When I was pregnant I was on the research train. I found comfort in reading different books, looking at different studies that had been run and immersing myself into the local birth community.
Some people don't find the comfort in looking into all the different procedures that certain providers will say are 'necessary' (spoiler they aren't always and sometimes they are) I found my research to be extremely empowering as well as at the same time disheartening, especially with what certain birth experiences are today in the modern western society.
There were many different things that I learned, I was going to try to find the top 5 from my pregnancy journal but honestly it is hard to say what those would be so I picked a few and shared them here:
➡️Trust your body. I know it can seem scary, but your body is amazing and was made to do this!
➡️Birth should be in whatever position YOU want it to be, not what someone says is “the policy.” You are allowed to try different positions and move around as you see fit and what’s comfortable for you.
➡️Having support that you choose and feel good about is KEY. It’s more than just your family and friends! Finding a care team that you can confide in and ask questions about your whole journey makes all the difference.
➡️YOU don't have to listen to anyone's "advice" or horror stories from their experiences that you don't want to. I remember hearing all the stories once people found out I was pregnant and I would just politely decline or remove myself from the situation.
➡️YOU are in control of a lot more than you might have been led to believe......
See a pattern!? When it comes to your pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey YOU are in charge. It’s so important to find a care team that works with you and supports your decisions. There’s so much value in being educated and knowing what questions to ask.
I thought I was sensitive before I became a mom; I didn’t really like scary movies or any with violence or a lot of death but since becoming a mom this has intensified A LOT. Often I won’t even watch new movies or shows because I don’t know how they end or if anyone dies in them.
So along with all of the beautiful feelings that motherhood can give you, there often comes a heightened sensitivity to the challenges and injustices that permeate our world. The sadness, whether that’s in a movie or in real life hits us like a wave, leaving us feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed.
Some ways that help me with these aspects:
🌞 GET OUTSIDE - I do not do this enough. Even if generally I do it once a day, my goal for this month is twice a day - even if just for a few minutes to let the sun hit my skin
📰 DO NOT consume news media - okay there are varying degrees around this - can you find out what is going on in a way that doesn’t leave you having a lot of stress? Then go for it. I used to just have my hubby tell me the highlights, so he knew the depth and I didn’t have to live in the negative space; find what works for you, but blanket statement, do NOT watch the news.
🏃🏻♀️MOVE your body- however that works for you! Some people run, some walk, some yoga, some peloton - you get the idea.
📖 Immerse yourself in something you love to do. For me, this is definitely reading, watching SATC for the 100,000 time, eating at my favorite restaurant and whatever else calls me at the time.
As we know life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine but finding the joy where you can is really helpful!❤️
I remember being pregnant and constantly thinking about if I was making the right decisions for my health and my baby’s. When you’re growing a human you might be thinking about A LOT of things, I know I was. And maybe one of those 854,829,738 things is about your gut health, and maybe it’s not 😜 so I’m here to tell you the things that can be helpful or can happen when it comes to supporting your gut through pregnancy.
Having a healthy gut during pregnancy helps with many, many things - including but not limited to, nutrition absorption, strength of your immune system and protection against infection. These are huge factors that play into your overall health and a healthy baby too. It’s so important to find ways that you can nourish your body and feel good.
One of the best ways to support your gut is obviously through the food that you are consuming. We go over a lot of this in my gut guide (check it out here!), but in general, you want to eat a diet of organic produce, healthy fats, antioxidants, bone broth and probiotic-rich fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. The more of these types of foods you can consume the better.
You also want to do your best to avoid processed foods with things like artificial sweeteners, msg, pesticides and artificial food dyes. Foods that contain these are more likely to disrupt the natural environment of your gut and cause you to feel awful.
Don’t forget that when you have a healthy gut it helps your baby have a healthy gut too!
To learn more ways to support your gut health, grab my Gut Health Made Easy Guide here!
Let me give you a heads up incase you didn't know.... nearing the end of your pregnancy be prepared for a v swab to test for this strain of bacteria, knowing as GBS (Group B streptococcus). This bacteria can cause health issues for baby if it is present when mom delivers.
There are a lot of different reasons that it is important to care for your gut while you're pregnant. One that was at the forefront of my mind when I was carrying my little guy was maternal Group B streptococcus (GBS) specifically in the v💮ginal canal.
If you test positive for GBS in certain settings you will be prescribed an antibiotic during labor (and sometimes before) and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible, which I knew was possible.
Enter the gut health focus.
I had been taking a probiotic before pregnancy and continued to do so during, especially containing two strains, both of which have over 25 years of clinical data supporting their supplementation during pregnancy. lactobacillus rhamnosus, GR-1 and lactobacillus reuteria, RC-14.
The other idea with this is to help your baby be seeded with healthy bacteria during birth, which can absolutely impact your baby's gut health too.
These two strains were used in a well designed, randomized trial of 99 pregnant women who tested positive for GBS at 35-37 weeks. Half of the women received probiotic treatment (containing 10 billion CFU of each strain), while the other half received a placebo.
The women were tested again for GBS when they were admitted to the hospital for delivery and among the women who received probiotics 43% tested negative for GBS compared to only 18% in the placebo group.
Besides a probiotic you can get these strains in sweet potatoes, or yams, artichokes, and beans, some yogurts, Fermented milk/kefir, Sauerkraut, Miso, Kombucha.
As someone who is passionate about nutrition and has been pregnant before, I find it hard to believe the lack of education when it comes to nourishing your body while pregnant. Especially when it comes to gut health which plays a HUGE role in your body and overall health.
When I was taking microbiology for my nutrition and dietetics degree we talked about the different bacteria present in our gut, but that the science was really new and we didn’t know too much. That statement is still being said today, and in theory, still true. I don’t think we’ll ever know literally everything about the body, but we do know that certain strains of bacteria have been shown to be present or not present during certain health conditions.
When you are pregnant, your body is constantly changing and you have the potential to be given different diagnoses that you might not normally be when you aren’t pregnant. One of those diagnoses is gestational diabetes. It’s actually been observed that pregnant women who have gestational diabetes have different levels of certain bacteria in their gut throughout their pregnancy. One specific bacteria is important and aids in breaking down fiber in your diet to help promote gut balance; which means it's important! Consuming a fiber-rich, balanced diet can help support the levels of this helpful microorganism.
Another study showed that a diet packed with fiber, legumes, vegetable, fruit, and nut intake are associated with an increase in butyrate; a powerhouse for pregnant mamas (We talked about butyrate last week!)
So bottom line, balancing out some of those fruits and veggies, along with other nutrient dense foods can be really helpful when it comes to keeping your microbiome healthy during pregnancy!
Grab my Gut Health Made Easy Guide HERE to learn about supporting your gut and feeling good!
