Natural Pregnancy Project

I was looking around the web today and found this interesting article about how the levels of Omega-3 during pregnancy affecct children’s behavior and testing when they are older.

Chicago IL (PRWEB) February 15, 2008 — According to cumulative 2007 research, a child’s social behavior and academic abilities are influenced by a mother’s level of omega-3 during pregnancy. Three peer reviewed, notable studies published within the last 12 months used different methods, but arrived at similar conclusions.

Research has indicated that supplementing young children with omega-3s from fish oil improves children’s focus and behavior in school; these new studies report that the benefits of omega-3s begin much earlier and may be longer lasting. “In the research community, we’ve known for years that marine source omega-3 fats (e.g. DHA and EPA) are essential for normal infant development. These new studies show that the benefit of consuming omega-3s during pregnancy can positively influence a child’s development beyond infancy”, stated Gretchen Vannice, MS, RD, Manager of Scientific Affairs, NourishLife, LLC.

“This is critical information, because it is during pregnancy when most women eat less of the omega-3 rich foods, such as fish, over concerns of pollutants and toxins”, Vannice continued. Other preliminary studies suggest that benefits from omega-3 consumption during pregnancy continue into adulthood.

One study showed that greater DHA levels at birth were associated with higher quality motor function in the children at age 7 (Bakker et al, 2007). A groundbreaking study published last year (Hibbeln et al, 2007) in a population of nearly 12,000 pregnant women reported that the children of women who ate more than 3 servings of fish a week (an indicator of omega-3 intake) had better verbal IQ at age 7.

Finally, a study published last month (Dunstan, 2008) reported that children born of mothers who took fish oil supplements during pregnancy had better eye and hand coordination at age 2.5 years. “It’s not often that studies published within months of each other, using different methods, have similar findings. At the same time, we know the importance of omega-3s in human development and we know that Americans do not eat enough omega-3 in their diet. Should we be surprised by these findings?” asked Vannice.

Supplementing with high quality, concentrated and purified omega-3 fish oil supplements is a convenient way to get omega-3s during pregnancy. “The message is simple”, says Vannice, “if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, then supplement. The most important consideration is choosing a guaranteed, purified fish oil product.”

I knew fish oils were helpful and good for you, but I didn’t realize just how helpful. It also raises concerns for me too. We are told during pregnancy not to eat too much fish for fear of mercury contamination. This leaves us to use supplements I suppose to get enough omega-3 in our diets. Are all fish oil supplements the same? Are the cheap ones as good as the expensive ones?

I now have some questions I will be looking into and will come back and let you know what I find out. I’d love to hear from you all ~ are you taking fish oil supplements during pregnancy? How did you choose your supplement? Please leave comments below ~ I think this is a subject more women need to know about.

Also stop by the Natural Pregnancy and Childbirth Forum, we can continue the discussion there.

I received a recommendation from a reader to check out this video, I did and thought it was very interesting. In fact I liked it enough to share it with you all. Here it is:

[tags]omega-3 pregnancy, omega-3 behavior, fish oil during pregnancy, omega-3 studies[/tags]

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These days the use of drugs to induce labor is commonplace. Although doctors may be quick to prescribe pitocin for induction realize you have many choices to naturally induce labor.

Personally, I dealt with this situation during my pregnancy. I was two weeks “overdue”. I was seeing a certified nurse midwife in a doctor’s office. At my second visit past my due date she told me she would be inducing with pitocin on Wednesday if I had not gone into labor before then. (yes, it wasn’t exactly the relationship I expected when I chose a midwife)

I started to freak out, I KNEW I did not want to be induced. I talked with my doula, who talked with her midwife mentor about [tag-tec]natural induction techniques.[/tag-tec] We discussed a number of different techniques to induce labor naturally. In fact I tried just about everything available. Blue and Black Cohosh, castor oil, homeopathics, acupressure, acupuncture ~ the whole bit. None of these things work.

I’m not a doctor or a midwife, but as a woman who has given birth here’s what I believe on the subject.

• Babies don’t come until they are ready.
• Stress/anxiety stops the process
• Find a midwife who believes in letting the baby come when she/he is ready

I truly believe my due date was miscalculated and Hanna just wasn’t ready to be born. Some things that substantiate my opinion on this are ~ her weight. She only weighed 6lbs 3 oz when born. Even though I had been eating well over 100 g of protein every day, as well as strictly staying on the Bradley Diet. Also, as soon as she was born my doula bent her ears over and they stuck, which is a sign of an early baby.

I think the pressure to have this baby and have it by the medical timetable caused me to force her out before she was ready to come. This led to me trying anything and everything to naturally induce labor. Some of which I believe ended up being counterproductive in the end.

I used castor oil as a last resort to try to naturally induce labor. I believe that because our labor was so long it was partially responsible for the meconium staining I had which led to the doctors freaking out and taking her to the NICU. (where she stayed for a week ~ due to forced intervention)

I do know all these natural induction techniques work for many women. I also think they work better when the baby is ready to come. I do know from my personal experience that nipple stimulation works amazingly well. In fact, I stimulated each and every contraction with nipple stimulation.

What I do want you to remember, especially if you are working with a doctor or someone who is not completely behind your natural birth plan. You have the right to say no. If you and your baby are not in any physical danger you have the right to say no ~ I’m not taking the pitocin right now. Give us an hour to try to get things moving in a natural way.

Believe me, I know this is not an easy thing to do! In fact, I caved on this point, and luckily I had a strong willed husband who stood up to the hospital staff and told them no ~ we’re going to do it this way first.

Then get to nipple stimulating! It really works. The hospital staff, including an OB and my midwife were quite astounded at what we were able to accomplish without any drugs to induce my labor. So be strong, if you have to ~ let your husband be strong. Know your rights and make sure you don’t let the hospital staff bully talk you into something you don’t want.

*** On a side note ~ I will be doing a post later about this but I want to mention it here ~ NEVER allow your doctor to use Cytotec to induce your labor. Put it in your birth plan, verbally tell everyone you DO NOT WANT CYTOTEC ***

If you are overdue and want to get your labor started, there are many [tag-ice]natural induction techniques[/tag-ice] you can use. I am not an expert on them, I just know what worked for me. So here’s a great page that will walk you through many of the possible natural induction techniques you can use.

The only way you can completely avoid the issue of induction whether medically or naturally induced is to have an Unassisted Homebirth  and that’s a whole other post.

[tags]natural induction techniques, naturally induce labor, natural induction, technique for natural childbirth, induce labor naturally[/tags]

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By Michael Russell

At first you might think that pregnancy would be a time when nature is best left to her own methods, and that you should stop seeing your chiropractor, but almost the opposite is proving to be true. Not only is chiropractic care during pregnancy possible, but also it is highly beneficial to both the expectant mother and soon to be born baby. Seeing your chiropractor is completely safe, and offers life long benefits for both the pregnant mother and her child.

The visible biomechanical changes that a woman goes through during pregnancy are fairly extreme. Clearly, as the baby grows in the womb, it has profound effects on the mother’s posture and weight; and changes how she does almost all of her activities. The classic image of a pregnant woman late in her pregnancy waddling along - with an almost side to side gait with her hand propped against her lower back for support - is a very telling portrait of how significant the impact is on her body. The pressure of the baby is very great on the mother’s pelvis, hips, legs and back. The location of the baby, in the front abdomen area, and breast enlargement significantly changes the mother’s center of gravity so her upper body has to lean back to compensate. This puts lots of stress on the entire spine of a pregnant woman and, in fact, the largest complaint by women during pregnancy is lower back pain.

No only are these visible physical changes impacting the mother’s life, but hormonal and neurological changes are also causing profound physical effects. The increased flow of estrogen causes the ligaments to soften and joints to become more flexible. This makes the entire skeletal structure less supportive, causing even more muscle and joint pain.

So how can a chiropractor help make all of this less traumatic for the mother and baby? Clearly the areas of physical stress on a pregnant mother, namely the lower back, pelvis and hips, are areas of expertise for your chiropractor. So it would stand to reason that a chiropractor could help a lot. However, the normal everyday chiropractic methods have to be modified somewhat to accommodate the unique physical condition of pregnant mothers. Because the ligaments in a pregnant woman are softer, the chiropractor has to use less force in his manipulations. A special chiropractic method called the Webster Technique has even been developed to maintain optimum pelvic balance, help reduce stress and pressure to ensure an easier and safer delivery.

The statistics, which chiropractors have collected supporting chiropractic care during pregnancy, are very convincing. More than 80 percent of pregnant women have reported that seeing a chiropractor for spinal alignment during pregnancy, significantly eased back pain. Extensive studies also show that pregnant women who utilize chiropractor back care during pregnancy have almost a 30 percent shorter labor time. If you are a mother giving birth, the shortened time can make a huge difference; not only reducing the pain and trauma of birth for both the mother and baby, but also significantly reducing the recovery time after giving birth. More than 60 percent of women who report high levels of back pain during pregnancy also have recurring back pain after the pregnancy. Therefore, seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy can have life long benefits.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Chiropractor

[tags]natural childbirth, natural pregnancy, chiropractic care during pregnancy, shorter labor with chiropractic care [/tags]

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