From the Desk of Carolyn Dean MD ND
I’ve written about the misconceptions around conception and the challenges of infertility and offered solid, natural solutions to help you navigate the waters of reproduction in these blogs . Hopefully you’ve forwarded them to people in your life who are hoping to become pregnant.
Now we’re on this precipice of pregnancy and it’s time to investigate what can happen during those nine months and how to move through it to a healthy outcome, which we hope is a vaginal delivery but could be a necessary C-Section.
You might first suspect that you’re pregnant if you’ve missed periods, you’re experiencing fatigue, moodiness, tender breasts and nausea and/ or vomiting. Many women trying to get pregnant have a box of pregnancy stick tests in their cupboard and do the test when they first suspect that they might be pregnant.
I’m going to walk you through the many stages and challenges in pregnancy, giving you Dr. Google’s version of information and advice, and then my own.
What Dr. Google might say about pregnancy
Prenatal care
Dr. Google, and your medical doctor are the first to insist that you take prenatal vitamins and minerals like folic acid and iron, said to be essential to the healthy growth and development of the fetus. Top medical websites say that folic acid helps prevent abnormal development in the brain and spine and iron support the healthy development of the placenta and fetus.
Dr. Google also suggests vitamins C, A, E, B vitamins and zinc and indicates that any over the counter (OTC) pharmacy brand is suitable unless your doctor suggests a specific brand.
What I Say About Prenatal Care
What Dr. Google does not say, however is most OTC supplement brands are created from synthetic material and made in factories owned and operated by Big Pharma.
In my Alternative Universe, my formulas cover all the prenatal recommendations but with much healthier ingredients and all the necessary picometer minerals, food-based vitamins, methylated B vitamins (folate instead of synthetic folic acid), omega-3 algae, vitamin D with vitamin K, and more effective levels of vitamins C.
More about folic acid
It’s folate, not synthetic folic acid that is crucial to prevent neural tube defects in the newborn. But it is even more crucial to create the neural tube in the first place. Many first-trimester miscarriages may occur due to nonviability of the fetus from folate deficiency. Folate can be found in all green vegetables. When you study the nutrient requirements for conception and pregnancy, as mentioned above, every known nutrient is implicated. Therefore, the best advice is to maintain an excellent diet of whole foods, as close to their natural state as possible and take a natural folate supplement.
Optimizing every known nutrient
Typical medical doctors are not trained in how to prescribe vitamins and supplements and instead rely on Dr. Google or their drug rep. Here is my suggestion for the necessary nutrients for the healthy development of the child. As noted in my previous blogs, these supplements are to be taken as soon as you consider planning your pregnancy – at least six months before attempting conception.
- Folic acid – Folate is the methylated and natural form of B9
- Vitamin D – This should be D3 along with K2 for directing calcium into the bones
- Calcium – A picometer calcium is far superior to a calcium carbonate that is only 4% absorbed and therefore causes constipation.
- Vitamin C – Whole food vitamin C and ascorbic acid are both necessary
- Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6 – These B vitamins should be food based and methylated
- Vitamin E – The d’alpha tocopherol is preferred because it is natural versus the d’alpha which is synthetic
- Zinc – Picometer zinc along with 10% copper by liquid weight is recommended
- Iron – A natural food based, or liquid iron is preferred.
- Vitamin A – A beta carotene form is recommended
What Dr. Google says about miscarriage
While many miscarriages may happen before the woman knows she’s pregnant, it’s estimated that 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage and 80 percent of those occur in the first three months of the pregnancy. Dr. Google says that the cause of most miscarriages is unknown, but abnormal fetal development is a likely reason for the pregnancy ending.
What I say about miscarriage
When there are too many toxins in the blood and the body’s efforts are directed at “clean-up,” then it’s not going to even allow conception. If you do get pregnant and your body is not ready, miscarriage is the body’s way of averting a problem.
When it occurs, blood loss can be heavy and may even necessitate a D&C procedure to stop the bleeding and ensure that the womb is clean and clear of clots. The experience of a miscarriage can be exhausting and stressful and can cause a level of PTSD that is magnified because of the massive shift in hormones that occurs. I once had a very early miscarriage, and it took a whole year for my hormones to come back into balance.
Some women, especially if they’ve been trying to conceive for some time, or are undergoing expensive IVF treatment, can experience complex emotions of grief, guilt, shame and anger if they miscarry. My gentle suggestion is to make sure you’ve taken the time and done the work to resolve these complex emotions before attempting to conceive again. The PTSD of a miscarriage will not be healed by another pregnancy. Talking to a qualified therapist or trying some EFT tapping yourself, or with an EFT practitioner can help heal the feelings and the fear so you’re not take that with you into another pregnancy. A miscarriage is not your fault.
I suggest doing similar emotional work if you’ve ever terminated a pregnancy. Women who are trying to conceive, while harboring grief, shame and guilt about having had an abortion may be experiencing trouble beginning a new pregnancy.
What Dr. Google says about pregnancy setbacks
Throughout pregnancy, a woman might experience discomforts and symptoms like morning sickness, constipation, hemorrhoids, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure.
Dr. Google quickly send you to your medical doctor to sort out the kinds of medications that are safe for you to take during pregnancy. I’m not going to walk you through the suggestions you’ll find online but instead share my own perspective on navigating the setbacks and symptoms common to pregnancy.
What I say about pregnancy setbacks
I’ll offer some suggestions on a couple of the most common symptoms women experience during pregnancy. For information on gestational diabetes, hemorrhoids, hiatus hernia, high blood pressure, preeclampsia and eclampsia, please consult my book Total Body Reset for Women.
Morning sickness
Perhaps the most common experience for newly pregnant women is morning sickness. And nausea in the morning is often a first indicator of a pregnancy. This scenario is so often seen in movies that any young woman who complains of nausea is declared pregnant on the spot.
In my way of thinking, it may be that morning sickness is a sign of healthy hormone activity and a way for your body to turn away from junk food when you need the best for your baby.
My Recommendations
- Eat and drink small amounts at frequent intervals to keep your blood sugar up.
- Avoid coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and fried foods.
- Snack on nuts and seeds and drink plenty of fluids.
- Don’t overdo fruit, eat only 1-2 pieces a day to avoid yeast overgrowth and prediabetes.
- To prevent nausea, try the following remedies:
- Ginger tea
- Red raspberry leaf tea
- B complex vitamins containing vitamin B6
Constipation
Hormonal changes, pressure from the expanding uterus on the colon, relative dehydration, and the constipation caused by iron in prenatal vitamins can be blamed for hard stools and the pain and discomfort that this causes in three quarters of pregnant women.
Having one to three bowel movements daily is normal. It can also be because of the lack of fiber and not enough water in the diet and lack of magnesium that makes things so sluggish. Some consider a bowel movement every three to four days normal, however, the longer undigested food matter remains in the large intestine, the more it putrefies and creates harmful wastes that can be reabsorbed into the bloodstream. These toxins and poisons can circulate and affect the liver, and cause dozens of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, itchy skin, insomnia, irritability, and joint stiffness.
The beet-transit test is an excellent way to determine how regular your bowels are. Eat a large meal of beets: three medium-sized steamed beets for lunch or early dinner. Within twenty-four hours, your stool should be colored beet red. Even before that, your urine can turn pink.
My Recommendations
Water
I mention relative dehydration as a cause of constipation because you should be drinking for two as well as eating for two. If you do not increase your water intake, your body will try to pull every teaspoon of water out of your colon. Your best defense is to drink enough water. Here are my basic water intake guidelines:
Measure your body weight in pounds and divide it in two. Drink that many ounces of water per day. To each liter of water add ¼ tsp of a good sea salt for the benefits of 72 minerals that are not found in bottled or heavily filtered water. As your weight increases be sure to do a new calculation and drink more water. This means you will add an extra 8-16 ounces a day because of your pregnancy.
Fiber
Along with more water, make sure you are getting enough fiber in your diet from vegetables, fruit, beans, peas, lentils, bran, prunes, and whole grains.
Or you can supplement with psyllium seed powder to bulk up your stools. Then drink an additional 8-12 ounces of water. You can take psyllium once or twice a day. Do not eat food or supplements with psyllium. The best times to take psyllium are one hour before breakfast or at least two hours after dinner so that the psyllium doesn’t pull your food and nutrients out with it. A little juice can be added for taste. If you use psyllium and do not use extra water, you can cause constipation.
A very important extra benefit of fiber is that it provides fodder for intestinal bacteria.
Exercise
Regular physical activity can help reduce constipation by stimulating the bowels. Try to exercise three or four times a week for at least 30 minutes. Exercise options are endless – walking, swimming, yoga, and tai chi are only a few.
Magnesium
Magnesium compounds can act as a laxative by drawing water into the large intestine. However, this treatment further dehydrates your tissues. I recommend picometer magnesium that helps the muscles of your intestinal lining move in a proper peristaltic activity to evacuate your large intestine naturally.
As I mentioned above, for more about women’s health, you can read my book Total Body ReSet for Women.
Carolyn Dean MD ND
The Doctor of the Future.
