PMS Premenstral Syndrome; A Natural Alternative Part 2

Natural Treatment for PMS

Many PMS symptoms do respond well to simple lifestyle changes and safer, more affordable,  traditional time-honored remedies. Experiment with the suggestions below and find those that work best for you. Allow a few cycles with each to properly assess their impact. But, full recovery  begins when you start by honoring your cyclic lunar nature and giving yourself permission to take a monthly hiatus. Trust your body’s inner wisdom and ability to tell you what’s needed. Use this information to reset and heal, embrace your inner wild and the full range of emotions you feel from grief and rage to joy and calm. 

The goals are to reset your body and its natural ability to heal and function optimally by: 

• Reducing root causes like inflammation, toxic exposures, estrogen excess and stresses, gut flora and blood sugar imbalance

• Getting adequate nutrients from food, nature and supplements

• Supporting your stress response, liver and regular bowel movements for detoxing

• Empowering mindset and nurturing your spirit.

SELF-AWARENESS

To increase self awareness, start a journal of your symptoms, noting when they occur in relation to your menstrual cycle, the degree to which each one bothers you or interferes with your ability to function as usual, what triggers them, and what helps. Also pay attention to the food you eat and how it affects you. Try to list at least one possible symptom and some ways in which the PMS experience can be viewed and used to your benefit, an opportunity for deeper meaning and transformation.

Identify vulnerable times and plan accordingly. For example, avoid situations likely to provoke difficulties, put off important decisions and problem solving until later in your cycle when you feel more balanced and clear, schedule extra time for rest, relaxation, enjoyable activities, and support from family and friends.

Openly acknowledge your symptoms to yourself and others most affected to enhance understanding and acceptance. Create your sisterhood tribe of like-minded uplifting women and share your experience with them. We are wired for community. Aside from feeling that you are not alone and isolated, community helps you feel connected, understood and validated, as well as loved and supported. This may also lead to a good laugh and soul nurturing hugs…both are very healing. If you don’t have a community, start by finding a local red tent meetup near you, join the red tent movement or organize your own red tent or moon lodge women’s circle.

DIET AND LIFESTYLE

A healthy diet can make a world of a difference and has short term and long term health benefits that extend far beyond relief of PMS. Maintain excellent nutrition by eating 3 whole, real, organic meals and healthy snacks throughout the day of a variety of nourishing foods. Listen to your body and eat only when you are hungry. 

Include lots of organic fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fermented foods like kimchi. If you eat grains, make sure they are whole. Eat 20-30 grams protein three times daily such as in nuts, nut butters, seeds, beans, and pastured organic animal protein if not vegan (like wild Alaskan or Norwegian salmon and other fresh cold water fish from non polluted waters, organic pastured eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and organic pastured raw goat or sheep dairy). Add a few TBS of ground flax seed to your daily smoothie, applesauce or oatmeal.

Make sure to boost your intake of cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage to balance your hormones. Load up on healthy fats and protein if your symptoms are primarily emotional. Many women feel best physically and emotionally by avoiding genetically modified foods, cane sugar (raw honey, maple syrup, coconut and date sugar are better substitutes), soy, dairy (especially cow) and gluten (choose gluten free grains like oats, kasha, millet, quinoa, and nut flours for baking), and organic living. Eat a paleo, or ancestral diet, basically basically how we used to eat when hunting and gathering, before the mass industrialization of food. Switch to using organic foods, body and household cleaning products without harmful toxic chemicals as much as possible. 

Drink at least 64 ounces per day of filtered, spring or well water between meals (at least 20-30 minutes before or 2 hours after eating). Use cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or organic goat butter or ghee as your primary cooking fat, with sea salt and herbs for seasoning.

Foods to limit or avoid altogether include:

• Processed foods high in sodium, chemicals, refined (white) flours, gluten, soy, cane sugar, partially hydrogenated fat, as these substances all exacerbate PMS symptoms and cause weight gain, as well as other health problems. 

• Commercially raised meat, eggs and milk products from hormone and antibiotic medicated animals confined and not fed their natural clean diet. Depending on your symptoms, you may need to avoid dairy completely. 

• Caffeine found in coffee, black tea, soda, chocolate, and combination over the counter drugs to relieve menstrual cramps such as Midol.

• Alcohol, smoking, and street drugs.

• Toxic cosmetics and body products, household and workplace chemicals, plastic food containers and packaging, pesticides.

• Mind altering medications like sedatives, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, antihistamines and steroids, even common antibiotics and over the counter medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen unless absolutely and medically necessary. You can aim for a medication free life as much as possible.

Investigate natural alternatives to medications. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs and homeopathy have provided relief to many women with all types of menstrual problems. They are especially helpful if your PMS symptoms are recurrent, chronic and/or so disturbing as to interfere with your sense of health and wellbeing. Try the lifestyle changes and natural supplements and herbal remedies discussed here for a few months, track how you feel and marvel at how much better you feel.

Consult some of the many resources available that discuss how to make healthy but delicious changes in your diet at home and on the road, such as Eating Well for Optimal Health by Dr Andrew Weil and Dr. Kelly Borgan’s Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives. Wonderful wholesome paleo cookbooks include:

•  Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat

• The Wellness Mama Cookbook: 200 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes and Time-Saving Advice for the Busy Cook

• Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen

•  Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion.

Make sure you are getting enough sleep at night, and rest during the day, and that you get plenty of fresh air and adequate exposure to sunlight during non-peak hours. Weather permitting, spend at least 20 minutes outside with nature in the early morning or late afternoon sun each day.  Allow time for enough sleep at night and rest during the day.

Regular exercise does wonders to prevent and relieve PMS symptoms. Take a brisk walk, dance or an aerobics class, swim, hike, cycle, play tennis, or do whatever moderate activity you enjoy for at least 30 minutes 5 times per week. Authentic yoga has many added benefits, such as enhancing deeper relaxation, inner balance and improving general well-being. I suggest trying a few studios to find the best fit for you, taking regular classes as well as creating your own yoga sanctuary for home practice.

SUPPLEMENTS FOR PMS

For general health and physical and emotional well-being, make sure to take the supplements here that include a whole food multivitamin, omega threes, probiotics, Vitamin D, plus:

• Calcium, 250-500mg 2-3 times daily

• Magnesium glycinate, citrate or taurate, one of the most important supplements for women, 500-800mg 1-2 times daily (aim for approximately equal amounts of calcium and magnesium, or even double the magnesium, but you can reduce the magnesium if you get diarrhea, or divide the doses throughout the day with the capsules or in tasty powder form) and bathe in it before bed for 15-20 minutes, adding 1 cup Epsom salts to your bath for a restful sleep

• Vitamin B complex, 20-50 mg 1-2 times daily with methylated folate  

• Vitamin B12 sublingual (under the tongue), in the form of methyl, hydroxo or adenosyl cobalamin,) 1000-5000 mcg daily to 2-3 times weekly depending on symptom severity and blood levels

• Vitamin E, 400 IU 1-2 times per day (higher doses with premenstrual water retention and cramps)

• Curumin (Turmeric), 500 mg 1-3 times daily to reduce inflammation linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges

• Evening Primrose oil, Borage or Black Currant oil, 500-1300 mg 1-2 times daily

• Maca powder or capsules to balance your hormones, stress response and relieve PMS

• DIM (Diindolylmethane), 25 mg of 25% diindolylmethane, from Brassicacae vegetables and/or Sulforaphane, 400-800 mg daily, or add Broccoli Sprout powder to your cooking to balance the estrogen dominance

Make sure you are getting enough essential fatty acids by taking 1000-2000 mg of the fish oil with 300 mg DHA/EPA twice daily, and adding the additional Evening Primrose, Borage or Black Currant oil all with GLA (gamma linoleic acid). Metagenics, Vital Choice, New Chapter, Innate Response and Nordic Naturals make high quality, trusted fish oil supplements, tested free of toxins and pollutants. But, as with all supplements, give a 6-8 week trial of continuous use to see results.

If You Have Troubling Emotional Symptoms

Implement the lifestyle changes and natural remedies for stress and emotions that apply not only in pregnancy but beyond, and certainly are critical for relief of troubling emotional PMS symptoms. Learning how to calm yourself and activate your relaxation response is key, using a regular practice of meditative breathwork. Biofeedback, energy medicine, hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis can also do wonders, but deeper transformative healing, release of stuck emotional and past trauma energy comes with conscious connected breathwork.

Spend more time outside in the sun as mentioned above, non peak hours, ideally without or low dose all natural sunscreen. If you do not spend at least 2 hours daily in the sun (a cloudy or winter day is sufficient), buy a full spectrum bright light therapy for the indoors, and expose yourself to 2500-10,000 lux two hours per day.

BALANCING EMOTIONS

Seek balance in your emotional life, instead of going for highs and the lows that follow. Surrender to and embrace the cycles of life and its ups and downs and ups again, and know that day always follows night, and light always comes after darkness. Nothing is permanent, including waves of emotion. Learn how to ride them, move them through your body with dance or breathwork, without getting too attached to any one feeling or the story around it.

Live one hour at a time, or better yet, one moment, one breath at a time. Become intensely conscious of the present, and acutely sensitive to your feelings and inner experiences, using all of your senses. Observe, watch and allow whatever comes up without judgement or thought.

Life is stressful and always has been, and eliminating all outside stress, especially that which we can not control, is not an option. We can only work on changing our outlook about stressors we cannot change. This involves deep profound and rewarding transformation, cultivating spirituality, and an attitude of surrender, acceptance, realizing that very little in life outside of our own way of thinking and behaving is in our control, and believing that everything happens for our ultimate benefit and growth as a human being, even if we do not understand why. 

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

You can learn to activate your own relaxation response to stressors and quiet your nervous system with breath awareness and relaxation techniques, mastery over your thoughts, and also by modifying what you can in your day to make it less stressful and more in alignment with your core values. This includes, for example:

• Cutting down on the added nonessential burdens in your life, especially if you feel overwhelmed

• Avoiding overscheduling yourself

• Changing work hours to avoid rush hour traffic

• Allowing more time to get places

MINDFULNESS AND MINDSET

A wonderful life-changing approach to internal stress, feelings of depression and anxiety is learning about present moment awareness and mindfulness, and incorporating them into your daily life.

Know that you are in charge of the thoughts you dwell on, feelings and how you react to stressful or painful situations, and that you have the ability to change your attitude and reaction to life experiences to more health enhancing responses. For example, you can surrender to and totally accept unpleasant life events over which you have no power. You can also view them as potential gifts, powerful stimulus to change, a wake-up call, an opportunity for personal growth, redirection and spiritual practice. 

You can always try to focus as much attention as possible on the now, literally without letting your thoughts wander and dwell into the past or imagined future. Mastery over your thoughts, attitudes and reactions can have a dramatic impact on your brain chemistry, balancing the hormones responsible for affecting moods and emotions, and preventing and even treating clinical depression and anxiety.

Reduce feelings of tension and increase feelings of calm centeredness and balanced grounding by taking a “healing interval” to meditate for 10-20 minutes 2-3 times per day. Sit comfortably and quietly. Keep your eyes closed and internally focused between your eyebrows or softly gazing at a low, still object or place (like where the floor meets the wall). Turn off the mental noise and think and do absolutely nothing. Simply be aware of your breathing in all its details, the present moment and everything that you notice within it. If you get lost in thought, simply bring your attention back to watch your breath.

Tap into your spiritual self and practice slow deep abdominal breathing, yoga (especially Yin, gentle and restorative), QiGong, Tai Chi, progressive muscle relaxation techniques (yoga nidra), visualization and guided imagery, or cutting edge stress reduction audio programs and courses. For example, imagine you are in a place where you feel whole, inner joy and peace, and spiritually connected. Or think of a healing or rejuvenating spiritual energy or light flowing through and around you. This is an essential, yet easy to learn, tool with endless benefits and rewards to your physical and emotional health. Locate your nearest Zen Center (Zen is NOT a religion and does not conflict with any religion) or read any book by Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, or Shunryu Suzuki to learn the basics of meditation and Zen practice.

Listen closely to your body’s messages. You may need to either slow down or become more busy with things that bring you deeper satisfaction and enrichment. You may need more time for yourself, or you may need to focus more on giving or helping others. It is extremely beneficial to find a small way to help someone in need each day, by giving your time, energy and presence to ease the burden and increase the happiness of even one person. Focus on connections with family and friends, healing relationships, making peace and giving love.

Try to make a conscious effort to increase feelings of forgiveness, appreciation, love, joy, optimism and healing, while letting go of anger, resentment, envy, fear, sadness and negativity. Most importantly, increase your awareness of anxiety provoking, tension causing, or depressive thought patterns that are not serving you. Try to shift your attention to something more positive and ultimately change your mental state. You can actually transform them at their deeper subconscious roots with Clarity breathwork. 

Mastery over your thoughts, attitudes and reactions can have a dramatic impact on your brain chemistry, balancing the hormones responsible for affecting moods and emotions, and  preventing and even treating clinical depression and anxiety. 

BREATHWORK

Start with breath awareness - being more conscious about your breath, and simply focusing all of your attention on your breathing. Get curious about all the details of your sensations as you inhale and exhale, without trying to change anything. Notice what you are currently seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, tasting. Just watch without judgment. This brings you to the present and is deliciously relaxing. 

Then, sit up straight but comfortably, with your eyes closed, internally keeping your gaze between your eyes, or open and focused on a nonmoving distant object or place. You can do this reclining, as long as you are not likely to fall asleep - the point is to be conscious throughout.  While breathing be mindful, and just observe and release any muscle tension working your way slowly from head to toe. Practice Ujjai breathing. This is done by breathing at the pace and depth that feels right for you, but by inhaling through your mouth or nose, directing the breath into the back of your throat which makes a sound like ocean waves. I think of it like a calm, slow, and smooth circular version of gasping on inhale and fogging a mirror on exhale. This is meditation, combined with the benefits of breathwork.

Before going to bed at night, as well as before rising in the morning, periodically throughout the day, and whenever you feel stressed, triggered, down or upset, practice the following 3-part breathing exercise: 

• Exhale slowly through your mouth with an audible sigh while consciously releasing any and all muscle tension.

• Imaging a pump expanding your abdomen and lower back as you breathe down deep into your belly.

• Allow ribs to expand with air, then inhale air into your upper chest towards your collar bone and shoulders. 

• Inhale in this way for a count of 4.

• Hold for a count of 4 while staying relaxed.

• Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 4, releasing in the same order as the inhale, collapsing/returning to baseline, your abdomen, ribs, then upper chest.

• Repeat this cycle a total of 8 times or at least a few minutes. This is the ideal form of breathing, as opposed to rapid shallow breathing. With each exhale, let go and relax more. 

Once you get the hang of it, play with various types of breathing. Try  several minutes of inhaling and exhaling, each to a count of 3, 4, 5 or 6 without the hold, keeping it smooth and even. Then double the length of exhalation. For example, so if you inhale to a count of 3, then exhale to a count of 6. 

See how it feels to triangle breathe for a few minutes:. Inhale for a count of 3 or 4, exhale to the same count of 3 or 4, then pause for the same count of 3 or 4, while consciously and deeply relaxing your diaphragm muscle of respiration, as well as all other muscles. Repeat for several cycles.

Then see how it feels to box breathe. To do this, inhale to a count of 3, hold for a count of 6, exhale for a count of 6, hold for a count of 3. Repeat for several minutes. Many love this type of breathing so much they do it as often as they can, such as while waiting, in transit, before rising in the morning and going to sleep at night. 

Another great breathwork technique that disengages your conscious attention from thought and relaxes the nervous system, and can be done any time (like when traveling, waiting in line, resting, bathing, or on the toilet) is forced exhalation. After a normal breath, try squeezing as much air out as possible using your intercostal muscles, then allow breath to come in naturally and deeply, but automatically. Repeat the cycle for several minutes.

These breathwork and relaxation techniques are simple to do, health enhancing, totally safe, and without side effects. If you need more personal guidance, schedule a session with me. 

CREATE A FORTRESS OF POSITIVITY AND INSPIRATION

Minimize time online, especially addictive stressful apps, social media and computer games. Try to stay away from things (like certain books, movies and news), situations and people (like those who are angry, stressed out, negative, pessimistic, critical, fearful or demanding) that agitate your mind, raise your internal tension, bring you down and worsen your emotional state. If someone who you are close with continually criticizes, belittles, demands or negates your feelings, try to give positive straightforward suggestions about approaches that would be more helpful to you, or consider having this person come with you to some professional counseling sessions. 

Surround yourself as much as possible with calm, centered, and positive people, things, sounds and places that inspire, uplift, relax and restore you to inner peace and serenity. Treat yourself to a massage every week, bring more art and music into your life, try to allow time each day to do something you enjoy, and something that makes you laugh. Collect 4-8 hugs per day. The emWave personal stress reliever from the Institute of HeartMath is a wonderful hypnotherapy and biofeedback tool to lessen your body’s reactions to stress.

WHAT’S YOUR BODY TELLING YOU?

Listen closely to your body’s messages as your body is insanely wise. You may need to either slow down or become more busy with important things, or things that bring you deeper satisfaction and enrichment. You may need more time for yourself, or you may need to focus more on giving or helping others. It is actually extremely beneficial to find a small way to help someone in need each day, such as by giving your time, energy and presence to ease the burden and increase the happiness of even one person. Focus on connections with family and friends, healing relationships, making peace and giving love.

It is important to be open and honest about your feelings to yourself and to share important ones with your partner, a close friend or family member, or a professional therapist if needed. Suppressed emotions are ultimately more damaging and they can cause all sorts of physical, psychological and relationship problems if not properly dealt with. It is also essential to periodically release pent up emotions with a good cry, followed by a good hug. Do not hesitate to tell this to your friends and family so they can be more sensitive to your needs. Join a holistic PMS support group and discuss familiar experiences, share feelings, and discuss problem- solving techniques.

For persistent symptoms, make sure to have your provider check a comprehensive thyroid panel with thyroid antibodies, your vitamin D and B 12 levels, fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1C and address issues accordingly. Do what you can to address the root of your symptoms and minimize underlying possible causes. Some women benefit from natural bio-identical progesterone two or even three weeks before the period starts. Discuss with your holistic provider about prescribing it using a compounding pharmacy. Read renowned integrative psychiatrist Dr. Kelly Brogan’s Own Your Self: The Surprising Path beyond Depression, Anxiety, and Fatigue to Reclaiming Your Authenticity, Vitality, and Freedom and take her life changing online course Vital Mind Reset.

HERBAL SUPPORT 

There are a variety of herbal formulas that combine some of the herbs listed below, or you can try them individually. Many of the favorites are in my online holistic apothecary under the PMS, menstrual cramping and adrenal support category. It may take several months to notice a beneficial response, so give it time as you are working on your lifestyle. 

Common herbs recommended include Chaste Tree (Vitex), 2-4 dropperfuls 1-2 times daily of the tincture or 1-2 capsules dried herb, up to 500-1000 mg daily, or Don Quai, 1 dropperful tincture or 2 capsules up to 500-1100 mg daily twice daily. 

Physician, midwife and herbalist Dr. Aviva Romm advises additional herbs like: 

• Black Cohosh, 2-4 dropperfuls of the tincture, or 40-80 mg capsules 1-2 times per day

• Peony (which is many of the herbal PMS combinations)

• Adaptogens to support your stress response, regulate blood sugar, increase calm energy, and general well-being like Asian ginseng and American ginseng, Eleuthero, Schisandra, and Ashwagandha, 2-4 dropperfuls of each tincture or 1-2 capsules twice daily

• Dandelion root, Milk Thistle, Artichoke and Curcumin (Turmeric) to support liver clearance of excess hormones, and detoxification. HerbPharm Liver Health, Now Liver Refresh and Gaia Liver Cleanse are excellent combinations.

You can use any of these herbs to calm and support premenstrual emotional stress type symptoms, to relieve insomnia, headaches, and avoid constipation.

For Bilateral Cyclic Swollen or Tender Breasts, Bloating and Water Retention

In addition to everything mentioned above, implement any of these strategies as relevant to you, to reduce bloating and swelling.

Ditch the underwire tight fitting bras (most of the time).

Regularly massage your breasts and chest gently with Almond or Arnica oil to encourage lymph drainage. You may want to ask a massage therapist for guidance. 

Apply a Castor oil pack on your breasts for 1 hour 3 times weekly  to prevent and treat menstrual breast tenderness, but not during heavy bleeding. Soak a large piece of cotton or flannel cloth with cold pressed Castor oil, fold it so it is about 4 inches or layers thick, apply to your breasts and cover with a non toxic eco-friendly plastic bag. Apply heat over it using a hot pack, hot water bottle or heating pad, then cover with another towel. Lay down on a waterproof absorbent pad and rest with it in place for 60 minutes. You can reuse the saturated cloth several times and wash as needed.

Keep well hydrated with plenty of water, as it helps to clear the excess fluid you are retaining. If you do not usually use caffeine, and are interested in a natural diuretic, drink black or green tea regularly premenstrually. Cornsilk tea and Parsley tea are also effective and without caffeine - drink 1 cup 2-4 times per day. And eat more parsley, watermelon, cucumbers, celery, beets, garlic, lemon, cranberries and other natural food diuretics 

Another safe herbal diuretic is Dandelion. Take 1-2 freeze dried 500 mg capsules 500 mg per day. If you need a stronger diuretic, try Hawthorne Berries, 500 mg per day of standardized extract during the time you have premenstrual bloating from fluid retention.

Some find that Vitamin C with bioflavonoids is also helpful. Take 200 mg per day up to 500-1000 mg three times a day premenstrually as needed and tolerated, and increase iodine in food by eating more sea veggies. Take Iodinde as directed if you are deficient. Take a homeopathic combination remedy Mastodynon for relief of breast soreness.

For Cramps and Low Backache 

Experiencing pain is humbling, and it can be a chance for personal growth. It can be an opportunity to practice techniques that will help with life and the inevitable pain that all experience at various points, as part of being human in this world. Techniques like breathing, mindfulness, befriending and relaxing into intense sensations. Pain provides a chance to learn patience, acceptance of normal bodily changes associated with pregnancy, and how to prioritize, delegate, let go of activities of overwork or those that create increased stress, and allow others to help.

Do any of the breathwork techniques discussed in the breathwork section, and throughout all the exercises, practice embracing, relaxing into and even magnifying intense sensations without the mental story about them. Can you make friends with discomfort and pain, instead of trying to escape, numb or fight them? Is there something that they can teach you? Get curious about all of their details, including the borders or edges, and parts of you that feels good, or does not have unpleasant sensations. 

Yes, there are remedies to help alleviate pain. But you will be amazed how effective this practice is, and how much it will help you to better cope with your cramps, as well as with the pain that is an inevitable part of being human. It is the suffering from the pain that is optional, so you can choose not to suffer.

In addition to the above mentioned diet and lifestyle changes:

• Eat more plant based and naturally fermented veggies (kimchi) like sauerkraut

• Stick to real whole organic foods

• Use and eco-friendly natural household and body products

• Eat more fatty fish, like wild Alaskan or Norwegian salmon

• Eliminate processed refined foods, partially hydrogenated fats, caffeine, cane sugar, gluten and dairy

• Limit red meat to low-fat cuts

. Many women report much relief after a few weeks of making these dietary adjustments.

Remedies to start before the cramping:

Apply a Castor oil pack on your lower abdomen for 1 hour 2-4 times weekly  to prevent and treat menstrual cramps, but not during heavy bleeding. Follow same instructions as mentioned above.

Add several drops of one or combination of the essential oils Lavender, Rose, Ginger, Cinnamon, Clove, Marjoram and or Clary Sage into a bottle of Almond or Arnica oil and massage them into your low abdomen each day, starting 1-3 weeks before your period. 

Start or expand on key supplements in addition to those mentioned above like omega threes and calcium/magnesium. Take probiotics as directed, up your vitamin D to 2000-4000 IU depending on blood levels, add 100 mg of each of Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B6. Also consider Vitamin E (in the alpha tocopherol form), 400 IU per day, and Vitamin C, 1000-5000 mg per day a few days before and during the cramping. During the days of heavy cramping, depending on your dietary intake and the severity of your symptoms, you can take 100 mg of Magnesium Glycinate every 2-3 hours up to 1000 mg. Too much magnesium may cause diarrhea in sensitive individuals, but loose stool is a welcome sign if you have been constipated. 

To reduce inflammation and relieve pain, take Curcumin (Turmeric), 1-2 400-500 mg capsules, and Ginger, 1-2 capsules or 500-1000 mg each 1-3 times per day. Also try, Ceylon Cinnamon 2-3 capsules (has been researched effective using up to 3000 mg day) starting the week before your expected period. These are as effective as many over the counter medications, so you can also take it when you feel cramping during the first few days of flow.

Remedies for cramps:

Try modalities for general aches and pains as relevant to you now.

Use organic disposable pads, reusable cloth pads or a Diva menstrual cup when you have cramps...it lessens cramps!

Taking an Epsom Salt bath with a few drops of any of the essential oils Lavender, Rose, Ginger, Cinnamon, Clove, Marjoram and/or Clary Sage, and also put them in your room diffuser.

Rub Menastil on the skin over the lower abdomen. Afterwards, apply locally a hot or cold pack, heating pad, hot water bottle, herbal infused hot or cold pack, or try moist heat using a hot damp towel or packs from a hydrocollator (what the professional chiropractors, massage and physical therapists use). Thermacare makes portable disposable heating pads you can wear. 

Use a TENS unit.

Drink Red Raspberry leaf and/or Chamomile tea as much as you like. You can make your own infusion by adding a handful of Red Raspberry leaf or a pinch of Chamomile to 1 qt boiling water in a glass canning jar, covering and steeping Red Raspberry for 4-8 hours or Chamomile for 15-20 minutes. Strain, then add fresh lime or lemon juice, mint leaves or a dash of honey to taste (optional). Another great herbal combination is Earth Mama Period Tea. You can also take Red Raspberry leaf capsules as directed. 

Take two dropperfuls each of Cramp Bark, Black Haw and Motherwort, with ¼-½ dropperful of Chamomile tincture in a little water or juice every few hours.

Another herb that is helpful for painful cramps is Don Quai, 2-4 dropperfuls of tincture 2-3 times per day or 2 dried root 500 mg capsules 2-4 times daily. It can be taken up to every 4 hours in some cases, but only in consultation with an experienced herbalist, doctor of traditional Chinese medicine or integrative holistic practitioner, as there are some safety concerns and herb/drug interactions. 

Black Cohosh can be taken in lower, or higher doses depending on your unique situation, but an average dose in capsules to take is 250 mg 2-4 times daily, or 1 1/2 dropperfuls of tincture a few times per day. 

Try the Chinese herb Xiao Yao Wan with Bupleurum as directed.

Dr. Aviva Romm also reports success with:Valerian (1 capsule) 225 mg first few days, - best taken at night, as it can make you sleepy, and Fenugreek 900 mg 3 times daily. She is a wonderful, trusted, and well respected resource for natural remedies and herbal medicine as a physician, midwife and herbalist, and has much to offer regarding effective alternative modalities and herbs for pain relief.

Get a menstrual or mayan abdominal massage. Initially, you may want to consult a massage therapist, although eventually your partner may be able to learn some of the basics. 

Other effective alternative practitioners you can consult include specialists in homeopathy, yoga therapy, Shiatsu, reflexology, energy work, hypnotherapy and guided imagery, acupressure and acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine.

If you still need an over the counter medication and you are not planning a pregnancy, take one aspirin with food each day during the week BEFORE your cramping begins, to reduce the production of substances called prostaglandins responsible for cramping during the actual period. If the cramping is still uncomfortable when your period comes, acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin or ibuprofen (Motrin) can be taken as directed for relief if needed on a rare occasion, but it really is less toxic to avoid these medications which are not as benign as we have been led to believe, and use the natural alternatives instead.

For additional resources, read Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (Revised Edition): Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing, by beloved integrative holistic OB/GYN Dr. Christiane Northrup and Wellness Mama - ‘an online resource for women and moms who want to live a healthier life...fact-checked by our editorial and research team and reviewed by medical advisors for accuracy.’

For any natural remedy you use, give a two to three month trial to see how it affects you. Do your own research. Just because it is natural does not mean it is safe in any amount or combination for you to take. When in doubt about herb and supplement dosing unique to you, interactions, side effects and concerns, or you simply need more personalized guidance, consult your holistic or integrative medical provider, seasoned naturopath, herbalist, or If you need personal guidance, don’t hesitate to arrange with me an online coaching call or an in person holistic gynecology appointment. 

Contact your practitioner if these suggestions do not help, especially if your PMS symptoms are severe enough to cause you significant personal or interpersonal difficulties, if your symptoms do not go away after the first few days of your period and/or last throughout most or all of your cycles, if your symptoms persist or worsen despite trying these suggestions, if you are at risk for harming yourself or others, abusing drugs or alcohol. 

INITIAL POSTPARTUM CARE AT HOME: YOUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE: PART ONE

POSTPARTUM CARE AT HOME: YOUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE FIRST FEW WEEKS - PART ONE

Welcome to the postpartum period, the fourth trimester, a period of healing and adjustment, of getting to know and comfort your baby, and mastering breastfeeding. All your baby needs now is love and breast milk. If you are unable or choose not to breastfeed, consider feeding baby pumped breast milk, or donor breast milk from registered milk banks. Breast milk is the ideal food for your baby, although organic goat milk formula is most similar to human milk and you can discuss best alternative options with your pediatrician. And do see the Postpartum Guide to Breastfeeding Postpartum, for initial issues specific to that.

The rest will follow naturally, as you learn on the job, take guidance from wise experienced others, and let Baby be your teacher. As in pregnancy and birth, trust your instincts and your heart. But, do not hesitate to ask for help and support as needed. Hopefully you prepared in your pregnancy so that you are well supported during this sensitive time, as it has always taken a village to raise a baby as well as new parents. A postpartum doula is a must if you do not have family and friends to help you. 

After the first week or so, but before your memory of details fades, it is a wonderful experience to reflect on your pregnancy and birth with heartfelt honesty, and write your pregnancy memories and childbirth story down in a bump to birthday journal. This is something special to share with your child one day, and it is also a wonderful gift to yourself. It can be especially helpful for healing if things were difficult, or your labor and birth did not go as planned or as you hoped. Journaling will help you express, later process, understand, come to terms and make peace with any painful feelings that come up more deeply. 

Below are some helpful hints to make the next few weeks easier and more comfortable, so you are more able to heal, enjoy and reflect upon your extraordinary new miracle. The most important advice is to slow down, stay in the moment, try to resist the temptation to do, do, do...and just be, be, be. Trust that you will heal, as you are perfectly designed to do, given the proper care and support. 

Nutrition for Postpartum Care

Maintain at least the same healthy nutrition as you did in pregnancy, especially now for recovery after birth, and during breastfeeding. This will help you to make good quality milk, and nourish your baby as well as yourself. Make sure to eat at least three whole food varied healthy meals and snacks, and even a little bit more than you would normally consume. And keep well hydrated with at least 64 ounces of water daily. 

Traditional foods for the early postpartum weeks across cultures typically include soups and stews with a lot of vegetables, including the starchy ones like sweet potatoes and winter squash, stew meat or chicken, and whole grains like barley and oats. Also, do eat plenty of eggs, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Much nourishment can be added to fruit/veggie smoothies, soufflés, whole grain hot cereals, and breads/muffins like zucchini-apple, banana-date or carrot-raisin, enhanced with almond flour or chopped nuts and seeds, nut milk, and eggs. 

Herbs and Supplements

Make sure to supplement your diet as in pregnancy, with herbs, vitamins, minerals, omega threes and probiotics to complete nourishment not supplied by diet alone. This will aid in your recovery and help supply all of your and your baby’s nutritional needs. Do increase iron foods and take an herbal iron, especially if you were anemic in pregnancy, have low iron stores, lost a lot of blood at birth, gave birth by cesarean, and/or are still anemic. 

Do continue your nourishing pregnancy herbal infusion to your diet but add alfalfa and red clover. You can have a support person make this by:

1. Blending a handful of dried Nettle leaf, a handful of dried Red Raspberry leaf, a pinch of Alfalfa, large pinch of Red Clover, and several Rose Hips. 

2. Add a pinch of Comfrey to help with healing. (optional) 

3. Brew in a mason quart glass canning jar of boiling water 1-4 hours. The longer the brew, the stronger the taste and effect.

4. Strain, and drink plain or lightly sweetened with Rose Hip infused honey and/or a splash of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice.

5. Enjoy hot or cold, up to 4 cups per day.

 You can make it in larger quantities and store in the fridge.

Other herbal tonics for new moms to promote general physical and emotional postpartum recovery and healing include Ashwagandha and Gotu Kola (½ -1 tsp each twice daily), and Milky Oats (1/1-1 tsp 1-3 times daily), in addition to herbs mentioned below as appropriate for each specific issue.

To promote healing after birth, take 3-4 pellets of homeopathic Arnica 30 c under your tongue every few hours for the first 3 days, then three times daily for a week. You can also dissolve the pellets in a clean unused bottle of water, shake vigorously a few times, then gargle a mouthful before swallowing, which increases the strength of the remedy.

Treatment for Afterpains

Periodic cramping, known as afterpains, commonly occur as your uterus muscle fibers contract around the blood vessels that supplied the placenta. This is your body’s natural defense in order to minimize excessive bleeding and return to its non-pregnant size. They can be quite painful, and can occur with increasing intensity after each subsequent baby.  

Breastfeeding can temporarily increase the severity of these pains, which is actually helping your body heal and prevent excess blood loss. Afterpains should gradually subside over the next week and lessen significantly over the first 3 days after birth. 

Below are some suggestions to lessen the discomfort.

• Frequently empty your bladder, even though you don’t feel like you need to pee, as is common from the swelling after childbirth.

• Especially during the first 24 hours, check the top of your uterus several times per hour to make sure it is nice and firm like a hard nectarine or knuckle. Massage the top of your uterus gently when it begins to soften or feels boggy.

• Lie on your stomach with a pillow under your lower abdomen.

• Apply warm moist towel compresses, hot water bottles, hot herbal packs or rice packs heated with a few drops of essential oil of Lavender, or a heating pad to your lower abdomen. 

• Practice your breathwork, deep breathing and conscious relaxation exercises during the afterpains, dropping your focus right down into them, relaxing with surrendering to the intense sensations as you did in labor.

• Try soaking in a well-cleaned, warm bath with drops of Lavender or Chamomile.

• For an effective herbal infusion: 

  • Mix a large pinch of Chamomile blossoms and/or Catnip in 1 cup boiling water.

  • Brew covered for 10-20 minutes.

  • Strain in a glass canning jar.

  • Add honey to taste (optional).

  • Drink very warm, 1-4 cups daily.

• Take a dropperful of Motherwort herbal tincture up to 4 times daily. If without relief, try Cramp Bark herbal tincture, 1 dropperful every 30 minutes to 2 hours, then 2-3 times daily. You can add a dropperful of Black Haw tincture 3 times per day. You can make your own cramp bark infusion by steeping a handful of Cramp Bark and Black Haw with a pinch of Hops and generous pinch of Blue Cohosh root in a quart mason jar overnight.

• Take Wish Garden AfterEase herbal tincture as directed

• Take 3-4 pellets homeopathic Chamomilla, Arnica, or Caulophyllum 200 c. Try one remedy under your tongue. If no relief try the other. If the remedy works, repeat daily as needed.

• Try Moxibustion treatments by an acupuncturist.

• Try additional suggestions and remedies mentioned here for aches and pains in pregnancy. They work!

• If the pain is too much for you and interfering with your ability to breastfeed, rest and sleep, you can take ibuprofen (up to 800 mg every six hours) OR acetaminophen (up to 650 mg every four hours) ½ hour before nursing for the first several days only, as needed. But before reaching for these medications, try 1-2 grams of Curcumin (Turmeric), a natural herb studied to be as effective for pain relief than most over the counter synthetic analgesics without their associated potential risk of toxicity. 

Consult your practitioner for severe cramping or cramping that lasts longer than 1-2 weeks, or if accompanied by uterine tenderness, fever or foul smelling discharge.

Home Remedies for Bleeding

During the first two to five days, bleeding is no more than a heavy period with an occasional clot the size of a 50 cent piece or egg, dark red in color with a fleshy smell. It tends to be less after cesarean birth. Clots are simply congealed blood mostly that pools in the vagina when you are reclining, and can occasionally be as long as the vaginal canal. Sometimes bleeding increases with nursing, strenuous activity, heavy lifting and pushing motions, full bladder, and as you rise from a lying down position. 

During the next week or so, the bleeding becomes paler pink or brownish, and it lessens in amount so that you only need to change sanitary pads several times per day. Over the following two to four weeks, discharge becomes creamy white or yellow and even less in amount, but usually returns to red bleeding or spotting for a day or two around the second postpartum week.  

Some women occasionally spot on and off for longer periods of time or throughout breastfeeding. Suggestions for keeping clean and comfortable are:

• Take a daily bath in a well-cleaned tub (add Calendula tincture and Lavender oil to water if desired) or shower.

• Change disposable organic sanitary pads or herbal infused natural pads every four to six hours, and after going to the bathroom. Do not use tampons, menstrual sponges, or menstrual cups. The first day or two, especially at night, consider wearing adult diaper type pads simply because it is just easier, as bleeding can be heavier than common postpartum maxi pads can accommodate, and can leak onto your clothes and sheets. Use them with a smile.

• Wash hands before and after changing pads.

• Remove pad from front to back, squeeze a peri-bottle of warm water over perineum. If you had tearing with or without repair, you can also add 1 tsp Calendula tincture and Lavender oil to the water. Pat dry.

• Do not douche.

• Check the top of your uterus for firmness several times per hour when awake for the first 24 hours, then several times per day for three days. It should feel as firm as a hard nectarine. If it feels soft, massage it firmly so it re-contracts.

• To prevent excessive bleeding, take homeopathic Arnica 30 c as described in the supplement section.

• Take herbal Shepherd’s Purse, 1 dropperful of the tincture three times daily for the first 3-5 days.

• Wear an abdominal binder or Bellefit’s postpartum support girdle. You get a $20 off with code: ANNE20 at checkout.

• Continue your herbal iron dose until your bleeding stops in 4-6 weeks, which may need to be increased per your practitioner if there was hemorrhage. Eat foods high in iron, like red meat, dark turkey meat, eggs, dark leafy green veggies, and dried fruits.

• If bleeding becomes heavy (you are saturating more than a large maxi pad every half hour):

  • Try herbal Shepherd’s Purse tincture (1 dropperful under your tongue), repeat every few minutes as needed)

  • Add 3 dropperfuls tincture of Cotton root, 2 dropperfuls each of Lady’s Mantle, Witch Hazel and Blue Cohosh, and 1 dropperful Yarrow. Take them every 10 minutes under your tongue until the heavy bleeding resolves, but only up to an hour. 

  • If heavy bleeding persists, take 2 dropperfuls of HerbPharm Erigeron/Cinnamon tincture of Erigeron and Cinnamon  under your tongue every 20 minutes for no more than 2 hours, and add 1 dropperful of Angelica if without relief.

Report to your practitioner if you’re saturating more than one pad an hour for more than a few hours not relieved by the other suggestions above, especially if you are starting to feel lightheaded, weak, disoriented, cold and clammy with rapid shallow breathing and heart pounding. Contact them also if you’re experiencing large clots, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, severe lower abdominal pain, temperature over 100.4 after the first few days, and deviation from the described pattern of bleeding.

Perineal and Vaginal Discomfort

After delivery, your perineum and vaginal area may feel sore, swollen and uncomfortable. Any pain or tenderness should gradually lessen over the next several weeks, or longer if you had a large tear. 

Suggestions are:

• Practice good perineal hygiene as previously described in the section on bleeding.

• Don’t forget to take the homeopathic remedy Arnica 30c as directed above, in the first few weeks to support healing after giving birth, which definitely helps your perineal and vaginal areas.

• For a small tear that did not need stitches, using a peri-bottle, squeeze warm water with several drops of Calendula tincture and Lavender oil over the area as you urinate to reduce stinging. Squirt Vitamin E oil a few times daily on the tear to promote healing. Motherlove and Earth Mama make wonderfully soothing and healing herbal combination perineal sprays.

• Apply a perineal ice pack or frozen maxi pads saturated with Witch Hazel for the first 24 hours (with 30 minute respite each hour) or as long as you feel it is soothing.

• Periodically sit in a cool sitz bath during the first 24 hours or as long as you feel it is comforting.

• After the first 24 hours, take a warm sitz bath, or warm shallow bath 2-3 times per day. You can also add tea tree oil, tincture of calendula, garlic, ginger and/or lavender, or try herbal sitz bath combinations with Uva Ursi, Comfrey and Sage or Calendula and Oatmeal (both combos have Witch Hazel, Yarrow and Plantain). You can also try herbs with Epsom and Dead Sea salt or herbal salt soaks and see which feels best for you. You can use any leftover unused liquid for compresses or your peri bottle rinse.

• Use a pillow or cushion when you need to sit.

• Contract your pelvic muscles (Kegels) or even better, engage your mula bandha (all of your pelvic floor muscles) when changing positions.

• Take the homeopathic Arnica 30 c as directed above for general recovery.

Report pain that worsens or does not improve over time, an increased area of redness, swelling or pus-like discharge.

If You Have Difficulty Urinating

During the first four hours after birth, many women have trouble urinating such that they feel no urge, feel the urge but cannot urinate, or feel burning after the urine comes out. It is essential that you urinate within eight hours after birth as difficult as it may be, to prevent infection and excess uterine bleeding.  

Suggestions to help you urinate are:

• Listen to running sink water.

• Squeeze warm water over your perineum with your peri-bottle, infused with a few drops of oil of Peppermint.

• Dabble your fingers in water.

• Apply light pressure to the area above your pubic bone.

• Put oil of Peppermint in the toilet.

• Sit in a sitz bath with several drops of the oil of peppermint.. 

• Take a bath or shower.

• Blow your thumb.

• Concentrate on relaxing and opening your pelvic floor muscles while imagining the urine flowing out.

• Drink eight glasses of water per day.

• Try homeopathic Arsenicum or Causticum both at the 30 c dose.

Report inability to urinate more than eight hours after the birth, burning pain before or as the urine is coming out, feeling the urge to urinate frequently but little urine comes out, fever, or back flank pain.

Cesarean Birth 

If you birthed your baby by c-section, it will take more time to heal physically, and psychologically - especially if unexpected and unplanned, or traumatic. Trust that you will get back to your new mama self. The scar will be there but will eventually fade. Allow for at least 3 months recovery for your body from major abdominal surgery, possibly longer to heal the mind and heart. Homeopathic remedies help tremendously and definitely speed and enhance your recovery safely and naturally.  If your cesarean is planned, start Arnica 200 c three times daily the day before and continue through 3-4 days postpartum. 

Other remedies helpful to have on hand are Aconite 30 c for intense fear and panic before surgery, Bellis Perennis 200 c post cesarean to boost healing after you finish the Arnica, Staphysagria 200 c for incisional pain and healing, and Hypericum 200 c for shooting nerve type pain from the spinal anesthesia (only if needed). Use one remedy at a time and take it three times daily until you feel improvement. Consult your classical homeopath for more personal guidance.

The first week is the hardest in terms of postoperative pain, so take ibuprofen or acetaminophen if absolutely needed, then switch to more natural pain relief remedies like ginger or turmeric that are safe for you and your breastfeeding baby, but still effective. 

Use the skills from breathwork and mindfulness to center and ground yourself, stay present one breath at a time, surrender, lean into and embrace the temporary painful sensations you feel, without the story, with love and compassion towards yourself. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or stressed, take a few minutes to simply breathe, keeping your focus softly on a distant nonmoving object (drishti) or close your eyes and internally gaze between your eyebrows, relaxing deeper with each exhale. Send your love and breath (divine life force) and imagined light to areas of pain. Use visualization to support you as you desire. This is powerfully healing.

While in the hospital, it is important to take deep abdominal breaths also to keep your lungs fully expanding (use the incentive spirometer many hospitals give you), and to get up and walk within 12-24 hours after birth for 10 minutes each waking hour, especially to prevent serious blood clots and painful abdominal gas buildup. The more you walk, the sooner you pass gas and get your bowels moving, and you keep your blood flowing rather than stagnating from immobility.

Ask to be progressed from a clear to regular diet within this time, and choose healthy foods and bottled spring water from the hospital menu (if that even exists!) or have your family and friends bring you more wholesome real food meals and snacks. For gas and bloating, limit:

• Gluten containing foods found in wheat, spelt, rye, barley and some oats

• Some fresh fruits and veggies

• Cow dairy if lactose intolerant

• Carbonated liquids

• Chewing gum. 

Eat slowly, chewing thoroughly and mindfully. Natural remedies for gas and bloating include chewing Fennel seeds, drinking Fennel tea, or taking 2-4 ml of the tincture three times per day, taking Slippery Elm lozenges 3-4 three times daily, and a high quality multi species probiotic twice daily on an empty stomach. Eat and drink more fermented foods like kefir. For bad gas and abdominal pain, take 1 dropperful each of Chamomile and Passionflower, ½ dropperful each of  Hops and Lemon Balm, and ¼ dropperful of Lavender tinctures every four hours.  

The dressing over your incision should be removed within 12-24 hours, so your incision is kept clean and dry to prevent infection. You can apply a clean maxi pad over the incision if your belly is folding over it, so it does not stay warm and moist, inviting bacterial growth. You have been sewn back together in many layers, and the skin is brought together by a glue like substance, absorbable stitches or staples, or removable metal staples. While it takes time to heal, when all is proceeding normally, it is unlikely to open as commonly feared. 

Sometimes they use steri-strips over the incision which will come off eventually or you can remove them in a few days. You can definitely shower, but do not use soap initially on the incision. Dry the area gently. A little oozing of blood is common to see on the dressing, as is a tiny amount of clear, white, or yellowish fluid, as long as it is not pus- like discharge. Look at your incision so you can monitor its healing as well as work on acceptance and appreciation for the journey you and your baby needed, made especially for you both. Once you go home, you can apply herbs for perineal and vaginal tears mentioned above to soothe and enhance healing. Earth Mama makes a lovely herbal balm specific to healing a cesarean scar and there are other organic balms that also help the scar fade. 

Make sure to keep Baby skin to skin in dim quiet as much as you can, bonding and soothing baby with your love, telling Baby all is well, Baby is safe and acknowledge that was a tough journey for both of you. Get help with breastfeeding as soon as possible. Baby may be sleepy from the medications, and it takes longer for the full breast milk to come in, but you will get the breastfeeding going with excellent support and patient perseverance. 

I encourage you to love, be proud and grateful for your cesarean scar. This may take time to cultivate, but is a worthwhile goal. Do not be shy to ask for extra needed help, and get support processing and healing emotionally. For online and local group support and advocacy, there are many wonderful resources like ICAN, but you may want to consider breathwork to release the strong stuck emotions and trauma energy in your body if it is interfering with your well-being. If you are suffering from birth trauma or you suspect your baby has it as well - as is common after cesarean birth - there are resources for healing for you and for your baby.

Consult your practitioner with:

• For fever over 100.6 with general muscle aches and chills

• Persistent or worsening pain

• Area of tenderness/foul smell/pus/redness/swelling by your incision

• Area of leg swelling, redness, warmth and pain worse when you flex your foot

• Unusually frequent, urgent or painful urination

• Heavy or foul smelling vaginal bleeding

• Vision changes, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and/or headache, especially if you had high blood pressure

• Anything unusual you are concerned about. 

Obviously, if you have problems breathing, feel weak, disoriented and faint, call 911.

Constipation and Your First Bowel Movement

It is normal to go a few days after delivery without having a bowel movement. Many have loose stools before labor and pooped during pushing, and those who birthed in hospitals who don’t allow eating in active labor probably did not eat much, if at all, in labor, unless they (hopefully!) respectfully challenged that outdated policy, or simply sneaked it. So you have a few days leeway. Some mothers are afraid that a bowel movement will be painful or open their tear more or stitches if they had them. Other women are too busy and preoccupied with all that is involved postpartum to even think about taking the time. Do rest assured that although the first few bowel movements may be uncomfortable, they will not open your tear or effect the stitches. Even if you had a large tear, it’s extremely rare for them to be torn by a BM.

Suggestions to limit your discomfort and prevent constipation are similar to remedies in pregnancy with some additions:

• Replace refined highly processed foods with whole grains, lots of fresh fruits with the skin, and vegetables (especially green leafy salads).

• Drink at least 64 ounces of fluid each day, preferably filtered, spring or well water, or herbal tea. Consume between meals, at least 20-30 minutes before or 2 hours after eating.

• Do Kegels and abdominal muscle toning exercises.

• Drink warm prune juice or a cup of tea or coffee on an empty stomach.

• Drink Smooth Move Tea, which tastes yummy and works like a charm.

• Mix 2-3 Tbsp oat or wheat bran, or ground flax seed, in your hot cereal or apple sauce. Or, mix with stewed prunes or dried figs. 

• Try raisin bran muffins with black strap molasses (ask someone to make you a batch, with whole grains, or Paleo - gluten, sugar and dairy free).

• You can take these remedies in these doses for preventing and treating constipation which include Magnesium or the powdered liquid equivalent in Natural Calm, herbal Floradix liquid Magnesium, Triphala, Psyllium seed husks, or homemade Dandelion and Yellow Dock root infusion. 

• Use Colace (stool softener) as directed if your bowel movements are getting hard despite these above suggestions, and you are on opioid pain medication after a cesarean birth.

• If you are taking iron, use alternative sources of iron other than ferrous sulfate, such as ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, or herbal iron.

• Do not ignore the urge to have a bowel movement, which usually occurs ½ hour after breakfast.

• Take an interesting book or magazine into the bathroom with you to enjoy some relaxing time on the toilet.

• While on the toilet, rest your feet on a low stool and avoid straining. Support your perineum by applying counter pressure with a folded tissue if needed.

• If it hurts while having the first few bowel movements, do some relaxation and deep breathing exercises, relax into the discomfort instead of fighting it and tensing up, or try splinting the perineum with your hands to provide extra give to the area.

• Avoid relying on enemas and laxatives on a regular basis.

• Ask your classical homeopath, or refer to books like Homeopathy For Pregnancy, Birth and Your Baby’s First Year by Miranda Castro, for a homeopathic remedy specific to your unique symptoms.

Consult your practitioner if there is no bowel movement by the end of the fourth postpartum day, or you experience unusual pain or bleeding.

Treating Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are varicose veins of the rectum, and are a common postpartum occurrence. They resemble a pile of red grapes or marbles just outside the anal area, but they can be internal as well. They can itch, bleed and be quite painful during the first 2-3 days, before gradually becoming smaller. Refer to the suggestions for natural remedies for hemorrhoids in pregnancy as many still apply now.

Suggestions for relief are:

• Herbal sitz baths as mentioned above for your perineum, with Epsom salts, Witch Hazel, and/or Comfrey.

• Use a pillow or cushion when you need to sit on a chair.

• Sleep on your side.

• Lie down several times each day with your hips and legs elevated with pillows.

• Try gently placing the hemorrhoids back inside your rectum with a lubricated finger, and then tightening your rectal muscles around them for 2 minutes.

• Natural remedies with dosing are here for internal and topical use, and include applications of already made Witch Hazel compresses (known as Tucks in the pharmacy) or make your own by pouring Witch Hazel onto round cotton pads, plantain, pure Aloe Vera gel, clove of garlic insert, and homeopathic Hamamelis and herbal combinations in a salve or ointment.

• Shine a red heat lamp on the affected area.

• Avoid constipation and straining.  See above.

Report if pain, swelling or bleeding worsens or becomes severe.

Postpartum Dizziness or Faintness

It is very common to feel dizzy, light-headed or faint the first few times that you get up from a lying or sitting position, especially after a long, hard exhausting labor with a large amount of blood loss.  

Suggestions are:

• Make sure you are eating well and drinking enough water as described in nutrition and constipation sections. 

• Have someone assist you the first couple of times that you have to rise.

• Rise from lying down gradually. First sit, then stand slowly.

• If feeling lightheaded or woozy while standing, lie down with your feet elevated or sit down with your head between your knees. Ask for someone to bring you a few large glasses of juice, as well as a high quality whole carbohydrate, fat and protein meal. For example, a nut butter and jelly sandwich on sprouted multigrain bread, or yogurt with fruit and granola.

• If you feel faint or do faint, sniff ammonia or smelling salts. This is an important first aid item to have, especially if birthing at home.

• Open windows to get fresh air.

• Splash water on your face.

Contact your practitioner with dizziness that lasts longer than the first few days or any actual fainting.

CONTINUED NEXT MONTH….STAY TUNED!

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Dizziness During Pregnancy

Dizziness during pregnancy can be alarming, but is actually fairly commonplace.

Occasional feelings of lightheadedness or being about to faint without actually fainting is most often related to the pooling of blood in the lower body from circulatory changes, but can also be caused by:

• Pressure of the enlarging uterus on maternal blood vessels

• Warm or overcrowded environments, especially if one is overdressed

• Exposure to toxic agents, including some medications

• Low blood sugar

• Not enough fluids

• Anemia

• Hyperventilation

• Sunstroke

• Eye strain

• Anxiety

How to Avoid Dizziness During Pregnancy

Some amount of dizziness during pregnancy may be unavoidable, but following the suggestions below will likely reduce the frequency and intensity. Try to note any patterns that provoke your dizziness so that you can implement preventative measures.

POSITIONAL DIZZINESS

Avoid sudden positional changes by making gradual adjustments. Avoid prolonged periods of standing by taking periodic rest breaks. Prolonged periods of sitting (for example at work or during travel) should be interrupted by getting up every few hours to stretch and do some moderate form of exercise like marching in place or taking a brisk walk wherever possible.

In later pregnancy, if you feel lightheaded while flat on your back, stick to side-lying positions.

NUTRITIONAL DIZZINESS

Going too long without quality food or drink can cause a person to feel light-headed, but best not to overstuff yourself either. Eat smaller, more frequent meals and light snacks that include:

• Organic fresh fruits and vegetables

• Nuts and nut butters

• Beans

• Seeds

• Organic tofu and tempeh

• Whole eggs

• Whole grains

• Whole raw organic dairy (goat or sheep is best)

• Beef, poultry, wild game, and lamb

• Fish from non-polluted waters (like wild Alaskan salmon)

Remember to drink lots of fluids. Aim for at least 64 ounces per day, between meals, ideally at least 20-30 minutes before or 2 hours after you eat. Opt for filtered spring or well water, or herbal tea. For more details, check out a previous blog on my suggestions on what to eat in pregnancy. 

Make sure you are taking whole food prenatal vitamin and mineral supplements, and herbal iron as advised if your iron levels are low. Most of the supplements and herbal remedies I recommend are available on my customized online holistic apothecary. Find the best supplements that have gone through my thorough screening process there. Look in the category for lightheadedness or search them individually. My online dispensary is a convenient way for you to purchase my hand-picked, professional-grade, whole food supplements and other natural health products. Ordering is simple, and the products will be shipped directly to your home or work within a few days.

Avoid caffeine, sweetened drinks and heavily processed foods, especially those with lots of sugar and/or refined white flour. Although they can give you a quick “fix,” a quick drop in blood sugar usually follows, resulting in more dizziness. Processed foods that contain certain additives and chemicals, like MSG, also cause dizziness in sensitive individuals.

MEDICATIONS

Avoid medicating yourself without first consulting your healthcare provider. Many medications – even those sold over-the-counter – have a side effect of dizziness.

When Dizziness Occurs

Dizziness during pregnancy most commonly occurs:

• After eating a large meal

• After a long interval without food, drink, or rest

• When eating white flour, refined sugar foods, or fruit without a protein and or fat

• When feeling overheated

• Upon quickly rising from a sitting or lying position

Warm, stuffy or crowded places can cause the sensation of dizziness in pregnancy. If you find yourself in such situations, loosen or remove a layer of clothing and/or get some fresh air and sun by going outside or sitting near an open window. Wearing support stockings may also help.

Try to increase circulation to your head by lying down with your feet elevated. Do this by assuming the yoga position viparita karani or - ‘legs up the wall’, a wide child’s pose, or do any yoga inversion with your head lower than your heart. Modify your exercise or yoga practice as needed, and get out of poses slowly and with care.

If you are at work, try sitting or kneeling down with your head between your knees until the dizziness passes. Splash some cold water on your face and, if available, rub some oil of peppermint, orange, citrus blend or lavender under your nose so you can breathe in the strong refreshing smell. Cup your hands over your nose and mouth for a few minutes as you take some slow deep breaths.

Practice breathwork. Sit in a comfortable position sitting with your back straight or lying down and begin with with simple awareness of your natural breath for a few minutes. Get curious about it as you inhale, as you exhale, and even note the pauses in between.

When ready, take a deep diaphragmatic breath, by inhaling deep into your belly, expanding your ribs and chest. Really stretch the inhale to your fullest capacity. Then take a huge automatic sigh of relief on the exhale, while consciously relaxing all tension. Keep up the deep breathing, and release more with each exhalation.

Send breath and its healing energy up to your head when you exhale. Stay very calm, present, and mindfully focus on all the details of your sensations without a mental story about them, without resisting and fighting with what is, which makes it worse. Practice consciously embracing and even intensifying the sensations, which actually helps alleviate it. See this as an opportunity to train yourself to surrender and relax with discomfort. It is great practice for labor and life.

To help you learn deeper diaphragmatic three tiered breathing, place your hands on your belly, and concentrate on breathing into them.

1. Exhale slowly through your mouth with an audible sigh.

2. Inhale deep into your belly for a count of 4 or 5. Imagine a pump expanding your abdomen and lower back, causing you to inhale, then allows your ribs to expand with air, then your upper chest to rise towards your collarbone and shoulders.

3. For a count of 4 to 5, slowly release your breath through your mouth in the same order as the inhale - from abdomen to ribs then upper chest. Let go and relax more each time you exhale.

4. Repeat this cycle for a total of 8 times or at least a few minutes.

Play with ratios and see what feels better to you in different situations. First try keeping the length of inhale and exhale the same as explained above. Then try extending the exhale. Inhale deeply into your belly as above, for a count of 3 or 4, then double the exhale to a count of 6 or 8. While breathing in this way, again focus on internal sensations, surrendering and relaxing deeper with each exhalation. Repeat for several cycles for at least a few minutes.  

Practice regularly the form of breathwork that helps you the most. If you need guidance mastering your breathwork or want to learn conscious connected breathing that is sure to increase energy, vitality and well-being, schedule a session with me.

Please call your healthcare provider if you actually pass out, if your dizziness is severe, frequent, or not responsive to these suggestions, or if you feel like the room is spinning or moving. After other more serious conditions are ruled out, consider consulting a professional homeopath for a safe natural remedy specific to your symptoms. For more personalized holistic and comprehensive guidance schedule a consultation with me.

Check out my number one international best selling book Natural Birth Secrets and my Love Your Birth course - an online version of how I have helped thousands in my local practice.

Both resources are unique, but each provide an in depth, one-of-a-kind holistic approach created by me, a seasoned nurse midwife of over two decades, who has seen everything!

It is now recommended by midwives, physicians, health care professionals around the globe, and doulas take it for their certification training.

Battling with low back or pelvic discomfort? Having common pregnancy aches and pains and need some additional support? Try Bellefit’s prenatal support wear.

You can check them out and purchase here.

Fatigue During Pregnancy

How to Deal With Fatigue During Pregnancy

Fatigue during pregnancy is a very common experience. Growing a baby is an enormous task and requires a tremendous amount of physical and mental energy.

There are a number of factors that can contribute to fatigue during pregnancy:

• The increased demands on your body, mind and spirit.

• Lack of quality sleep or rest periods.

• Overworking yourself inside and/or outside of the house.

• Short pregnancy spacing, breastfeeding and caring for other children

• Too much time on computer or cell phone.

• Inadequate diet.

• Sedentary living.

• Unexpressed or unresolved emotional difficulties.

• Depression or anxiety.

• Anemia.

• Acute infection or illness.

• Under-active thyroid function.

• Other health problems.

• And even boredom.

Resolving Fatigue During Pregnancy

Look at the whole picture. Consider what in your life could be contributing to your fatigue, and take common sense measures to take care of yourself.

LACK OF REST
Get more sleep by going to bed earlier, sleeping later in the morning and/or taking a nap during the daytime. Getting enough sleep is especially essential during pregnancy.

Take frequent breaks or “healing intervals” throughout the day to simply sit down, rest, center and calm yourself. You can do this by sitting quietly with your eyes closed, slowing down your thoughts by focusing on slow deep breathing while gazing internally between your eyebrows.

Meditation, breathwork, visualization, and yoga nidra/progressive muscle relaxation are all great ways to relax the body. There are many books, audio CDs and hypnobirthing MP3s for pregnancy to help you learn these important life skills, and now there are wonderful phone apps like Breathe and Calm. Make it a regular part of your daily routine to practice them - even just for 15 - 20 minutes.

INADEQUATE DIET
Paying close attention to your diet can go a long way in avoiding fatigue during pregnancy, as your nutritional needs soar during this time.

Make sure you’re drinking 8-10 glasses of filtered, spring or well water daily. Try to drink water away from meals (at least 20-30 minutes before or 2 hours after). Include in your daily diet plenty of fresh organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains., lots of protein and healthy fats.

Eat 20-30 grams of protein three times daily such as:

• Beans

• Nuts and nut butters

• Seeds

• Tempeh

• Organic whole eggs

• Wild Alaskan Salmon

• Turkey or chicken

• Beef, Lamb and Buffalo

• Organic fresh raw whole dairy - ideally goat or sheep

When eating fruit and whole grains, combine it with a protein or fat like avocado, nuts or nut butters, eggs, or a piece of organic cheese. If eating whole-grain carbohydrates makes you tired, reserve them for your evening meal.

Use cold expeller pressed extra virgin olive and/or coconut oil, and butter (goat is best) as your primary fat for cooking.

Eat small amounts several times throughout the day rather than heavy infrequent meals.

Products containing refined white flours and sugars or high fructose corn syrup will give you a temporary energy boost, followed by greater fatigue once the effect wears off. These should be avoided.

Also avoid highly refined processed foods, as these are usually void of nourishment and contain all sorts of chemicals, unhealthy fats, simple starches and sugars that can also make you feel more tired after an initial brief boost in energy.

VITAMIN AND MINERAL DEFICIENCIES

If you are anemic (which is very common in pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimesters), eat iron-rich foods. Good options include eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans and split peas, dried fruit, iron fortified cereals, red meat and poultry, blackstrap molasses, and brewers yeast. Take natural herbal sources of iron, such as Floravital Iron & Herbs - it comes in liquid and tablet form, as needed. There are other wonderful natural remedies to boost iron in my online holistic apothecary. Most of the supplements and herbal remedies I recommend are available on my customized online holistic apothecary. Find the best supplements that have gone through my thorough screening process there. Look in the category for fatigue or search them individually. My online dispensary is a convenient way for you to purchase my hand-picked, professional-grade, whole food supplements and other natural health products. Ordering is simple, and the products will be shipped directly to your home or work within a few days.

If your vitamin B 12 levels are low (common in women who have had several successive pregnancies or are breastfeeding), supplementing with 1000 mcg will be needed and can really make a huge difference in how you feel. It is also in the apothecary.

Also, be sure to take a good all natural whole-food based prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement.

A daily nutrition-rich fresh juice made with a combination of veggies and superfoods like spirulina, kelp or wheatgrass can help you feel more alert and energized. Start slowly with 1-2 tablespoons of the superfoods and build up to 1-2 ounces. Drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Superfoods also come in all natural powdered mixes that can be added to your daily smoothie. Note: if you have a lot of accumulated toxins in your body, wheatgrass may cause slight nausea at first as it cleanses your system. This is harmless and eventually passes.

NATURE AND MOVEMENT
Get plenty of fresh air and adequate exposure to sunlight on a daily basis. Try to spend at least 20 minutes outside with nature in the early morning or late afternoon sun each day without sunscreen. If spending a lot of time indoors, at least open the windows – even and especially in the winter.

Engage in moderate exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 days per week. Good options during pregnancy include swimming, brisk walking, cycling, dancing, or low-impact aerobics. Even though you feel tired, exercise creates energy and does wonders to minimize fatigue, depression and anxiety. Incorporating yoga (especially prenatal, Yin, gentle, and restorative) as a regular part of your daily routine can also be very powerful.

Try to maintain correct posture and body mechanics. Use your abdominal muscles to straighten your upper back and tuck your pelvis in to straighten your lower back. Engage your core by bringing your breast bone and lower ribs and belly toward your back, and bringing your front pelvic bone towards your breast bone. Use your arm and leg muscles instead of your weaker back muscles to lift, carry, pull, and push things.

EMOTIONAL HEALTH
It is important to be open and honest about your feelings to yourself. Some women find it helpful to keep a journal or diary to increase self-awareness and understanding. Share your feelings with your spouse, close friend or family member. Periodically release pent up emotions with a good cry, followed by a hug.

Move strong emotions through your body. If you are angry or overstressed, play an angry song, if you feel grief, play a sad song, or simply play a track of African drumming and let your body move to the music, while making the sounds you need. Our little ones have their temper tantrums, move and release their emotions so they are not repressed and stuck in their bodies. Then they get up and play. Indigenous cultures dance their grief, anger, joy and celebration in community drum circles. We have much to learn from them. Invite friends and have your own drum circle to express and release emotions - you might just feel so exhilarated by it you will want to do this regularly.

Avoid overexertion and trying to be “super mom” by re-examining your priorities, limiting unessential activities, and learning how to say “no.” Delegate tasks to others and let friends and family help.

Try to allow yourself regular time each day without guilt to do something that you fully enjoy, that inspires and uplifts you. Make it easy and fun. Some ideas are:

• Watching a musical, romance, comedy or inspirational drama

• Reading a good novel

• Taking a stroll through the park or in a beautiful spot in nature

• Gardening

• Going on an outing with your partner or good friend

• Cultivating a hobby you desire

• Learning something new that interests you

Add more laughter and play to your life. Many women are surprised to find how health-enhancing and energizing this can be.

Seek out a transformational life coach or, if needed, a professional holistic therapist if the above ideas do not help and you are troubled by psychological distress or emotional discomfort. Suppressed feelings can worsen fatigue as well as cause all sorts of other problems if not properly dealt with.

HERBS AND OILS

Take an invigorating bath with a few drops of essential oils of peppermint or eucalyptus, lemon, wild orange, grapefruit and/or rosemary. You can add a few drops of these essential oils to a bowl or spray bottle of cool water and splash or spray yourself with the uplifting scents throughout the day.

Nettle is a great herb to be taking in pregnancy as a nourishing tonic. It also has the added benefits of blood sugar regulation, adrenal support, improving nutrient intake, and building iron levels. Make a strong infusion by steeping a handful of dried herb in 1 quart of boiling water for 3-4 hours and strain into a canning jar. Drink 1-3 cups daily (with fresh lemon or lime juice, mint leaf or a dash of honey to taste). A fresh spearmint or peppermint tea can also provide a lift of spirit and energy.

If interested in other herbs to improve energy, combine equal amounts of herbal tinctures of schisandra, eleuthero, and American ginseng, and take 1/4 to 1/2 tsp once or twice per day. Start with the lowest dose and work your way up as needed. Reputable herbal companies include Gaia, Eclectic Institute and Wish Garden.

Minimize or avoid caffeinated coffee. It is addictive, too much is harmful, the energy boost is artificial, and it can be agitating and impair sleep. Many feel more tired when its effects wear off.

Avoid stimulant drugs (including diet pills) and sleeping medications, as most have side effects for you and your growing fetus, and can cause you to become dependent on them. Many substances, such as cocaine, are outright dangerous to you and your baby. You must seek professional help if you cannot stop using them.

OTHER RESOURCES

Homeopathy and acupuncture can both be great for soothing stress and increasing energy. Also, check out Clarity Breathwork and/or read The Journey. - for extremely effective, mind-body, cutting edge methods that have lead to transformational healing for thousands of people around the world.

If you experience any sort of chronic fatigue and exhaustion in which serious causes have been ruled out and none of the natural and allopathic remedies help, consider reading the book “The Mindbody Prescription” by Dr John Sarno, MD, an amazing pioneering physician whose brilliant approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people without drugs, physical measure or surgery.

If your exhaustion is extreme or persists in spite of following the above guidelines, consult your physician or midwife or schedule a consultation with me. If you are feeling overwhelmed, or do not even know what questions to ask, I can help you!

Check out my number one international best selling book Natural Birth Secrets and my online course - an online version of how I have helped thousands in my local practice. Both resources are unique, but each provide an in depth, one-of-a-kind holistic approach created by me, a seasoned nurse midwife of over two decades, who has seen everything!

Battling with low back or pelvic discomfort? Having common pregnancy aches and pains and need some additional support? Try Bellefit’s prenatal support wear. You can check them out and purchase here.

Preparing for Pregnancy

There are so many things to consider when preparing for pregnancy

Every momma wants to give her baby the best possible start in life. Preparing for pregnancy will enhance your own health for fertility success, and set yourself up to provide a healthy environment for your baby.

But, where do you start? Taking a natural, holistic approach to preparing for pregnancy includes optimizing your diet, supplements, physical movement and state-of-mind. This is a less invasive, less expensive, and much healthier approach for both momma and baby before even considering the standard fertility treatments.

Eating for a Healthy Pregnancy

When preparing for pregnancy, it’s best to eat a wide variety of fresh, whole, plant-based foods and adequate protein. Your plate should be beautiful and colorful with plenty of varied vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, some nuts and seeds, seasoned with fresh herbs and spices. Look for:

• Organic. Free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that can damage fetal development, this is the best option for produce. Use the Dirty Dozen as a basic guide. These foods are to be either eaten organic or avoided.

• Local. Choosing local typically means the food is at the peak of freshness, grown in your locality, maintaining more nutritional integrity.

• Colorful. The various colors of fruits and vegetable provides differing nutrients. Make sure you’re eating a full spectrum of color to get a well-rounded diet.

• Unprocessed. Chemical additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, food coloring and genetic modification can all negatively affect your health and your baby’s. If it comes in packaging, it’s probably not the best option.

• Sugar-free. Sugar is damaging to you and your baby’s cells, and disrupts gut flora; it negatively impacts your pregnancy, and how you feel physically and emotionally. Sugar is found in almost all processed food. Look out for marketing tricks, like using four or five different types of sweeteners so manufacturers don’t have to list it as the first ingredient. Stick with natural sugars like in fruit, and if you must add a sweetener, a tad of pure raw honey or maple syrup is better.

• Gluten-Free &/or Dairy-Free. Most women feel best when they are gluten-free. Try removing it from your diet for a week and see if you feel better in your mind and body, gain more energy or clarity. Many also feel better off cow dairy, but tolerate goat or sheep dairy products. Try a different week without it and note how you feel.

• Hormone & Antibiotic-Free. Whenever possible, select the highest-quality organic meats and animal products, including wild fish from non polluted waters. If the animal food you’re eating was treated with hormones and antibiotics, your body and baby will be affected by that. And consider that most farm animals are fed genetically modified (GMO) corn and feed that is highly sprayed with pesticides. Animals who are free to move in the sunshine and graze in the green pastures, as they did for thousands of years before the modernization of the farming industry, produce the healthiest meat, diary and eggs for human consumption.

• Healthy fats. Your body needs plenty of high-quality fat, especially when preparing for pregnancy. Ideally, you should be eating wild Alaskan or Norwegian salmon at least twice per week as well as healthy oils. Use extra virgin olive oil on cold foods (like for salad dressing) and light sautéing, and coconut oil or organic grass-fed butter for cooking at higher temperatures.

• Hydration. Don’t forget to drink plenty of fresh spring or filtered water throughout the day. Work your way up to half your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds drink 75 ounces of water daily.

Preparing for Pregnancy with Supplements

In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients we need from our food. But, with today’s industrialization of food and depleted soils, that has become virtually impossible. Additionally, the standard American diet is really empty of needed nutrition and even those of us with the best intentions do not eat all of what is needed for the health of ourselves or our pregnancies. The supplements you need when preparing for pregnancy will depend on your specific situation. Chat with me to find the best supplements for your body.

However, there are a few supplements that every woman should take daily. I take them myself and recommend them to all my clients. Following this supplement protocol has blessed me with feeling wonderfully vital and rarely getting sick - even when a bug is going around my house.

So what’s my supplement magic? I take whole food organic supplements from trusted, high quality, professional grade companies, including:

• A multivitamin/mineral combination

• Methylated folate in B complex

• Calcium, magnesium, and D complex

• Omega three fatty acids

• Herbal iron depending on your iron stores

• Mega-Probiotics that are colon and urogenital specific for women

My online dispensary is a convenient way for you to purchase my hand-picked, professional-grade, whole food supplements and other natural health products. Ordering is simple by category (listed in the prenatal section), and the products will be shipped directly to your home or work within a few days.

For more details on food and supplements for pregnancy check out my Natural Birth Secrets book, and in even greater depth, my online course.

Exercise for a Healthy Pregnancy and Beyond

Movement is another important aspect of preparing for pregnancy. Not only will a strong, agile and flexible body provide a safer prenatal home for baby, it will help you avoid aches and pains along the way, reduce inner stress, help in labor and even postpartum recovery. The right exercise can also get your body ready to ease your baby into a perfect birthing position.

Ultimately, the best exercise is that which you enjoy, so you stick with it. Vary activities that you love, and incorporate it into your life so it doesn’t feel stressful. Here are some types of movement to consider:

• Walking. This is a great place to start if you’re someone who currently isn’t getting much exercise. Begin with a leisurely 15-minute walk every day, and build up to 45-60 minutes at a faster pace.

• Yoga. Yoga will not only strengthen your body and make you more flexible, it’s been known to decrease stress and enhance your overall well-being as well. There are tremendous health benefits to regular yoga practice. There are even fertility yoga classes out there, designed with just this topic in mind! I teach private yoga classes, including yoga workshops for pregnancy and labor, as well as postpartum - which can be done locally or on Skype.

• Dance. Dancing is such a great way to keep healthy and active! It is so much fun, and is a direct path to feeling awesome without realizing you are also getting a fabulous workout. It relieves stress, helps you feel and move emotions, and creates happy for you, and for your baby; your stress hormones as well as your happy love hormones pass through the placenta to baby....and both are contagious to those around you. Dancing also helps you tap into your sensual or sassy sexy, which is beneficial in pregnancy, labor and life! Dancing in labor uses gravity and asymmetrical movements to ease baby down and out through a wider birth canal. Start by taking dance classes, but you can also just turn on the music regularly and dance like no one is watching. I give group and private healing movement workshops - called Femme!, which is a wonderful experience for both men and women.

• Weight-training. If you are not called to yoga or dance, back, arm, leg and core exercises help align your body and are great preparation for the uneven weight of pregnancy. Squatting helps prepare for delivery.

• Pilates. Pilates has a strong emphasis on core conditioning and is also great for mommas-to-be.

• Swim. It gets you outside, connected to nature and immersed in healing waters that soothes the soul. Swimming and water aerobics are also great ways to be active. In advancing pregnancy, it relieves common aches and discomforts, and pregnant women love the sense of weightlessness they feel in water.

If you’re someone who currently has an intense workout regimen and are having trouble conceiving, consider dialing it back to a lower intensity. Otherwise, moderately moving your body and being active each day is the way to go.

Tapping into Mindfulness and Joy

Reducing inner stress and living in joy are central to preparing for pregnancy. Inner stress can actually prevent pregnancy. Many of us recognize that we have grown out of alignment with our true natural being and it's time to get back to our original design.... get back in touch with the cyclic nature of our human bodies, our minds, our hearts and our spirits. The thoughts we think and the perspective we carry while preparing for pregnancy are incredibly influential.

Find ways to slow down, unplug and enjoy the journey. Make sure you are well rested, and getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Practice saying “no” to anything that doesn’t bring you calm and pleasure during this time. Explore ways to bring joy back into the things that aren’t optional. Stay as much as possible in the present moment, one moment, one breath at a time; practicing mindfulness - anchoring into what is going on around you and the sensations within you in the now transforms your life and will benefit your labor immensely. Consider a daily practice of mediation, journaling, and creating any form of art to help your body keep in a calm and joyful state. Decide to live a glorious life; dress and treat yourself like the goddess you are. Focus on what you have to be grateful for and all the blessings in your life. Connect more in community with those you love, and those who inspire you. Clear your body of trapped emotional pain, trauma and internal stress, and transform self limiting beliefs and thought patterns with Clarity Breathwork. Turn negative thoughts into positive affirmations, for example: My body is strong and healthy for pregnancy or I am the perfect age to become a mother; empowering uplifting thoughts are usually the opposite of, and more true than the false stories we typically tell ourselves.

Acupuncture is a great way to relax and has the added bonus of hormone regulation and improved ovarian function. Many women who had some initial trouble conceiving often get pregnant after receiving acupuncture by a practitioner with expertise in fertility; I have seen it used in conjunction with routine infertility treatments, and have seen successful pregnancies even after several IVF attempts failed.

We’ve discussed a lot of lifestyle factors here. Some might be big changes for you. Don’t let them overwhelm you. I’m a huge fan of the 80-20 rule. Spend 80% of your efforts on achieving optimal habits and allow yourself the freedom to enjoy the other 20% without guilt.

Fertility Awareness

Learn the signs of fertility so you can make sure you have intercourse during the small window of time when you are likely to conceive, you get the most accurate estimation of pregnancy dating, and you will even know when you are pregnant before you can take a pregnancy test. This is key, and will also provide helpful information as to causes of difficulties should you need professional guidance. I cover this in more detail in my Natural Birth Secrets book.

For further inspiration and optimal health during pregnancy, birthing and postpartum, please make sure to click here to take my online Love Your Birth course, so you can ROCK your journey wherever and however you plan to give birth.