but I did call my home birth midwife and she was like, "Look, you're bleeding a lot, losing these clots. It's definitely important for you to get to emergency now."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (43:12)

My partner was like, "Look, we really need to go." And I was feeling quite light-headed obviously and not amazing. Just even actually going to emergency was a big component for me, but the women that I had, the nurses that I somehow manifested on that night were just the most beautiful women and they were like my mothers. My mum wasn't near. Just my partner was with me at the time. They really, their support was just so pivotal in my journey.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (43:43)

Also, I had quite a significant amount of pain, which can be similar if you've had a missed miscarriage and even for other miscarriages because the uterus is really contracting to get out that stagnation and tissue and all the blood. But I was really rejecting the pain medication. I was like, "No, no, no." And they actually had to transfer me to a hospital because they thought I might have to have a blood transfusion, so they transferred me to the hospital. And during the transfer I had this really beautiful ambulance nurse, doctor, whatever he was, next to me, probably nurse or paramedic. I was breathing through them and I was like, "It's okay." Because I was having almost contractions, and I was just breathing through them.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (44:28)

He could obviously tell I was in some kind of discomfort, and he's like, "Would you like some pain relief?" I was like, "No, no." I still remember this. He said to me, "Look, I understand where you're coming from, but there is a time and a place, and I have a feeling that for where you are now, this would be really supportive of you." I just remember being like, "Okay, yep. I think that the pain relief would be really helpful." I'm so grateful for that because it was really helpful for that, and I went on for another 16 hours of that so it was quite intense. Yeah, it was really supportive of me.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (45:08)

I left that experience with just seeing the way that in crisis the medical system can be really amazing and supportive. I let go of a lot of fear, so I believe that my next two home births were so magical and amazing because I really had dispersed that fear of the hospital system during that miscarriage. So it was such a pivotal component of my entirety of birthing, I believe.

 

Tahnee: (45:39)

Yeah. It's really powerful, I think, and something I pick up a lot on in this community that we're in where there's this right and wrong way to birth or to miscarry or whatever. Really, to actually have the freedom to do the thing, the home birth or whatever, you do need to have, I think, an acceptance of the potential outcomes which might mean transfer and might mean being in a hospital.

 

Tahnee: (46:08)

I know for me, that was a big part of my home birth journey was really sitting in, am I going to be okay in myself if I end up birthing in a hospital? It took me a few days of really sitting with that to get to a place of like, yes, that's a yes for me. Because there was resistance and, I guess, an ego attachment to birthing in a certain way and all that kind of stuff and also not even wanting to let it in because I didn't want to pollute my mind with that kind of thought or whatever.

 

Tahnee: (46:40)

I've spoken to a lot of women that have miscarried, especially in the last 10 years, and a lot of them say that it's more painful than childbirth, which I find really interesting. But I imagine the hormonal cascade is different. There's not that sort of trigger from the baby and all of those other things that happen with birth and how long the process can be and how tricky it can be. It's not always straightforward miscarriage, so I really appreciate you sharing all of that because I know it's a lot. But, yeah.

 

Tahnee: (47:13)

So you had the miscarriage. How much longer after that was Luca conceived? Is it another year? I'm trying to remember your timeline.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (47:24)

I conceived Luca about eight months after that miscarriage. I did another six months of rebuilding myself, so abstained from intercourse for six months and I really didn't want to conceive straight away. But I definitely have many clients and friends, and I have a lot of compassion around this, which again, I'm really grateful for, I can understand why women want to conceive the next month because this bizarre timeframe lapse where you're like, "Oh, I should be 14 weeks pregnant and I'm not pregnant. Oh, I should be 15 now and I'm not pregnant at all." So I have compassion around that, but for me it was really important to wait for...

 

Tahlia Mynott: (48:11)

The egg that is released from the ovary, the largest stage of maturation, is around 90 days, so it was really important for me to wait at least one of those cycles of 90 days. But I actually decided to wait two of those cycles of 90 days. Because I had such an extensive bleed, I actually was anaemic as well, so there was a lot of blood building that I was doing during that time as well. So lots and lots of building in those six months and then yeah, it took about two to three months to conceive Luca.

 

Tahnee: (48:42)

That's interesting. So you've done the preconception and a lot of that is detoxifying and cleansing. And then you've had the miscarriage and then you're rebuilding, so you've had this kind of... Because that's something Mason and I talk about a lot with people, it's like, "Yes, it's great to cleanse, but if you don't have that phase of making sure your tissue's really strong, making sure your nutrition is really high, to go from cleansing into conception can be, I think, not a great thing."

 

Tahnee: (49:11)

Yeah, have you had that experience with... Because I've seen it with a lot of people we know who live a really high alkaline, clean diet, and then have a lot of trouble coming to conception time. I'm like, "Good time to build up some fat tissue and some muscle and reserves."

 

Tahlia Mynott: (49:28)

Yes. That was definitely a component of my preconception was building as well, but I have to admit that definitely I was more focused on the building between those two pregnancies and the importance of that 100% and ensuring fat tissue and iron and blood building and zinc. Yeah, there's so many components of that building that are really, really important, definitely.

 

Tahnee: (49:58)

And do you work with someone or do you do your own care? Because I mean, I'll usually order blood tests and stuff but typically do the interpretations and things myself. What's your approach to that? Do you tend to... Other people love support, so I don't want to say there's a right or wrong. Yeah.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (50:14)

Yeah. I do, absolutely, that. I actually work with an incredible doctor up here. Well, in terms of working with her, I'm not working in clinic with her, but she knows who I am and I send a lot of clients to her. Yeah, we're looking at people's blood profiles and then suggesting from there, so she'll do all the blood profile panels for me.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (50:34)

I think it's important in these phases too, so whether you've had a miscarriage or you're in your preconception phase is actually finding a team of support. I don't think you can support all elements that need to be supported with just one person. I think it's important to have a team of either an acupuncturist or a naturopath or a nutritionist.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (50:57)

Yeah, there's so many elements to this. A lot of women come to me and they want to fall pregnant in the next month. That's not my ideal. My ideal would be probably six to 12 months to work on some things, but you've got to also be supportive of where that person is at as well. Yeah, if they have the time and the space, then having a support team I think is really crucial.

 

Tahnee: (51:23)

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I'm big on having those. Especially body work practitioners and energetic practitioners, I think to me are amazing. I see an acupuncturist fortnightly for this pregnancy and I did similar with Aiya. I guess I'm curious about that with Oka, did you guys do a similar preconception? We were a lot gentler, I noticed, with this baby in our preconception approach that we just really took it a lot easier. I wonder if you guys were the same or if you still had quite an intensive preconception phase?

 

Tahlia Mynott: (51:54)

No. We were exactly the same. I actually was still breastfeeding Luca when I fell pregnant with Oka as well, so there was definitely no detoxifying happening there. But pregnancy and birth is one of the biggest detoxifications of a woman anyway, which is why I really like to support women in trying to do some gentle detoxifying before that. But because I'd had the miscarry as well, I actually felt like, and this might for some people be quite triggering, but for me it was almost a bit of a cleanse as well. Obviously, at the time not so much but in hindsight.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (52:39)

Because I'd had those processes as well, yeah, I was super gentle with Oka. It was more about building because I was still breastfeeding and obviously giving a lot to Luca at that time, which in hindsight, I'm not sure that I would fall pregnant again while breastfeeding because I definitely noticed the difference in my pregnancies. And potentially, I was still slightly depleted from the breastfeeding, so going into Oka's pregnancy, yeah, it was different to Luca's.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (53:15)

Luca's was more like your Aiya's one that you mentioned, so really blissful, felt amazing. Was doing hill walks all the time around our property. Was just in love with life and just actually wanted to be pregnant forever. I was like, "This is incredible. I feel amazing."

 

Tahnee: (53:29)

Right. I know.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (53:30)

Yeah. I actually was worried at the end because he was 41 plus five. I was a little bit concerned that I was holding onto him because I was loving it so much. I was definitely not like those women that are like, "Okay, I'm so ready to birth." I was actually like, "No, I love this. I'm not sure I want to get rid of this."

 

Tahnee: (53:48)

Yeah. Aiya was 42 and I wanted the same. I'm like, yeah, it was such a nice experience.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (53:55)

Yeah. I mean, Luca... Sorry, Oka. Oka still had its beauty, but I definitely felt more tired. And I definitely felt that real hormonal surge at the start, and emotionally that was quite challenging for me, particularly for that first trimester. I didn't have anything severe, but there was definitely a lot more niggles with Oka.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (54:25)

I did prenatal yoga with both my babies, and I remember the first one. Our teacher, Esther, who's incredible, she would go around and just say, "Is anyone experiencing reflux or hip joint pain," or whatever it was. With Luca, I was like, "No, no. I feel great." Then with Oka, I was like, "Yep, yep. Oh, yeah. That's me. Yep, that's me again."

 

Tahnee: (54:50)

All of the above.

 

Tahlia Mynott: (54:52)

Yeah. Very minor but still, there was just a lot more niggles with him. Obviously, the body had done it all before, and I obviously didn't have the strength that I'd had going into Luca's in terms of my movement. Yeah, I'm sure there were many elements to that, and I was a little bit older as well.

 

Tahnee: (55:12)

Did you approach Luca's postpartum with all that in mind? I'm sorry, Oka's postpartum, a little bit more, I guess gently? Because that's something I remember with Aiya, being very aware of all of the should-dos and then still, "But it's such a nice day. I'm just going to go to the beach." Or, "Oh, I'm going to go to the markets and catch up