The food we prepare for ourselves and our loved ones can nourish us on so many levels, and sharing meals with others can be integral to creating and sustaining community. The members of the Bloomington Postpartum Doula Collective are in the process of collecting recipes and stories from the BABS community, to be compiled into a unique little cookbook. Copies of the book will be available after its completion, and all profits will go toward postpartum support for clients of the Lactation Center.
We would love to hear your stories! What did your body crave/need during pregnancy? What was the first meal you had after your baby was born? If friends and family provided food in your “fourth trimester”, what was the best or most memorable meal that was gifted to you? Does your toddler like to help in the kitchen? What is your favorite thing to make with little ones? Have you taken food to friends on bed rest, during labor, or soon after their births?
If you have a story to share, and a recipe to go along with it, please send your contribution to bpdc.cookbook@gmail.com. Let us know how you’d like to be credited~ full name, first name and last initial, etc. You’re also welcome to include something along the lines of “A, mother to B, born 1/2/03″ or “Original recipe from C, shared by D, father of E”… You get the idea. 
Creativity, fun, community, and food!
While I’m at it, a few of my own favorite tidbits that won’t be in the actual book…
~ a dear friend who loved green apples more than anything else during her pregnancy
~ making messy, delicious concoctions from the Mash and Smash Cookbook with two of the little girls I nannied for
~ stocking my sister’s freezer and pantry around the time of my nephew’s birth
~ seeing two toddlers (also charges, many years ago) picking cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and munching happily in the garden
~ the beautiful scene right after my brother’s home birth (I was 17 and our mother was 46) as my mother sat on the floor, nursing my new brother and being fed homemade soup that had been simmering on the stove during the labor and birth
~ and recently, having the opportunity to cook for new families on a regular basis (some of my favorite recipes to take to others will be in the book!)
We (the postpartum doulas of the BPDC) look forward to hearing from you!
