Pregnancy
Introduction
Pregnancy
Like the menopause, pregnancy is not an illness but a natural event.
I have included it in these sections because there can be complications
and uncomfortable symptoms that can be distressing and even debilitating
for some women. It's also very important that you know how to reach
and maintain a state of optimum health in order to prepare for a comfortable
pregnancy and the delivery of a healthy baby.
At more than any other time, you will be considering what you eat when you are pregnant. The responsibility of feeding (indeed, growing!) another human being should never be taken lightly. You need to know what foods are beneficial for your baby's health and development, but you'll also need to know what should be avoided and whether you should be taking supplements.
Many women experiment with natural approaches to health for the first time when they are pregnant, largely because so many drugs are inappropriate for use during pregnancy, but also because it simply feels right to let nature take its course. During the early weeks and months of pregnancy a baby's cells divide and multiply rapidly and its organs are formed. For the remainder of the pregnancy, everything that will eventually make up your baby is formed. I cannot stress too much the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy.
For many years, we have believed that babies in the womb are insulated from the external environment, and that they are protected from anything that could cause them harm. It makes sense that nature would protect the next generation. However, we now know that this is only true to a point. If there is little food, for example, your baby is more likely to benefit from it than you are. That's one of nature's protective mechanisms. However, it appears that what an expectant mother eats - or doesn't eat - can have a profound effect on a baby's health in the womb, after he is born and even when he becomes an adult.
Your diet during pregnancy
It is important to eat as well as you can from the moment you discover
that you are pregnant. However, it is even more beneficial to prepare
for pregnancy by changing your eating and drinking patterns up to four
months before conception. If you are considering having a baby, then
take a four-month 'preconception' break, and follow the recommendations
from the Fertility Section.
You may be alarmed to find this information in the infertility section
of the book, but let me reassure you that the recommendations are the
same, whether you are trying to conceive, or simply getting yourself
into peak condition before having a baby.
If you are already pregnant, start straightaway with the nutrition recommendations on the Foundation of Health page.
Problems you might experience during pregnancy
Although pregnancy is not an illness, there are a number of different
problems that may cause concern or discomfort during this time. These
can include morning sickness, constipation, heartburn, pre-eclampsia,
concerns about your weight, premature labour and infections
What
are your choices?
Because of the difficulties encountered in the past with drugs such
as thalidomide, which was given for morning sickness, doctors are usually
extremely careful about prescribing medication during pregnancy. Many
of the problems, such as morning sickness, are left untreated unless
they become extreme, at which point anti-nausea medication may be used
or hospitalisation advised. Antibiotics may be needed when an infection
is present, particularly something like bacterial vaginosis, which can
bring on a premature labour.
Antacids may be recommended for heartburn, as they are safe in pregnancy; however, the natural alternatives should be tried first because antacids can reduce the absorption of iron.
Stimulant laxatives for constipation are not recommended during pregnancy because they can increase womb activity in some women. The general advice for constipation will always be to make dietary changes and ensure that you are getting plenty of fluids.
There's a lot you can do
It has become increasingly clear from recent research that a number
of problems experienced during pregnancy and even throughout your baby's
life can be prevented. If you do the best you can to have a healthy
diet and lifestyle, and to remove environmental dangers, you will give
your baby the best possible chance of being healthy both at birth and
long into his future.
Taking the time to make changes before conception and carrying them through pregnancy may seem like a lot of effort. However, science is now showing us that this effort is well rewarded . In the first place you'll find it easier to become pregnant, and you will be less likely to experience a miscarriage. Most importantly, however, you and your baby will be healthy throughout the pregnancy, and after the birth.
It has been recognised that the environment in your womb has an enormous impact on the future health of the baby, and even his intellectual development. A year or so of taking care of yourself will reap rewards both for you and any children you go on to have.
The natural approach to pregnancy problems
One of the keys to a healthy pregnancy is your diet. So many of the
problems associated with pregnancy are directly caused by diet, or nutritional
deficiencies. If you take steps to address these well before conception,
you are much less likely to experience discomfort or worrying symptoms.
Eat a good diet, and supplement with some extra nutrients to ensure
that you and your baby have everything you need. There is evidence that
vitamins can prevent one of the most dangerous conditions that can occur
in a pregnancy - pre-eclampsia - which gives an idea of just how important
diet can be. And it's not just in the early days that your nutritional
status will make a difference. You need to eat well and take appropriate
supplements all the way through pregnancy.
Supplements
Your baby gets first call on all the nutrients it needs, so you need
to make sure that you are feeding yourself well and taking in enough
nutrients to keep yourself healthy. These nutrients will also help to
give you energy, and to prepare you for the birth and looking after
your baby when he is born.
Apart from eating well, there are certain supplements that should be taken during pregnancy. I'm not suggesting megadosing anything - simply ensuring that you have adequate levels of everything that is now proven to be essential for your baby. Unfortunately much of the food we eat no longer contains adequate levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, and unless you eat entirely organic, and a hugely varied diet, it unlikely that you will be getting enough.
Multivitamin and Mineral
A good quality multivitamin and mineral would form the foundation of
your supplement programme to make sure that you are getting a 'little
bit of everything'. You then add in those nutrients in slightly higher
amounts which are known to be valuable during pregnancy.
Folic acid
You are normally told to take this vitamin for the three (or four) months
leading up to conception, then during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Your need for folic acid doubles when you are pregnant so it is a crucial
vitamin to take supplementally. It not only helps to prevent spina bifida,
but research has shown that women taking folic acid during pregnancy
gave birth to babies who have a good birthweight, higher Apgar scores
(the test given to a baby just after birth) and a lower incidence of
foetal growth retardation.
I recommend that you take folic acid throughout pregnancy. Research is now showing that the need for folic acid becomes even greater in the last trimester (last three months) of pregnancy, and that the amount taken in this period should increase to 540mcg per day.
B vitamins
Folic acid is a B vitamin, but I listed it first to draw attention to
its importance. The other B vitamins are equally important during pregnancy
and levels of B1, B2, B6 and B12 are often deficient at this time. Studies
have shown that supplementing with these vitamins is associated with
babies who are healthier in terms of birthweight and the circumference
of his head.
The B vitamins are known as the 'stress' vitamins, so they can be very useful during pregnancy, when stress levels can be higher. These vitamins can also help with the mood swings and tearfulness that often accompany pregnancy.
Vitamin A
There have been concerns about using vitamin A during pregnancy. These
concerns came about for two reasons. One was the result of a women eating
vast and regular amounts of liver during her pregnancy. Liver contains
large amount of the animal form of vitamin A, which is known as retinol.
The other instance was linked to the use of medications for acne during
pregnancy. A number of these preparations contain synthetic vitamin
A.
Research has shown that there can be a problem with high doses of retinol (the animal form of vitamin A) during pregnancy. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that pregnant women who take high doses of retinol on a daily basis increase their risk of having a handicapped baby. The danger threshold appeared to be daily doses in excess of 10,000iu, which give you a 1 in 57 chance of having a baby with birth defects. Interestingly, also the study also supported the fact that beta-carotene (the plant form of vitamin A) is a safer alternative to vitamin A. Apparently the retinoids (in the animal version) and not the carotenoids (in vegetable version) are the cause of birth defects. Even at high doses beta-carotene does not raise vitamin A levels in the body sufficiently to cause defects in an unborn baby.
Unfortunately, this type of information causes women to swing from one extreme to the other. Doctors have recommended that no vitamin A be taken during pregnancy, the consequence of which mean that deficiency is becoming a problem. Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy can have devastating effects. Vitamin A has antioxidant and protective properties similar to those found in the mineral selenium, which can protect against cell mutation. It is essential for healthy eyes and animal studies show that a deficiency of vitamin A has produced animals with no eyes, eye defects, undescended testes and hernias of the diaphragm, which means that breathing can be a problem.
Even worse, women who develop pre-eclampsia have been found to be deficient in vitamin A but not beta-carotene. How can this occur? If there is a retinol deficiency, it's possible that the body isn't converting beta-carotene properly.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that your body needs to form bone, protein and
fatty acids. It relaxes your muscles and helps your blood to clot appropriately.
This is a useful mineral if you suffer from leg cramps. Studies show
that magnesium levels are lower in women who have had a premature labour.
Furthermore, because it has a good effect on muscles, it can help to prevent premature contractions by relaxing the muscles of the womb. Scientists have investigated the effect of giving magnesium during pregnancy and found that women taking magnesium supplements had less chance of having low birthweight and premature babies, and their babies had better Apgar score.
Magnesium is known as 'nature's tranquilliser', so it can be invaluable if you are suffering from tension and/or stress. It's also a good basic treatment for insomnia. Take it as a separate supplement (apart from what is contained in your multivitamin and mineral tablet) for best effect. A total of 200mg per day is the optimum dosage. If you need help with sleeping, take it about an hour before going to bed.
Calcium
For many years it was believed that pregnant women have additional calcium
requirements because the calcium needed for a baby's growing bones would
be 'leached' from his mother's bones if there wasn't enough available.
However, recent research has shown that a mother's body changes to meet this requirement by making sure that calcium is more efficiently absorbed from the food you eat.
Obviously it is important that there is calcium available in your diet to meet your baby's needs, but it is not necessary to have extra during pregnancy. A good multivitamin and mineral will contain calcium.
Iron
Years ago iron supplements were routinely offered during pregnancy,
regardless of whether or not a woman was iron deficient. Thankfully,
this practice has now stopped. Iron is a strange mineral. Until recently,
scientists believed that we couldn't really have too much. Our bodies
need iron to make red blood cells and to transport oxygen around the
body. Without iron, new cells cannot be produced and our organs would
be starved of oxygen. Iron deficiency is characterised by fatigue because
the body is, literally, being starved of oxygen.
However, too much iron is not a good thing. Any iron that is not used is not eliminated from the body, but stored as something called 'ferritin'. The only time we actually lose iron from our bodies is during our periods, during childbirth, when we donate blood, or when we suffer blood loss through an accident. In other words, we have to lose blood to lose iron.
Iron supplements should, therefore, only be taken if you have a deficiency. Most women are routinely tested for iron deficiency during pregnancy.
Not all iron supplements are the same
If you are found to be deficient in iron, you will probably be given
a supplement. Unfortunately, some iron supplements can be largely ineffective
depending on the form in which they are given. Inorganic iron - such
as ferrous sulphate and ferrous gluconate, which are the standard irons
given medically - are very difficult to absorb and can cause problems
in the digestive system, resulting in constipation or black stools (which
shows that the iron is not being absorbed). Inorganic iron or chelated
forms of iron (which are combined with an amino acid) are much more
easily absorbed and do not usually cause any bowel changes.
There are ways to help increase your iron intake (or uptake by your body) which do not involve using supplements. For example, drinking BLACK tea, which contains tannins, during a meal can block the uptake of iron (and other vital minerals). Leave a gap of at least 30 minutes between eating and drinking tea. If you are prescribed iron, it should be taken with a vitamin C supplement on an empty stomach, to ensure that it is properly absorbed.
Zinc
This mineral is very important for the health of your growing baby,
and low levels have been linked to low birthweight, spina bifida and
other abnormalities. Your zinc levels can go down by about 30 percent
during pregnancy, so it is important that you have adequate supplies.
Herbs (see caution below)
Herbs can be very helpful during pregnancy. Many can help with unpleasant symptoms such as morning sickness, while others will help your body to prepare for the birth. Some herbs can be extremely useful for sleep problems. Always see a registered practitioner if you have a health problem during pregnancy, so that the most appropriate herbs are used. Remember always to stick to the recommended dosage. Herbs can be enormously powerful healing agents and although they are natural, there are some that should be avoided during pregnancy.
Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
This is the herb most often used to prepare for labour because it helps
to strengthen and tone the womb. It is rich in vitamins and minerals
and also helps to increase the flow of milk. It is usually recommended
from the 34th week of pregnancy and can be taken as a tea.
Apart from following the dietary recommendations do not treat yourself during pregnancy. See a qualified practitioner before you take any herbs or supplements, or use anything infernally.
Tests are extremely useful, in that they can tell you what deficiencies you have at the moment and then for you to know what supplements would be useful to take to correct those deficiencies. You would then be re-tested after three to four months to monitor your progress and to adjust the supplement programme accordingly.
Mineral Analysis Test
with Supplement and Nutritional Assessment Programme
This test measures the deficiency and excess levels of 7 different minerals
and 5 heavy toxic metals that may be present in your body.
Online Personalised
Supplement Assessment Programme
The analysis of this comprehensive questionnaire will give you a three
monthly supplement programme to help balance any vitamin and mineral
deficiencies you may have.
After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.
If you need help in obtaining any of the supplements, herbs or tests mentioned above, click, The Natural Health Practice. They can supply all of them for you online or if you prefer to talk to somebody first you can also order by mail order on the telephone. The products supplied by this company are always of the highest quality.
Plan of Action
Nutrition
Ensure you are getting the right nutrition:
Follow dietary recommendations outlined on the Foundation
of Health page.
And for more information on the special dietary recommendation for pregnancy,
what to eat and what to avoid, see the rest of the chapter on pregnancy
which you can download.
This also includes all the natural recommendations for helping morning
sickness, heartburn, postnatal depression, cravings, weight gain, constipation,
infections, thrush and stretchmarks. And also recommendations to help
prevent pre-eclampsia, premature labour and low birthweight.
The supplement programme below should be taken for at least three months in order to achieve best results
Your supplement plan
— A good multivitamin and mineral tablet designed for pregnancy.
This multi should contain the B vitamins (including folic acid), vitamin
A (at less than 2,500 iu), vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium
and chromium.
— Linseed oil (1000mg per day)
If you have had a previous episode of pre-eclampsia then add an extra:
— Vitamin E (300iu per day)
— Vitamin C (500mg per day)
At the end of three months you should reassess your condition and adjust
your supplement programme accordingly.
The tests below have been specially selected to be the most helpful if you are concerned about pregnancy.
Mineral Analysis Test with Supplement and Nutritional Assessment Programme
Online Personalised
Supplement Assessment Programme
After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.
If you need help in obtaining any of the supplements, herbs or tests mentioned above, click, The Natural Health Practice. They can supply all of them for you online or if you prefer to talk to somebody first you can also order by mail order on the telephone. The products supplied by this company are always of the highest quality.
The section above forms part of a larger 20 page chapter on Pregnancy taken from my book,. In the rest of the chapter you will learn about the medical approaches to problems in pregnancy and how to combine them with the natural approach. This is called Integrated Medicine and is the way that healthier of the future is moving towards..
At the end of the chapter is a practical step by step summary of what you can do to help yourself.
If you would like to read the rest of this chapter click, Pregnancy e-book at The Natural Health Practice and you will be given details of how you can download the whole chapter.
The contents of this site are for information only and are intended to assist readers in identifying symptoms and conditions they may be experiencing. This site is not intended to be a substitute for taking proper medical advice and should not be relied upon in this way. Always consult a qualified doctor or health practitioner, especially if you are pregnant, taking the pill or on any medication. Your situation will need to be looked at individually and you should not attempt to self treat. The author and publisher cannot accept responsibility for illness arising out of the failure to seek medical advice from a doctor.
The views expressed by third parties placing material on these pages are not representative of the views of the author or publisher. The Author and Publisher cannot monitor the content not produced by us and has not reviewed all the third party material published on this site and the Author and Publisher accept no liability whatsoever in relation to the content of third party material placed on these pages.
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