The All Natural Pregnancy


I could have labeled this post “How to Prevent Autism” because I do believe a woman can greatly reduce her chances of having a child with autism by taking care of herself before and during pregnancy.  But, in striving for an all natural pregancy, you can reduce a whole host of other issues as well.  With my first three kids, I pretty much just took a prenatal and tried not to drink caffeine.  In learning about autism and its causes in the last four years, I have learned there is SO much more that pregnant women should be advised of in order to have the healthiest baby possible.  For the most part, mom needs to take care of herself in order to have a healthy baby, even before getting pregnant.

I believe there is a whole lot of junk that I passed on to my kids in utero, like yeast, bacteria, viruses, food sensitivities, a weak immune system (this is huge), mercury from my amalgam (silver) fillings and my own vaccinations as a kid, mercury from high fructose corn syrup, toxins from a long list of things including food additives like red dyes and preservatives, pesticides from non-organic foods, bad genes, etc.  As well as staying away from certain things, there are many things a pregant woman should take in order to have a healthy baby.   TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) has a great list of suggestions for pregant women as well on their web site (http://www.taca.org/).  Jenny McCarthy also devoted a chapter to this subject in her last book, “Healing and Preventing Autism.”   Pick it up at the library and read this chapter, or stop in at a Border’s Books store and read it.  Many moms (if not most) in treating their kids for autism, discover they have some of the same issues their kids are dealing with.

Below are some things that I did while pregnant with my last child this last year.  This list is not all inclusive.  There’s a lot more info out there, but this is just what I did.  Oh, wait.  Here’s my disclaimer:  I’m not a doctor, scientist, expert, etc.  I’m a mom and this is what I have learned in talking to other moms and reading books and articles on the subject.  Talk to your doctor before taking anything…you know the drill.  Research further and see what is right for you.

1.  I took a prenatal obviously. This is about all your OB will tell you to take, but I took a lot more than just a prenatal.  Most prenatals are very weak and contain small amounts of the vitamins you really need.  Brands:  My midwife suggested the brand Prenatal Forte.  You can find it online.  I didn’t take it with this pregnancy because it contains dairy, but it’s a good one if you can do dairy.  It contains herbs and probiotics.  I took the brand Pure Encapsulation that my DAN! doctor recommended.  Note how many capsules you need to take per day.  Some are two, some are four.  I recently found a brand called Rainbow Light Organic Prenatal.  It’s made from whole foods – fruits and veggies.  If you find the Rainbow that is not organic, this one contains soy and since it’s made from whole foods, I would not take it since it would then contain pesticides.  The organic is expensive though and you have to take 4 a day, and they are big long tablets not capsules if that bothers you.  The other brand I have is by Thorne Research.  Many store brands out there will contain dairy, soy, or other allergens.  Read the labels. 

2.  Calcium and Magnesium.  Since I have been doing mostly GFCF for the last 2 years, I definitely needed to take cal/mag, but most people are deficient in these.  If you are GFCF, you need to take about 1,000 cal per day, and 500 mag a day.  I took Pure Encapsulation brand, Solaray, or Carlson brand.  You can look for one that is a combo cal/mag/vit D3, but read the labels.  You will probably need to take 2-4 capsules per day to get the needed amount.  Some are even 6.  My kids take Calcium and Mag Water Oz that I order from http://www.nutritiongeeks.com/.  I also took this sometimes.  Just add it to juice or take straight.  It tastes like water.  The dosage is weird though.  Since it is water based, your body uses almost all of it, compared to a capsule, where your body can only use a small portion of what you are taking.  The bottle says the dosage is about a teaspoon for adults, but my DAN! dr has my kids take 3 tsp of cal in the morning and 3 tsp at dinner, and 2 tsp in the morning and evening of mag.  This is based on testing of where they were at on these two vitamins.  They were slightly deficient.  Take cal and mag together along with vitamin D3 for the best absorbtion.  Magnesium can help with headaches and with leg cramps if you get those while pregnant.  These are sometimes signs of a magnesium deficiency. 

3.  Vitamin D3 (make sure it’s D3 and not another form of D).  If you want to read more about D3, go to http://www.mercola.com/.  Dr. Mercola is a HUGE fan of D3.  He recommends 5,000 mg a day for adults and pregnant women.  When I was pregant, there was a study going on that I almost did.  They were giving pregnant women 5,000 mg of vitamin D3 per day and then tracking them and their children over the next several years.  It was their hypothesis that taking 5,000 mg of vitamin D3 while pregnant, would signficantly reduce their child’s chances of autism and possibly other similar disorders.  

Other similar studies have been done already on this.  Mercola also believes vitamin D deficiency in the pregnant mother is one of the causes of autism.   Vitamin D will boost your immune system and help prevent you from getting sick while pregnant which is also very important.  I remember being sick a lot while pregnant with my daughter.  It is very possible that a virus was passed on to her and her small body could not fight it off.  Many kids with autism have latent viruses taking residence and wreaking havoc in their bodies and brains.  I took vitamin D3 with this pregnancy and I don’t remember getting very sick at all.  With my daughter, I’m pretty sure I had strep, and a few bad colds.  Strep is not something you want to get while you’re pregnant so make sure your immune system is strong.  

You can also get vit D from the sun so get out in the sun when you can.  There was one study on a group of refugees that came from a country where there was sun all year round and they were outside most of the time.  They were brought over to the U.S. and brought to live in Minnesota.  Brrr.  Two things happened here.  Everyone was given vaccinations, including pregnant women.  In their country, they did not recieve vaccinations.  

The second thing that happened was they no longer were getting the sunlight that they used to, and therefore were getting much less vitamin D.  This group had an astounding rate of autism in their children born in the U.S.  When they lived in their original country autism was unheard of.  Needless to say, these people were very angry and blamed the vaccinations.  I believe, and so does Mercola, that part of the problem was the lack of vitamin D as well.  Autism rates in cities that get a lot of rain are also notably higher.  One hypothesis is that the people do not get outside enough to get enough vitamin D from the sun (and they are not supplementing).  

So, take your vitamin D!  I take Carlson’s Solargems because they contain 4,000 mg of vitamin D, and some omega’s (cod liver oil) too.  They also sell some that are just vitamin D3.  The remaining amount of vitamin D I would get from my prenatal and the sun.  Carlson also sells vitamin D drops.  In one drop you can get either 1,000 or 2,000 mg of vitamin D.  I give these to my kids in their juice, so if you don’t like taking a lot of pills, you can take this instead. 

4.  B-12.  Many people are deficient in B-12, especially if you don’t eat a lot of meat.  Most autistic kids are B-12 deficient and show great signs of improvement on this supplement.  I took 1,000 mg of this a day.  My daughter takes 2,000 mg.  If most autistic kids are deficient, that would make me think that most pregnant women are also deficient.  We take the brand Methyl Plus that my DAN dr. recommended. I order it online from the manufacturer, D’Adamo, Right for Your Type.  9 weeks into my pregnancy, I got gallstones so had to stay away from meat, so I really needed B-12.  This brand also comes with 400 mg of folic acid which is important as well, but you can usually get enough in your prenatal (you need about 1,000 folic acid typically). 

5.  Cod Liver Oil / Omega 3’s/DHA, etc.  I order from Green Pastures because it is very pure and clean.  Be careful buying CLO from the store.  Many are contaminated with mercury from the fish that they use to make it.  This brand is not.  I get the Fermented Blue Ice non gelatin cod liver oil capsules.  Another decent brand is Kirkman’s (order online).  These two also do not contain any soy which is common in other brands.  I have read that taking CLO while pregnant can help prevent allergies in the child.  I’m all for that.  Carlson also states on their label of Solargems that their brand does not contain any contaminants or heavy metals.  Nordic Naturals is another good brand but they do contain soy. 

6.   Probiotics.  Very important!  Especially during your last trimester.  This puts good bacteria into your body to fight off the bad bacteria.  Probiotics aid in digestion, help keep you from getting sick, etc.  While your baby is in utero, they are not exposed to any bacteria.  They pick up their first bacteria in the birth canal during childbirth, so you want to make sure there is plenty of good bacteria there which they will get if you are taking a probiotic every day.  I don’t know what happens when you have a C-section.  My guess is they just don’t get this good bacteria, so taking one while nursing is also important.  

If you have to take antibiotics, just be aware that this wipes out all of the good bacteria along with the bad bacteria, so you want to make sure you are taking probiotics as well, at least two hours away from the antibiotics.  Avoid antibiotics if you can.  Brands:  I take Floragen 3 which contains 15 billion.  If you have never taken probi’s, start slow as you will be killing off yeast and may have die off symptoms like headache.  Pearls is a good brand too but contains dairy as many store brands do.  Floragen 3 does not.  Pearls can be taken with or without food and usually contains only 1 billion, but some are higher.  My DAN dr. recommended it for my daughter.  You can start with 1 billion and work up slowly over a few weeks.  Pour part of the capsule into an empty veggie capsule (you can buy these).  Or dump it into juice.  Do not put it into anything hot or it will be ineffective.  Probiotics will help prevent yeast infections which are more common during pregnancy.  

If you get yeast infections while pregnant, you know you have yeast overgrowth.  I always had yeast infections during my first three pregnancies, but I took probiotics with my last pregnancy, and didn’t get even one.  Yeast overgrowth is rampant in autistic kids.  I would dare to say 100% of kids with autism have yeast overgrowth, and probably most kids with ADHD as well.  They probably start out with a yeast problem passed on from their mother, and then exasserbate the problem with antibiotics taken for ear infections (often caused from the dairy in their formula or cow’s milk).  Craving sweets during pregancy?  Chalk that up to yeast.  Take a probiotic and that should help curb the sugar cravings.  I craved sweets like crazy with my daughter, but not with my first.  I had read that that meant you were having a girl and didn’t worry about it. 

7.  Vitamin C.  Vitamin C will help your immune system we all know, but it is also important for the developing fetus.  Sign up for http://www.babycenter.com/ and they will send you e-mails weekly telling you what is important at each stage of development.  Vitamin C was listed during the last trimester especially.  Vitamin C will also help prevent gallstones I found out a little too late.  🙂  Take at least 1,000 mg a day.  Probably up to 2,000 is fine, especially if you are starting to get sick.  Vitamin C will also help with constipation which is often a problem during pregancy and will set the stage for bacteria and yeast to flourish.  Vitamin C is the only vitamin that will fill in for any other vitamin deficiency.  Not sure how that happens, but that is what my holistic doctor told me.  She wanted me to take 9,000 mg of vit C.  Yikes.  That seems a little too high so I stuck to 1 to 2,000.

8.  Choline (optional).  I took this because I had gallstones and it helps with that, but I learned that choline is very important to the developing fetus’ brain development.  Bonus.  I took the brand Standard Process which is supposed to be the best.

9.  The following I took here and there – vitamin E (Unique E brand – about the only one without soy in it).  This is a good antioxidant, similar to vitamin C.  Oil of Oregano I would take if I started to get sick and it would knock it out quickly.  I usually only had to take one a day for a day or two.  I would also take zinc if I was sick.  I took Zinc Picolinate by Thorne Research sometimes- you can take about 15-30 mg.  Zinc is great for the immune system.  Probably good to take every day, but I didn’t.  I definitely give it to my kids every day.  One of the best ways to keep them healthy during the school year and many kids are deficient, especially ADHD kids. 

10.  Tea!  My midwife is big on tea.  She makes her own from organic herbs so she would make me custom blends.  I drank chamomile tea a lot.  It’s good for a lot of things.  I also drank a tea that she made that was specifically for the liver as I had gallstones.  I had a Pregnant Tummy Tamer Tea that was for upset stomach.  This works great usually which had me stumped why it didn’t help early in my pregnancy when I felt very sick all the time.  Turns out I had gallstones.  

Later, she had me take a Third Trimester Tea which supports pregnancy in that stage.  It contains raspberry leaf which is good for strengthening the uterus.  She made me a Labor Tea, which I took during labor in my last two pregnancies.  This stuff is amazing.  It will help your labor be more effective.  Then she made me a Postnatal Tea that I drank the first couple days after birth that helps your uterus contract back down to prepregnancy size and helps prevent excessive bleeding.  Tea will block the absorbtion of iron, so take your prenatal or iron away from tea. 

11.  Iron.  You will have your iron tested early on in pregancy.  It should be above 11 I believe to be in the normal range.  Mine was at the low end of normal.  Right after I had my iron checked, I had to stay away from meat and chicken because of my gallstones, which means I wasn’t getting the iron from my foods as much anymore.  My OB did not recheck my iron.  When I delivered, I was likely anemic as I showed signs of anemia.  I passed out soon after giving birth and was very pale.  My midwife (who came in from AZ jus to deliver for me) said I was likely anemic and should have been retested before birth.  She had me start taking iron supp’s.  

With my last pregnancy, my midwife had me take iron supp’s for the last 3 weeks before birth and right after. I use the brand Floradix Floravital Iron + Herbs (Yeast and Gluten Free).  It’s expensive, but something I have to take, and I do notice a difference. Without it, I get very tired, and sometimes feel faint. Floradix’s iron is made from whole foods (spinach, berries, etc.) so it is not constipating like other iron supp’s.  It doesn’t taste great but I chug it down.  You have to take about a TB before a meal.  Take it with Vitamin C as that will boost your absorbtion of the iron, and away from tea as tea inhibits the absorption of iron. 

12.  George’s Aloe Vera Juice.  I only took this for constipation.  It tastes like water.  You could also increase your vitamin C and magnesium, and chamomile tea is good for diarrhea and constipation.  You don’t want to be constipated when you give birth because the next few days after that will not be fun.

13.  Organic Flax Seed Oil – I like the Barlean’s brand.  Get a small bottle because it is only good for 4 weeks.  This is a very healthy fat.  A baby’s brain needs lots of good fats.  Avocadoes are also good.  I make a guacamole dip.  But, I add this oil to my salads – about a tablespoon.  You don’t even really taste it. You could also add it to smoothies.  Don’t add it to anything hot or it will kill the nutrients in it.  I had to take this for my liver/gallbladder, but it is very healthy for the baby as well, and now I give it to my daughter too.  My holistic doctor wanted me to take 4 TB every morning straight.  Yuck.  I just try to add it to my salads. 

I think that’s it for what I took vitamin wise.  Below are some things that I tried to avoid while pregnant:

1.  Cell phone use.  Mercola just posted an article that said that women that used cell phones even just once or twice a day were more likely to have children with behavioral problems.  I had heard that cell phones were bad, but while pregnant, I just focused on not carrying my cell phone in my pocket.  The strongest signal is sent out from your cell phone 6 inches around the antenna so always keep your cell phone at least 6 inches from your body when not using it.  That means never carrying it in your pocket or on a belt clip which is right next to your developing fetus.  Very bad.  

I used to always carry mine in my pocket so I had to break my habit of this.  Some people think this is part of the cause of infertility in men – too much electromagnetic chaos is killing off sperm.  Average sperm counts in men today are way lower than 50 years ago.  Did you ever hear of your grandparents getting fertility treatments because they had problems conceiving?  I’m sure there are MANY other factors, but I believe all of our technology is just one of the reasons for some of the fertility problems we see today.

2.  This one should have been #1, but obviously (or maybe not obviously to some) Do NOT vaccinate during pregnancy. I can’t believe they actually do this.  It’s insane.  Don’t get a flu shot.  Don’t get any kind of vaccination.  Read my post “Why We Don’t Vaccinate” if you want to read more on this issue. 

3.  Avoid caffeine.  I never have drank coffee, so coffee wasn’t a biggie for me, but I know for some people, this can be hard.  No amount is really beneficial to your baby. I know I have read that one cup a day is fine.  No, it’s probably not.  It’s a drug and a stimulant and it’s addictive.  Having said that, I did drink Coke on occassion, mostly when I had a headache or upset stomach because it can help with that.  But if you can avoid it, it’s best.  If you really crave pop (you probably have yeast :)) but I liked Whole Food’s 365 brand of pop, raspberry.  It’s made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and it has no caffeine.  A new brand out is Sierra Mist Natural.  This is good too and has no HFCS.  Be aware that carbonated drinks deplete your body of calcium so don’t take your prenatal or cal/mag supplement near pop. 

4.  Avoid corn syrup.  Pop is the most common place found.  If you want pop, opt for one of the above choices instead.  Recent studies are coming out showing that high fructose corn syrup contains traces of mercury.  Nice.  Not something you want to feed your unborn baby.    This is probably why we are now seeing a shift to using real sugar in our foods and drinks lately.  If consumers stop buying their products because of the corn syrup, they will take it out.  It’s all about the money.  This is a good thing in this instance.  Corn syrup is going to be found in almost all fast food FYI.

5.  Avoid fast food.  Nearly all fast food, with a few exceptions, contain crap simply put.  It’s best just to avoid it if you can.  The one place I will sometimes go to, and it’s still not as good as eating at home is Chipotle.  Panera Bread has some good options, but I can’t do gluten or dairy anymore.  Avoid McDonald’s and the like, like the plague if you have the will power.  Watch the movie “Super Size Me” from the library if you need more incentive. 

6.  Avoid harsh chemicals like those found in cleaning supplies.  I always knew there was a reason I hated to clean.  🙂  Switch to green cleaning products instead.  Be careful about getting your carpets cleaned.  Most of them use very harsh chemicals that you don’t want to be inhaling.  New homes contain many bad fumes as everything is off gassing, especially the carpet and paint.  If you move into a new home, try to air it out as much as possible.  We moved into a new home when my daughter was 8 months old.  I read an article once that said that the rate of children with disorders was higher amoung people living in new homes.  I can vouch for that.  In our last neighborhood (a new home community), there was at least one kid with autism or ADHD on nearly every block.  I’m not kidding.  It was weird.  There was a waiting list for Early Childhood.  At one time, we had to wait 6 months to get OT services because the OT therapist was so busy.  This was when my daughter was 3 to 5 years old, so most of these kids were babies when they moved into their homes here.  I also question the water in this area as it was known to be bad. 

7.  Avoid grass fertilizer (if you can!)  I got my husband to hold off at times, and then he only did the front yard.  I had my garden and fruit trees in the back.  We know not to let our kids run on the grass barefoot after putting this stuff down, but have you smelled this stuff too?  Yuck.  Highly toxic.  There are some natural things you can do like spreading coffee grounds but we haven’t  tried it.  I basically just asked my husband if he would rather have green grass or a healthy child.  🙂

8.  Avoid spraying around your house for bugs with harsh chemicals.  We used to spray the exterior around the base of our house a few times a year with a concoction my brother-in-law told us about which included Diazanon!  This stuff was banned by the FDA around 2002 but he still had some and we started using it when I was pregnant with my daughter and while she was a baby.  Makes me wonder. 

9.  Use Low VOC paint to paint your house and baby’s room.  It contains lower amounts of chemicals.  Air out your house and try to leave the house while someone else is painting. 

10.  Don’t drink tap water.  Does anyone anymore?  In our area we don’t anyway.  Always drink filtered water (reverse osmosis is the best).  Do not drink flouridated water.

11.  Try to consume only organic dairy and meat products.  Oberweis dairy (here in the midwest) seems to be clean too.  You don’t want to be consuming products that have had HGH (Human growth hormone) or antibiotics given to the cows.  My midwife believes one of the reasons we are seeing so many large babies born today is because the mothers are drinking milk and eating meat with this hormone added.  Think about it.  Human growth hormone.  Shouldn’t we wonder how that affects the humans that consume the end products?  Finally, some of these companies are stopping this practice but unless it says so on the packaging or it’s organic, they probably use it to make the cows bigger.  I had a friend who had 9-10 pound babies but she was small herself.  She said she drank a gallon of milk a day.  50 years ago, 6 pound babies were the norm.  You can blame other things too but giving birth naturally, I like my babies small.  🙂

12.  Avoid ultrasounds unless medically necessary.  I didn’t have any ultrasounds with my first three kids.  I had a couple with my last because I had gallstones.  I did do one at 20 weeks to find out the sex just because I wanted to.  I would try not to do more than one.  I hear of some people with high risk pregnancies doing them every week.  That’s crazy.  They’re probably making the pregnancy even more high risk.  I don’t think we know the complete impact an ultrasound (or many ultrasounds) have on a baby in utero.  Years ago, they used x-rays on pregnant mothers and told them it was completely safe, but now we know better.  What will we discover 50 years from now about ultrasounds?  I read one article that said when a child has hearing problems, the first thing they ask the mother is how many ultrasounds she had while pregnant.  You will often see the baby move away from the ultrasound on the screen because it probably hurts their ears.  Think of the name ultra – sound.  I’ve also heard that it can nagatively affect the fertility of the child when they are adults because it can affect the female baby’s eggs that are being developed in utero. 

13.  Avoid wearing perfume.  They contain a lot of chemicals and you are inhaling it all the time if you wear it.  If it is on your skin, it is being absorbed into your bloodstream.   The same would go for lotions.  I’ve heard it said, if you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin.  Get an organic lotion instead.  We use Dessert Essence brand from Vitamin Shoppe or online.

14.  Avoid alcohol.  That should be a given but I know some sources will say a small amount of wine or whatever is OK.  All I have to say is, “Are they nuts?”  I would avoid it completely personally.  I don’t drink anyway, but if you’re trying to conceive, you and your spouse should abstain from alcohol for about 3 months before conception.  I told my husband I did not want drunk sperm being the beginning of what would become our child.  They would probably get lost on their way to the egg anyway.  🙂

15.  Avoid artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.  This would be the Feingold Diet.  Red dyes and the like contain cancer causing agents.  You don’t want to feed this to your child.  They have been banned in other countries, but not the good old US of A.  I remember having a Cherry Coke with the red syrup added at a restaurant while I was pregnant with my first.  That baby kicked me so hard that night for 30 minutes straight.  I thought for sure I had internal bruising of my organs.  If I eat something with dyes or artificial flavors in it now while nursing, my daughter becomes very fussy and doesn’t sleep well, when otherwise, she is a very good sleeper and rarely fussy.  There is a very noticable change in her behavior. 

15.  I had my kids at home, but with my last one, I did go to a regular OB office for my prenatal care.  They will want you to take a glucose test to test for diabetes.  I refused the test because I did not feel I was at risk and neither did my midwife.  I was not overweight and had no signs of diabetes and it was not in my family.   Anyways, if you do have the test, she did tell me that instead of drinking the orange drink that is laden with chemicals and dyes, I could drink two Caprisuns before the test instead.  They just want something with a lot of sugar.

16.  I also refused the strep B test.  I just like to be difficult. 🙂  I just didn’t feel like wasting money on a test that I felt was unneccessary.  I never had this test done with my first 3 kids.  I knew I was not planning on having my baby at the hospital but she said if I did, they would give me heck over not having the test done.  She said she has seen the nurses call DCFS on the mother and the pediatrician will likely refuse to release the baby.  OK, now I don’t know how in the world they can do that, but that’s a hospital for you.  That’s why I don’t go there.   There’s nothing wrong with having the test done but there are some things you can do to avoid getting strep B.  If you do test positive, they will want you to take antibiotics near birth and will also give the baby antibiotics.  Not the way you want your baby to start out life.  You could get retested right before birth to see if you still have strep B.  My midwife gave me a list of what to take in the third trimester to avoid getting strep B.  I can’t find it but you could google it.  I know vitamin C, echinacea, and probiotics were on the list.  It was mostly everything I was already taking. 

17.  Avoid the dentist while pregnant.  Many people have amalgam (silver mercury) fillings in their mouths (including me – I have one.)  These fillings off gas toxic mercury vapors, especially when rubbed against or worked on, like in a dental cleaning.  They showed an illustration of this in the DVD documentary, “The Beautiful Truth.”  Rent it from your library.  Therefore, most dental offices are going to have a lot of mercury vapors in the air.  I also avoided chewing gum while pregnant, as that also will release more of the mercury into your system if you have a silver filling.  Some people get their silver fillings removed, but make sure you have this done at least one year before you get pregnant or you will do more harm than good.  It takes about a year for all the mercury to be cleared from your body after you have a silver filling removed.  I just read part of the book, “Amalgam Illness” by Andy Cutler.  Very interesting. 

18.  Buy organic when possible to avoid pesticides and GMO’s (genetically modified foods).  Pesticides are one of the suspected culprits in autism.  There is a list called “the dirty dozen” which tells you the fruits and veggies that contain or absorb the most pesticides.  I always buy my apples, potatoes, and carrots organic, partly because I can find these in the stores.  But, I have read that an apple a day will keep the doctor away, EXCEPT if it is not organic.  If it is conventional, you are doing your immune system more harm than good because of the high amount of pesticides used on apples, and your body will be fighting those instead of the germs and viruses it’s supposed to be fighting.  Potatoes and carrots are grown in the ground so they absorb all those pesticides and fertilizers all the more and it goes right into those foods.  I have read that potato farmers don’t even eat their own potatoes because of all the junk they use on them to grow them.  They grow their own small section of organic potatoes that are just for their family.   McDonald’s is the number one buyer of potatoes, so farmers are looking for ways to grow bigger and more potatoes to meet the demand so they use lots of fertilizers and pesticides.  GMO’s – We don’t yet know what happens to people who eat genetically modified foods.  Too much about this subject to go into it here but some of the worst offenders are corn, soy, and beet sugar.  Basically what is in at least 90% or more of all the foods out there.  The easiest way to avoid GMO’s is to buy organic.

Note:  Some people (often those with autistic kids doing the GFCF diet) whether they need to be GFCF while pregnant.  I did for this pregnancy for most of it because I myself have issues with gluten and dairy.  If you have allergies, it’s likely your kids will too.  If you don’t have any issues, you’re probably fine, but no one has really done much research on it.  I can say that now that my daughter is born, she does have reactions to dairy.  As early as a couple weeks, if I ate dairy, her eye would water and goop up, and her nose would run slightly.  Still happens today.  Not sure what happened to her in utero.  I have read that during the first year, your child has the same antibodies as you do, so if you’re allergic to something, they will to, which is why they don’t test for allergies in kids under the age of 1. 

I try to follow the above guidelines/supplements while nursing as well.  I made the mistake with my first three of stopping my prenatals and vitamins after about 6 weeks.  Bad plan.  As long as you are nursing, your baby needs these vitamins and it’s the easiest way to get it in them!  Like I said, the above is not all inclusive.  There is probably a whole lot more I could have added, but these are the main things I tried to keep in mind and what I learned this pregnancy.  My daughter is now almost 4 months old and very healthy and developing normally.  She smiles and socializes, something my older daughter did not do.  She was always sad and if anyone looked her in the eye, she’d scream bloody murder.  It was a nightmare trying to go shopping.  She’d get so upset if someone looked at her or talked to her, that my shopping trip would be over.

So, please continue with your own research if you are expecting.  I know the above list can seem daunting but let me tell you, if someone had told me the above info when I was pregnant with my first three kids, I would have been all on it.  Sadly, this info just isn’t out there for expecting moms.  Hopefully, in the years to come, it will be.

Related Posts:

Cody’s Home Birth Story

Lynsey’s Home Birth Story

Why We Decided to Have Home Births

All About Supplements

For more information on how to avoid dyes, artificial flavors, and other harmful chemicals, check out my new book, “All Natural Mom’s Guide to the Feingold Diet – A Natural Approach to ADHD and Other Related Issues” available now on Amazon! 




Written by Sheri Fortes - Visit Website

Author of "All Natural Mom's Guide to the Feingold Diet"

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The Treating ADHD Naturally Conference is coming back to Chicago May 23, 2018! More details coming soon at www.mothersdetermined.com.

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11 Comments

  1. Just want to comment on the strep b thing. I'm only 19 years old, but very educated in alternative health. My dad actually has 2 very successful forums on Curezone.com. It's a GREAT alternative health website. Anyway, I had my little boy about 4 months ago. This was my first pregnancy ever, and i had basically done (and I am still doing) everything you have listed, but i was new to the whole thing, and so i reluctantly decided to have my baby at a hospital.
    My ob did test me for strep b and it came back positive. I told him, and was very clear that i absolutely did not want to have the antibiotics administered during labor, and he agreed but told me i had to sign a form. I agreed and went out to sign it. As i was waiting, a nurse in the office became very nasty with me, and basically yelled at me saying i was not making a smart decision, and that there is a good chance that my baby could die if i didn't get the antibiotics. She even said I didn't know what i was talking about when i presented information on why it is not a good idea to get antibiotics EVER. She then proceeded to write up the "form" i had to sign right in front of me! I then observed that this nurse had the same last name as my ob, and concluded that she was his wife. she didn't even officially work in his office. Just the hospital. a big WTF. i was very flustered.
    When i went into labor, a week and a half later, i arrived at the hospital. no big deal. I refused any kind of medical intervention: Epidural, pain meds, and of course the antibiotics. then, about 2 hours into labor, the "head" nurse came in and asked about the strep b waver. i told her i refused to get the antibiotics. she tried to persuade me but i stood my ground. then i began getting hounded about it throughout my whole labor, and i kept refusing, Finally their last attempt worked. I gave in, but not because i was just tired of them hounding me about it, but because they THREATENED MY BABY!!! they said if i didn't get them, then they were going to keep my baby in the hospital for 10 days, and give HIM the antibiotics. i was furious. but i didn't want my baby to get them by any means, so i agreed. I ended up only getting two doses, because an hour later, i gave birth. THANK GOD i didn't have more.
    i am thoroughly convinced to never go to a hospital again unless my arms and legs are falling off.

    anyway. my little man is perfectly healthy and happy. no vaccinations, no circumcision, and exclusively breastfed.
    If i have any more kids, a Midwife is who i will go to. NOT a hospital.

    I love this blog. and i hope you continue it for years to come!

  2. Wow! Thanks for posting! I was wondering what would happen if I went to the hospital! My midwife told me that kind of thing would likely happen, but I couldn't fathom they would actually pull that stuff! I told her maybe I would bring a lawyer to the hospital instead of a doula if I had to go. 🙂 That's crazy. Doesn't feel like we live in the land of the free when we step into a hospital to give birth sometimes. Seems like you leave all your rights at the door.

    Yes, I have been on http://www.curezone.com! I belong to a gallstone flush yahoo group and someone always recommends that site. I read up on there about liver flushing, etc. for my gallstones. Never did it – but that's a whole nother long post.

    Glad you ended up with a healthy baby. He's got a smart mama. 🙂

    Sheri

  3. This is such a great post. I am pregnant with my third child. My eldest is autistic and I have to tell you that I did everything wrong. I basically ate dunken donut the entire pregnancy, never ate organic and wasn't strict about my prenatal and had severe yeast infection that it was hard for me to sit down. I was given antibiotics too to clear up some infection during birth, was induced and had an emergency C section. So you can imagine what this poor child had to endure. When I had my second child, I ate mostly organic food and avoided sugar. My delivery was a scheduled c setion and she is a perfectly healthy baby. Now I am pregnant with my third, but I am going to follow the instructions above for better result. Thanks so much for posting.

  4. Yes – make your own! I need to research this very soon, so I will post when I do, and find what works best. You can also google it though in the meantime. I know vinegar and water in a spray bottle works well b/c it's the only thing that will clean my glass shower door and cut through the hard water stains. My cleaning lady said that works the best after all the other cleaning agents didn't work. I also plan on making my own laundry detergent. I've found the 7th Generation products smell terrible and don't seem to work very well either.

  5. I should clarify – the 7th Gen laundry detergent (unscented) is fine – it's the 7th generation cleaning products like glass cleaner, and all purpose cleaners that stink.

  6. Great post! I had followed most of these suggestions pre-pregnancy, in order to get the body ready for pregnancy (leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, and food intolerances were the issues). I'm 6 months pregnant and unfortunately have let a lot of diet and supplements slide, either because of food aversions or lack of cooking (our new place has mice! We're moving, but it has been 3 months of stress and lots of cereal/toast dinners – yes, gluten free but more grains and dairy than I usually eat). Now, I'm terrified that my lack adherence is going to impact this little one. I'm turning my diet back around and supplementing again, but I feel so guilty for the past 6 months. Will making improvements, even just during the last trimester and during breast feeding help?

  7. Hi Ashley! Yes, you can absolutely still make changes now! I went to a holistic doctor when I was about 5 months pregnant and I had the same concerns and they said it was definitely not too late! And yes, you will still have a big impact while nursing as well. Good luck! I pray you have a safe delivery and super healthy baby!

  8. Great post. Just curious, what prenatal were you taking with Pure Encapsulations? I know they have a prenatal but they also have other brand called Nutrient 950 that I heard others taking while pregnant.

    I agree with you about magnesium supplementation, but is it safe to take calcium up to 1,000 mg if you eat some dairy?

  9. is that a knot I see on his forehead>? OUCHIE! Well….when Noah was in keanergdrtin for a few months the school tried the same thing. It got to the point where they just acted like they did not want to “deal” with Noah anymore. He at that time was still trying to run off the school grounds or push/bite because he was still not that verbal and could not easily express himself. He would body slam into walls and such. They had us sign a letter to give them PERMISSION to RESTRAIN him (which we were not comfortable with) for his supposed own safety…not the others’ safety. This meant they would grab him and sit on the floor and put him between their legs and basically about squeeze him to death to hold him down. This needless to say did not go over well and lasted maybe a short week. Noah finally was only going to school for his therapies, OT, ST, and some supposed behavior/social skills classes. Then it got to where they did not even want him coming for that so we tried another school that specialized in kids with issues. Most of the kids there had a form of autism. There were only 5-7 kids in the class…it was a self-contained classroom. Noah unfortunately did not even make it 1 week there. The teachers had a huge attitude and had isolated him from the other students by day #2! It was another nightmare and I swore I would not put him through all that again so we yanked him and homeschooled him the rest of that year and the rest is history. Since homeschooling Noah he has thrived. He became very verbal very quickly….soaks up stuff like a sponge. The added stressors a public classroom setting are eliminated. I think KC will do very well at home!

  10. Pingback: 10 Supplements for ADHD | All Natural Mom

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