"I didn't set out to build a method. I set out to survive my own postpartum — and food is what saved me."
Emily Montague is a chef and mother of five. After her own births, she discovered what generations of women before her already knew: the fourth trimester isn't something to power through — it's something to be nourished through.
Drawing on the Chinese zuo yuezi tradition — the "sitting month" — Emily rebuilt her recovery around warming, blood-building, milk-supporting foods: goji berries, red dates, ginger, longan and black sesame. She recovered faster, felt steadier, and knew other mothers deserved the same.
From her kitchen to a patent
What began as personal healing became a structured, repeatable system — so complete that Emily holds a patent for her postpartum recovery approach. Today it lives as a full recovery course for moms, a line of medicinal recovery teas, and a professional certification.
Why "The Postpartum Chef"
Emily is the missing link between birth work and the kitchen. Doulas and midwives support the birth; Emily makes sure the mother is fed like her recovery depends on it — because it does. She now certifies birth professionals to cook her method for their own clients.
What Emily believes
- Every mother deserves 28 days of real nourishment, not a frozen lasagna and a "good luck."
- Postpartum depression has many causes — but food is a lever we can pull, and the science backs it.
- Ancient wisdom and modern nutrition science say the same thing. She simply makes it doable.