Recipe: game-changing chicken broth
Cheap white toast & tasteless butter are not the way to celebrate all your body has done to deliver your baby.
This delicious, nutrient-rich chicken broth absolutely is.
This cracker of a recipe has been in my home toolkit for years.
In 2026 it joined me in the birth space and the different it made was incredible. Hence why I am sharing it with you.
In August 2026, I supported a client to navigate a pretty hefty planned caesarean section which would happen before full term. She wanted to breastfeed exclusively, and wanted to be able to move asap so she could parent her toddler as well as her baby.
These were not simple asks for a delivery like this. How she navigated the first few hours post-birth would really affect how close to these goals she’d get.
As her doula, my job was to do the thinking, the groundwork and the preparation to get here there.
And I knew the answer would be in nutrition.
Because her delivery was planned, the question marks around timings and outcomes were answered.
This allowed me to sink waist-deep into preparing postpartum foods for a ‘C-section recovery picnic’ that would help to hydrate & energise, promote healing and support the positive mood that would be so essential.
So along with grapes and oranges, I took 2 liters of this broth to her bedside.
And it changed everything.
Immediately after delivery, her midwife bought her the classic white toast and yes, she totally inhaled it.
She’d been nil by mouth for 24 hours and was STARVING so why would she not.
Within 30 minutes, she did not feel good.
Her stomach was heavy, she felt uncomfortable and gassy, and the vibes were not great.
So we shifted gear & unpacked the picnic.
She nibbled on grapes, sucked on sweet chunks of vitamin C rich orange and soon was ready for broth.
Once I could access a microwave she got it and she went to town (her husband did too) slowly but surely sipping the warm, nourishing liquid in little quantities.
The change was gradual, but noticable.
Within hours, she was sat up - alert and comfortable, energised (within reason) and keen to consume more.
Her stomach stopped hurting.
Her catheter bag filled easily, showing good hydration despite the heatwave.
Her colostrum and milk came in well & baby fed easily.
She was walking and moving comfortably within days.
I’ve been here before & believe me, this is not the case for a lot of caesarean women.
I am a postpartum doula and I say this with confidence: the food you eat after birth really matters.
Your body is screaming out for nourishment of a kind that the NHS cannot routinely provide.
Hospital and birth centers feed you on schedules, using foods which are produced in bulk and which - thanks to budget cuts - are often based on the stodgy filling items help to make ingredients stretch further.
This is not how the postpartum body works and nor is it what it needs.
I cover postpartum nutrition in the final session of my ‘Complete Confidence’ antenatal class & here we explore the difference between recovery and satisfying hunger.
It’s not a standard part of antenatal classes but as a birth doula in Cornwall who supports the first hours of parents all of the time, I know just how important it is to do this right.
Postpartum bodies need to eat foods:
little and often
rich in collagen
loaded with protein
that are easily digestible
which warm the soul & bring joy
A microwaved cottage-pie with some boiled peas is unlikely to do that.
But this postpartum boosting chicken broth absolutely will.
Game-Changing Postpartum Chicken Broth
Make it in advance & freeze, or make it during early labour and pop it in a flask to take to the hospital with you.
This recipe makes around 2 liters of postpartum chicken broth which can then be frozen and kept for later, or made fresh and stored in a flask / in the fridge for when you need it (it’ll keep for 3 days in the fridge in a sealed container)
Ingredients:
6 bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed)
1 large onion
2 carrots
3 bay leaves
1 large sprig of thyme
10 black peppercorns
3 cloves of garlic
1.5 liters of water
a drizzle of olive oil
Method:
Chop the onions into medium-sized wedges (think 8-10 wedges per onion), cut the carrots into medium sized chunks and peel (don’t chop!) the garlic.
Heat the oil into a cast-iron pan or stock pot and then gentle fry the onions, carrots and whole garlic cloves together until the onions start to have caramelise and a few brown edges become visible.
Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme and mix for a few seconds.
Place the chicken thighs on top of the onion/carrot/herb base and allow to sit there for a moment or two while you get the water.
Pour the water into the pan so that everything is covered really well and there is water a few centimeters above the chicken layer.
Bring to a simmer.
Reduce the heat and cook slowly for around 2-3 hours so that the nutrients come out of the bones and the meat comes away easily/without any effort.
Remove the bones, bay leaves and left over sprigs of thyme; separate the chicken into smaller pieces (pull apart, don’t cut!)
Eat straight away or cool fully before storing in either the fridge or freezer.
As a postpartum doula, cooking is a huge part of what I do to help you to recover your strength, vitality and confidence.
By giving you the space, support and nourishment you need, you’re able to concentrate on becoming the strongest, most powerful form of yourself as you settle into parenthood and it works beautifully every single time.
I know this sounds like a luxury, but it isn’t. It’s a necessity that for thousands of years was standard for all postpartum mothers… until society made us believe that strength was found in independence. That’s not how it works here.
Ready to do postpartum better? Book a free discovery call and we’ll talk about how I can help.
