Prenatal health
PAID CONTENT
In most cultures in earlier centuries, there was a deliberate focus on the nutritional health of women in pre-conception and conception years. Though the term “nutrition” wasn’t applied until the last century for the most part, it was innately understood that a woman had to prepare to have a baby. It wasn’t a, “Whoops! I’m pregnant! I’d better start being more conscious of what I put or don’t put into my mouth now!” It was more like, “You are of childbearing years, you need to prepare your body.”
Many cultures had “sacred foods” — foods that were considered choice foods for a healthy baby. Foods that may disgust a lot of people today, like liver, heart, bone broth, fish head soup, miso, seaweeds, raw eggs, bone marrow, lots of green leafy veggies, etc. These are all nutrient dense foods that have been found today to be nutritionally building. These foods were eaten in concentrated amounts about a year from planned marriage or conception, to prepare for birth. Then they were continually eaten during pregnancy and about a year after delivery to assist in recovery and good milk for the baby.
In the news in the U.S. and abroad, in 2013 and 2014 topics about the longevity of parents vs. children born after the year 2000 were popular. In general, they are saying they don’t expect today’s kids to live as long as today’s elderly do. This is due to health conditions such as obesity and diabetes that are affecting children at younger ages. Heart disease, dementia, osteoporosis, cancer and other diseases once associated with “just growing old” are now afflicting the world’s population at younger and younger ages. How do we stop this craziness?
We start with prenatal nutrition! We have to go back to the strong moms who ate well (who didn’t eat processed foods), and knew innately how to prepare for pregnancy and delivery. But it isn’t that easy. The internet is replete with crazy ideas that influence women in such a way that they don’t know where to begin.
Unfortunately, it isn’t just about pregnancy and delivery, but the ability to conceive in the first place. With radical drops in sperm counts, motility and morbidity, and women with issues with ovaries, fallopian tubes and implantation, not to mention hormones; infertility is of major concern in the more developed countries.
We have more control over conception, the health of our babies and of our genetic propensities than we have previously acknowledged. In tonight’s health class, “How to Naturally Boost Fertility & Have a Healthy Pregnancy,” I’ll take you through the essential steps necessary to prepare for pregnancy, get pregnant (even if you’ve struggled with fertility in the past), sustain a healthy pregnancy, manage and prevent morning sickness and other pregnancy-related problems, improve the likelihood of having a healthy baby and prevent postpartum depression. Class is at 7 p.m. tonight, May 2, at Vital Health in Coeur d’Alene. Fee: $10. RSVP: 208-765-1994 or register here: http://
bit.ly/VHFertilityand
PregnancyClass
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Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. She is a “Health Detective,” looking beyond your symptom picture, and investigates WHY you are experiencing your symptoms in the first place. Carling is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d’Alene clinic. Visit Carling’s website at www.vitalhealthcda.com to learn more about Carling, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. Carling can be reached at 208-765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.