Welcome to the month of celebrations! From Diwali, Hannukah, Eid, Thanksgiving and not to mention a stream of birthday celebrations! ….it seems a busy month for whichever walk of life you may be journeying! Whatever this month finds you doing I hope it finds you well and joyful!
In the last two months I have been concentrating on pre-conceptual health and health during pregnancy…so this month I am moving onto ‘the first few months of babyhood and motherhood’. Now to be honest this is rather an ambitious topic to cover but I will focus on just specific areas. The first of course is birth….deep breath and here goes….
Expected Due Date (EDD) dilemma…whether the baby arrives on the ‘EDD’ should not get you worrying, as most EDD are just a ‘rough estimate’. Allowing the baby to arrive when it is ready is the ‘key’ here to starting a healthy journey into mother and baby hood. Towards the birth date just ensure you have plenty of rest and good healthy food stocked up. Both of my boys were 18 days over their EDD and with both pregnancies I went into labour naturally on day 18 (post EDD) without anyone interfering with drugs or sweeps or anything else for that matter. Most pregnancies I see in clinic tend to go over their EDD and the baby still arrives all healthy and well. Just keep in mind the EDD is not a deadline for the baby although it seems to be for the medical profession. Babies have their own agendas and the word ‘non-conformists’ come to mind! All joking aside…
If there is any birth trauma then this is important to address as soon as possible to avoid further complications. This is not to instill fear but to make life for mum, baby and the rest of the family easier in the future…you may want to read my own experience of birth trauma….in paragraph 6 at http://khushmark.com/about-me/
Regarding the actual birth there are various homeopathic remedies that you can use through the birth, arnica being the most used at this time. Other remedies include, aconite, belladonna, kali bich, pulsatilla, chamomilla, gelsenium…there are a whole host but what one may need during birth varies according to each birth experience. There is a great homeopathic ‘mum and baby kit’ that one can use. This kit also contains remedies for colic, teething, fevers ….just about everything you may need until the baby is 7 plus years of age! …
If the birth is a C-section then do not forget to continue with the probiotics as the baby misses out on getting the gut flora by ‘by-passing’ the birth canal. Also as the baby’s skull is not massaged in a C-section (which is a natural process during natural birth) finding a good cranial osteopath for the baby would be most beneficial. Cranial Osteopathy will boost the baby’s well being by re-balancing the energy flow through the cranium and more. It can help with feeding, boosting the immune system, sleeping, colic etc .
Now getting back to mum here, it is important to realize that the birth process itself can leave the mum slightly dazed and/or exhausted. Some Arnica for mum would not go a miss but also good healthy food with plenty of protein and fresh vegetables is important. The ‘blues’ can hit about day 3 but this will soon pass, if this seems to continue then seek some professional help. Homeopathy has been used successfully for the baby blues without the need for synthetic drugs. The advantage of having homeopathy versus synthetic drugs is that one can continue to breastfeed but also homeopathy ‘touches’ the ‘heart of the matter’, it is not used for symptom relief like anti-depressants. I just want to share a case of where homeopathy was used not only for post-natal depression but for depression during pregnancy….
A year or so ago I saw a mum-to-be, in her second trimester of pregnancy, she had a younger one already who was now 2.5 years of age. During the first pregnancy she was put on anti-depressants for her depression. She was now suffering from the same ‘depressive’ symptoms, feeling very low, fearful, tearful and lethargic but wanted to try a naturopathic approach as not only did she want to breast feed her second baby, she wanted a full term pregnancy as her first baby was prematurely born. She was prescribed a homeopathic remedy called pulsatilla at a high potency along with some omega oils and vitamins and not forgetting the Vitamin D and probiotics. Her depression lifted within days! …. and she resumed life as usual. As soon as she had the baby (huge progesterone drop straight after birth) she sank into the ‘depression’ whilst still in hospital. The consultant’s advice was to go on anti-depressants (understandable due to her previous history of depression during and after birth). I prescribed homeopathic progesterone (progesterone itself is an anti-depressant) in high potency for the short term until I could see her in clinic…and the rest is history. Not only did her second pregnancy go until full term, she also managed to breastfeed the baby until he was 9 months of age.
Other acutes that may or may not be experienced by mum include mastitis, thrush, low energy, which can all be supported with healthy eating, herbs and homeopathy. And of course baby acutes such as colic, thrush, reflux, eczema, prolonged irritability, birth trauma can also be worked through with various naturopathic approaches.
Nowadays we seem to focus on the baby so much so, that mother’s health can be neglected. As naturopathic practitioners, we believe the health of mum post birth (not solely during pregnancy) is key for a healthy happy growing baby. So mums do not neglect yourselves…
For more information or advise on boosting health pre-conceptually, during pregnancy and/or post pregnancy you can contact us at info@khushmark.com
To healthy happy families!