QUESTIONS ABOUT PREGNANCY
Do you know of any natural treatments to ease childbirth?
According to several medical studies and quite a few mothers I’ve met, red raspberry leaf tea eases and speeds up labour.
Squeeze the juice of an orange into a cup of strong, red raspberry leaf tea (one ounce of dried leaves steeped in 20 ounces of boiling water will make more than a day’s supply). Drink one to three cups or about a pint daily, during the last month of pregnancy.
I’m a vegetarian and planning to nurse my baby. Some of my friends say that I wont be giving the baby proper nutrition. Is this true?
Not at all, as long as you get enough nutrients from vegetarian sources. In fact, it’s been shown that vegetarian mothers have considerably less pollutant chemicals in their breast milk than their meat-eating sisters. This has been attributed to the fact that many chemicals enter the body as a contaminant of animal fat and are then stored in human fat.
What I’d advise is making sure that your daily intake of protein, calcium, vitamins B2, В12, D, iron, and zinc is sufficient. Your best sources would be:
For protein: Pulses combined with grains, nuts, or seeds; or a combination of any plant food with dairy products or eggs
For calcium: Aside from dairy products, you can get a good supply from fortified soy milk, pulses, dark-green leafy vegetables, as well as nuts and seeds.
For vitamins: Whole grains, brewer’s yeast, dark-green leafy vegetables, dairy products, and supplements (A balanced В complex with at least 3 meg. of vitamin В12, taken 1-3 times daily is recommended.)
For vitamin D: Fortified soy or regular milk, and a good multivitamin (which your doctor has probably advised) will fill the bill.
For iron: Dark-green leafy vegetables, torula yeast, whole grains, dried fruits Combining citrus fruits with iron-rich foods will help you get the most of your iron.
For zinc: Wheat germ, whole grains, eggs, cheese, pulses, and nuts
My friend, who’s pregnant, has been using lecithin to control her weight gain. Is this safe?
I would not advise taking it during pregnancy. Though lecithin is a natural fat emulsifier, found in eggs, nuts, soybeans, and liver – among other natural foods – and has been used safely with kelp, vinegar, and vitamin Вб as a diet aid for years, recent studies at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, have shown that lecithin when given to pregnant females can cause birth defects.
Altering eating habits, and not using diet aids, is the only safe way to control weight during pregnancy! Keep in mind that if a mother is inadequately nourished, it can affect fetal growth, which is why doctors no longer restrict weight gain to twenty pounds, but are more in favour of a twenty-eight to thirty pound gain.
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