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Natural Pregnancy
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Now that you are pregnant, the fun begins. We hope that you prepared yourself by trying some of the suggestions in "Preparing for pregnancy", but if your pregnancy is an unexpected surprise, there are still things you can do to make your pregnancy a healthy and enjoyable one. The suggestions given are offered as a supplement to what you have already learned from other sources and are not meant to replace the advice of a health care practitioner.
Let your intuition be your guide after all the information is absorbed; mother's intuition is God's second greatest gift to mothers, trust it to help you make decisions.
Do the monthly three-day cleanse followed by the mucusless diet. See the page for these programs on the menu.
Pay close attention to proper diet and getting all the nutrients your body needs; cravings for certain foods usually mean you aren't getting enough of a certain nutrient. Most problems in pregnancy can be avoided if close attention is given to nutrition.
It is advisable to take a natural Multivitamin/mineral supplement that has the full range of B-complex vitamins and chelated minerals, if the recommended herbal teas aren't appealing to you.
The following dosages are recommended by Dr. Earl Mindell, author of The Vitamin Bible:
A natural high-potency multiple vitamin and mineral rich in vitamins A,B6, B12, C, E and folic acid. Multiple chelated minerals, rich in calcium (2 tablets should equal 1,000 mg. calcium and 500 mg. magnesium), take one tablet twice a day. Read our Vitamin and Mineral Guide for more detailed information on specific vitamin or minerals.
Continue to drink Raspberry leaf, Red Clover and Nettle tea, at least three cups a day; remember, these are tonic herbs and will help relieve or prevent many of the discomforts and problems of pregnancy because of the abundant source of nutrients they contain, especially calcium and magnesium. If the herbal teas aren't appealing to you, then a balanced calcium/ magnesium supplement is strongly recommended. (See the mineral guide for other food and herbal sources and supplement advice of these minerals)
Avoid calcium-robbing foods like spinach, chocolate, rhubarb and brewer's yeast, sugar, caffienated beverages, and alcohol. Get plenty of fresh air, sunlight and exercise
. Most health practitioners are comfortable in recommending an amount of exercise similar to what you were getting before you got pregnant and then scaling back a bit in the last trimester.
Walking a mile a day will help prevent morning sickness when caused by the build up of chemical by-products from the increased hormonal activity of pregnancy.
Prevent constipation by drinking plenty of pure water and fluids, and eating lots of fiber-rich foods. Keeping your bowels moving is also important in preventing morning sickness and hemorrhoids. Walking is helpful with this as well.
Visit a health practioner (OB Dr, Midwife, Nurse Practioner, etc.) on a monthly basis during the first two trimesters, and as recommended during the last trimester.
Continue reading and learning about the kind of birth you would like to experience. Take birth classes, practice breathing and visualization techniques. Talk to women who have had positive birth experiences and learn what you can from them. Try to stay clear of women who indulge in scaring a first time mother-to-be with their "war" stories; I always felt this to be insensitive and not at all helpful to a woman who is going to experience something she has nothing to compare to. Yes, for some women it can be scary if they gave up the control of their own birth experience to those assisting her.
To maintain control of your experience, READ all that you can about different things that can go wrong, how they are corrected, and especially about how to prevent the situation from occuring in the first place.
During the last 4-6 weeks, you can add the following late pregnancy tonics: Squaw Vine leaves. Add 20-30 drops of tincture to your cup of Raspberry leaf tea twice a day. Squaw vine is often used by midwives when uterine "weakness" is indicated by irregular periods, or bleeding during the first trimester.
Another tincture that is safe to use is Blue/black cohosh roots; the two roots work synergistically to aid in the preparing the uterus for parturition(giving birth). The usual dosage is 5-10 drops of each tincture in a cup of water twice a day.( See the herbal guide for more information on these two herbs)
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