The short version
- Pooling longitudinal studies from pregnancy to one year postpartum, 36% of women followed a non-optimal sleep quality trajectory, while 23.5% started with poor sleep and improved without any intervention.
- Breastfeeding pushes some nutrient requirements above pre-pregnancy levels: a 2021 review puts zinc at 19mg a day against 8mg for non-pregnant adult women, and vitamin C at 130mg against 75mg.
- The best-evidenced intervention here is not a supplement: across 12 studies in 3,096 postpartum women, exercise improved fatigue with high-certainty evidence and sleep quality with moderate certainty.
- Exercise did not improve sleep duration, latency, efficiency or disturbance in that analysis, so it made existing sleep feel better rather than producing more of it.
- The NIH's LactMed monograph states no data exist on ashwagandha's excretion into breastmilk and that it should be avoided, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
This is a short article, because you do not have time for a long one. Three things worth knowing, one warning we would rather you heard from us, and no product links, because this is a stage of life where "probably fine" is not a good enough standard.
One: the sleep is not a discipline problem
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in Sleep pooled longitudinal studies tracking women from pregnancy through one year postpartum. The pooled prevalence of a non-optimal sleep quality trajectory was 36%; for sleep duration, 22%. Delayed bedtime showed up in 51%. A clinical insomnia trajectory was reported in 13%.
When the authors modelled the trajectories directly, they found three groups: consistently good sleep quality (38.9%), increasingly poor (37.6%), and a third group at 23.5% whose sleep started poor and improved across the period.
Two useful things fall out of that. Roughly a third of women are on a worsening trajectory, so if that is you, you are not uniquely bad at this. And almost a quarter of the sample got better without anyone doing anything clever. Time is an active ingredient and nobody sells it.
Two: breastfeeding pushes some requirements above pre-pregnancy levels
A 2021 review in Nutrients sets out requirements across pregnancy and lactation side by side, and the lactation column surprises people. Against a recommended dietary allowance for non-pregnant adult women of 8mg of zinc a day, the review puts the lactating recommendation at 19mg. Vitamin C goes from 75mg to 130mg. Magnesium from 320mg to 390mg. Calcium stays at 1,000mg. It also notes an omega-3 recommendation of 100mg of DHA daily through the newborn's first year.
The reason to know those numbers is not so you can go and buy five bottles. It is so that when you are eating standing up over the sink for the fourth day running, you understand that the tiredness has a nutritional component and is not a character flaw. Food first, and if you and your provider decide a supplement makes sense, that decision belongs with them — many people continue a prenatal through breastfeeding, and yours will tell you whether that applies to you.
Three: the best-evidenced intervention here is movement, not a capsule
We sell supplements, so read this next paragraph with that in mind — and note that it still made the cut.
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine pooled 12 studies covering 3,096 women up to one year postpartum. Exercise-only interventions produced a greater improvement in sleep quality than no exercise (5 RCTs, n=375, SMD -0.44, 95% CI -0.79 to -0.09, moderate certainty). For daytime and general fatigue the evidence was graded high certainty (6 RCTs, n=535, SMD -0.56, 95% CI -1.06 to -0.05).
And here is the honest bit: there was no effect on sleep duration, latency, efficiency or disturbance. Exercise did not give anyone more sleep. It made the sleep they were already getting feel better, and it took some of the flatness out of the day. That is a modest, real, free result — and it is the argument for a ten-minute walk on a bad week rather than a perfect programme you'll abandon by Thursday.
Clear your return to exercise with whoever is managing your postnatal care first, particularly after a caesarean or a complicated birth. Then start smaller than you think you should.
The warning we'd rather you heard from us
If you are breastfeeding, your bloodstream is not the only one involved, and most botanical supplements have never been studied in that context at all.
Take ours. The NIH's Drugs and Lactation Database monograph for Withania somnifera — ashwagandha — states plainly that no data exist on the excretion of any of its components into breastmilk, or on its safety and efficacy in nursing mothers or infants. Its conclusion: because there is no published experience during breastfeeding, it should be avoided, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
LUVO sells two ashwagandha products. Do not take them while breastfeeding. We would rather lose the sale than be the brand that let that sentence go unsaid.
The wider point: "no data" is the default state for most herbal supplements in lactation, not the exception, and an absent warning on a label is not a safety finding. LactMed is free, searchable and run by the NIH. Look up anything you are considering, then run it past your provider before it goes anywhere near you.
If the tiredness isn't lifting
One last thing, and it is the reason we would rather you didn't try to supplement your way through this alone. A 2019 meta-analysis in the Journal of Affective Disorders synthesised 35 papers and found that fatigue and depressive symptoms in women in the first two years postpartum correlate strongly (r=0.52, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.59). The authors' recommendation is that when either symptom is reported, both should be carefully assessed.
So if the exhaustion is not shifting, or it is arriving with a flatness that doesn't feel like tiredness, that is a conversation with a person, not a purchase. Say it out loud to your GP, midwife or health visitor. It is one of the most useful things you can do this month, and it costs nothing.
What we'd actually tell you
You don't have to do this perfectly. You have to keep going, and the research is unusually kind on that point — the interventions that showed up in the evidence were walking, eating, and sleeping whenever the opportunity presents itself, not optimisation. Own the comeback at whatever pace it takes. We'll still be here when you have a spare hand.
Education, not medical advice. Clear every supplement with your own provider while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Good questions
Can I take ashwagandha while breastfeeding?
No. The NIH's Drugs and Lactation Database monograph for Withania somnifera states plainly that no data exist on excretion of any of its components into breastmilk, or on safety in nursing mothers or infants, and concludes it should be avoided, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. LUVO sells two ashwagandha products. Do not take them while breastfeeding. We would rather lose the sale.
Which supplements are actually safe while breastfeeding?
That question belongs with your own provider, and we are not going to answer it from a product page. What we can tell you is that no data is the default state for most herbal supplements in lactation, not the exception, and an absent warning on a label is not a safety finding. LactMed is free, searchable and run by the NIH. Look up anything you are considering, then run it past your provider.
Should I keep taking a prenatal while I'm breastfeeding?
Ask whoever is managing your care. Many people do continue a prenatal through breastfeeding, and yours will tell you whether that applies to you. What is worth knowing going in is that some requirements rise during lactation rather than returning to pre-pregnancy levels, with zinc listed at 19mg against 8mg and vitamin C at 130mg against 75mg in a 2021 review. Food first, and the supplement decision with them.
Why am I still this exhausted months after giving birth?
Because the sleep is genuinely disrupted and the nutritional demand is genuinely higher, not because you are bad at this. Roughly a third of women in the pooled data are on a worsening sleep trajectory. Almost a quarter started poor and got better over the same period without anyone doing anything clever. Time is an active ingredient here and nobody sells it.
Will exercise help if I'm already running on empty?
Modestly, yes, and it is the best-evidenced thing on this list. Across 12 studies in 3,096 women up to one year postpartum, exercise improved general and daytime fatigue with high-certainty evidence and sleep quality with moderate certainty. It did not increase how much sleep anyone got. Clear your return to exercise with your postnatal care provider first, particularly after a caesarean, then start smaller than you think you should.
When should I talk to someone instead of trying another supplement?
If the exhaustion is not lifting, or it arrives with a flatness that does not feel like tiredness. A meta-analysis of 35 papers found fatigue and depressive symptoms in the first two years postpartum correlate strongly, and its authors recommend that when either is reported, both are carefully assessed. Say it out loud to your GP, midwife or health visitor. It costs nothing and it is more useful than anything we sell.
Sources
- Wang M, Qian J, Cho Y, Guo Z, Yu X, Li J. Trajectories of sleep health during the perinatal period: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep, 2025. View study
- Jones PAT, Ruchat SM, Khan-Afridi Z, et al. Impact of postpartum physical activity on maternal sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med, 2025. View study
- Jouanne M, Oddoux S, Noël A, Voisin-Chiret AS. Nutrient Requirements during Pregnancy and Lactation. Nutrients, 2021. View study
- Withania. In: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®). Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; last revision December 15, 2024. View study
- Wilson N, Lee JJ, Bei B. Postpartum fatigue and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord, 2019. View study
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
