Nutritional Balancing in Obstetric Practice

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

Balancing and strengthening the body chemistry of mothers-to-be is one of the best ways to enhance the safety of pregnancy and birth.  It will also help create a much happier, healthier generation of children.

Many problems of newborns and babies are directly attributable to nutritional imbalances the babies are born with.  A recent study showed, for example, that low birth-weight babies are increasing in incidence.  This is a shame as it leads to extra cost and health problems in most cases.  In my experience, many problems of babies such as infections, inability to feed, delayed development, ADD, autism and many more can often be completely avoided with a nutritional balancing program for the mother before or even perhaps during pregnancy.

For doctors, avoiding birth-related problems with a nutritional balancing programs may reduce legal liability for problems that are today common in babies.

 

AVOIDING CONGENITAL DEFICIENCIES AND TOXICITIES

One of the greatest benefits of nutritional balancing for mothers-to-be and their unborn children is to avoid congenital imbalances in the baby.

The word congenital means something that one is born with, although it is not from the DNA or genes.  In other words, one’s genes can be fine, but one can still be born with many problems due to nutrient deficiencies, heavy metal toxicity and other imbalances that are passed along from mother to child through the placenta.

Congenital problems are almost universal today because so many mother-to-be and even the fathers-to-be are not in excellent nutritional condition.  It does not matter if one is very attractive or “feels good”.  The fact is that most young men and women do not eat correctly and even if they do, their food is not of excellent enough quality to provide all that they need.

Also, the environment is loaded with toxic metals and toxic chemicals.  These are all passed directly through the placenta from mother to child, burdening the baby with these from his or her first day of life.  This is often the cause of infections, growth and development problems, learning disorders, ADHD, autism and much, much more.  I know this because hair mineral tests of newborns who have never touched food or perhaps even water, often reveal high levels of toxic metals.  These can only have come from the mother.

 

AVOIDING GENETIC DEFECTS AND DELAYED DEVELOPMENT SYNDROMES 

Another reason why all mothers-to-be would benefit greatly from a nutritional balancing program is to help reduce the chances of a birth defect.  The birth defect rate has doubled in America and increased around the world since 1950 or so.

While there are many causes, several of the most important are excessive toxic metals and toxic chemicals, and more radiation exposure.  Every young woman should make every possible effort to minimize exposure to these if one wishes to have healthy children.

Nutritional balancing can help get rid of all of these toxic substances from the body, preferably before one becomes pregnant or is even thinking about becoming pregnant, since it takes a few years or more, usually, of following a specific program to rid the body of the bulk of these toxic substances.

 

AVOIDING PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS 

Another reason for a nutritional balancing program for all mothers-to-be is to avoid complications of pregnancy, some of which can be life-threatening for both mother and child.

Copper And Morning Sickness.  Copper imbalance, for example, causes morning sickness in some pregnant women.  Nutritional balancing can correct this imbalance, along with many others, and can offer a woman a much healthier and easier pregnancy and birth.

Also, in my experience with many pregnancy cases, the babies are born happier, healthier and they have far fewer problems after they are born.

Diabetes and Nutritional Balancing. Some women develop what is called “gestational diabetes” during pregnancy.  This is unpleasant and can threaten the mother and child’s health. Nutritional balancing is often helpful to both avoid this complication of pregnancy, as well as to handle it if it arises.

Pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia of Pregnancy.  Some women develop high blood pressure, swelling of the legs and other related conditions as complications of pregnancy.  They can be life-threatening and often require bed rest for the mother, or even hospitalization.

These conditions are also usually related to nutritional and other biochemical imbalances.  I have found that women who followed a nutritional balancing program never experienced these frightening complications of their pregnancies.  Ideally, one should begin a nutritional program early, as it takes time in many cases to reverse nutritional imbalances.

 

OTHER BENEFITS OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING BEFORE AND DURING PREGNANCY

These are too numerous to list, and include:

1. Screening for many biochemical imbalances that are otherwise hard to identify. These might include heavy metal toxicity, nutrient deficiencies, thyroid and adrenal imbalances, blood sugar imbalances, dietary imbalances, hidden lifestyle problems, an imbalanced oxidation rate, imbalanced vital mineral ratios, intense but hidden stress patterns, a reduced immune response,  possible emotional difficulties that could affect pregnancy and trends for at least 30 to 40 important medical conditions.

2. Improving a woman’s overall energy level and her health level, so that she will be better able to care for herself and breastfeed her baby for at least three years, ideally. Many women are so depleted their babies do not want their breast milk after a short while, or the mother’s develop difficulty breastfeeding that prevents them from continuing it long enough.  The healthiest “primitive cultures” routinely breastfeed the babies for several years, often exclusively, to give a child the best possible start in life.  This is only possible, however, if the mother is extremely well nourished and knows well how to care for her body.

3. Improving a woman’s general mental and emotional health so that she can better cope with pregnancy, delivery and raising a healthy child.

4. Teaching a young woman how to eat and live correctly, so she can pass on the knowledge to her child, rather than learn incorrectly from the media or even from ignorant doctors an nurses, sad to say.

 

WHAT IF ONE IS ALREADY PREGNANT?

When I first began doing nutritional balancing, I did not know if it was safe during pregnancy.  I wondered if, perhaps, the program would cause toxic metals to be released from the mother and find their way into the baby.

However, after some 30 years of doing these programs, they are extremely safe, and as of this day, no problems have been reported to me by any mother who followed a nutritional balancing program during her entire pregnancy.  In fact, almost all of these women reported that their “hair analysis baby”, as some call it, is much brighter, healthier and happier than their previous babies.  Therefore, I have no hesitation at this time recommending the program for pregnant and possibly pregnant women.  A few simple modifications are needed, and discussed below.

 

MODIFICATIONS OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING PROGRAMS DURING PREGNANCY

Diet and lifestyle.  No important modifications are needed.  Pregnant women should realize, however, that pregnancy is definitely a stressor to the body.  They need to continue to get plenty of rest, mild exercise each day, preferably, and to observe all the other good habits outlined in articles such as The Free Program.

Also, as the baby grows larger, the woman must eat a little more in some cases, to be sure she gets enough nutrition for both her and the baby.  Also, positive, happy, relaxing thoughts are important during pregnancy, in particular, because developing babies are extremely sensitive to a mother’s moods and thoughts, and they will react to them, either favorably or unfavorably. For the happiest baby, watch the thoughts and emotions carefully and take action, if needed, if they are not beautiful most of the time.

Nutritional supplements.  In addition to the recommended supplements on your individualized nutritional balancing program, or the general ones listed in the article above, Introduction To Nutritional Balancing, pregnant women should require only a few extra nutrients, if any.  These include some chelated iron, perhaps, up to about 30 mg per day, and perhaps extra folic acid, up to 0.1 mg or even less.  If a woman is eating correctly and digesting her food well, these should not even be needed, but they are helpful and won’t hurt.

Regular prenatal vitamins.  These are usually inadequate and often contain minerals and vitamins a young woman does not need.  They can even be toxic for her and her child.  This topic is discussed below. 

Coffee enemas during pregnancy.  I am often asked about this.  Coffee enemas and colon hydrotherapy, to the best of my knowledge, are fine during pregnancy.  The only problems are that late in pregnancy, moving about easily to do an enema, for example on the bathroom floor, may become somewhat difficult or at least cumbersome. An assistant would be most helpful at this time.  Also, some women unfortunately develop hemorrhoids late in pregnancy and this can affect the ability to do coffee enemas as well.

Saunas during pregnancy. For hundreds of years, traditional saunas of the type found in health spas have been used in Europe all during pregnancy with no apparent ill effects.  This is well-documented in the medical literature on saunas.

Infrared saunas have not been around long enough for good data to be collected about their use during pregnancy.  This is unfortunate and I hope the data will be collected soon.  Until there is such data, I do not recommend infrared sauna therapy during pregnancy.  I have allowed some pregnant women to use a near infrared sauna for up to 10 minutes during pregnancy if the woman really wanted to do so, and so far, in just a few cases, there has not been any problem at all. However, this is informal and I do not know exactly how long and when the infrared saunas were used.  I look forward to someone doing this kind of research for the sake of mothers and babies everywhere.

 

PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL PRENATAL CARE AND PRENATAL VITAMINS

Prenatal care today is insane. This is a strong statement, but I feel it is absolutely true. Today’s prenatal care for future mothers is to essentially allow and even encourage them, at times, to:

• Eat mainly junk food that is devoid of nutrients and loaded with questionable food additives.  The diets of teenagers and young women, in particular, whether at school or while working, are among the worst of any group.
• Stay up late and live on many fewer hours of sleep than they need.  Most today live on caffeine and sugar just to get through the day.
• Have sexual intercourse long before they understand it well or are in committed relationships.  As a result, most of the sexually active ones contract sexually-transmitted diseases while still teens or in their twenties. These can interfere with a healthy pregnancy, not to mention their effect upon a lady’s self esteem and attractiveness for finding a wonderful mate.
• Use hundreds of toxic chemicals found in hair sprays, hair dyes, nail polish (one of the worst), soaps, lotions, cosmetics such as lipstick, rouge, chapsticks, synthetic clothing worn against the skin and more.  Many of these products should be banned, as they are quite toxic.
• Many today are told it is okay to live a loose moral lifestyle that causes depression and discouragement for them.  Treating teenage girls as if they are adults is a grave mistake, in my experience.  They are children, not adults, and most do not know how to control their lives and how to live healthfully.  This can affect them for the rest of their lives, and particularly their attitude about becoming a mother and how they will treat their babies.
• Many take drugs, including over-the-counter and prescription drugs that are highly toxic.  These include birth control pills and patches (the worst), steroid creams, antibiotics, and all sorts of ‘drug remedies’ for their PMS, acne, headaches and so on.  Few parents or others explains to these young ladies that all drugs leave residues that remain in the body to some extent.  Some will pass into their babies during pregnancy, perhaps causing birth defects, delayed development, autism, ADHD, and so on.
• Women’s liberation has also educated young women to believe it may be okay to “experiment” with illicit drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and other toxic substances, just like the boys do.  This is pernicious and a lie!  It is not okay for the boys, but at least they do not bear the next generation of children.

 

When pregnancy occurs.  When one of these young women becomes pregnant, she gets a simple blood test, perhaps a lecture about drugs and diet that in my estimation is far too little, far too late. She is also given a low quality prenatal vitamin that is usually not appropriate for her body type and needs.  This is prenatal care in America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia today.

As I write this article, at least 1 of every hundred children born in America will become autistic, and at least one in five will have a learning disorder.  Hair analysis makes it very clear the reason for this epidemic is the babies are born malnourished and toxic.  Unless the present system of ‘prenatal care’ above changes drastically, I wonder if all children will soon be born with serious biochemical and other defects and problems.

More on prenatal vitamins. Here are several reasons why prenatal vitamins, while helpful in some ways, often do not address most women’s real needs:

1. They are started much too late.  Usually, the baby has essentially already formed by the time a woman figures out she is pregnant, gets an appointment with a doctor and fills her prescription for a prenatal vitamin.

In contrast, many primitive tribes start preparing young women for child-bearing as soon as the girls reach puberty.  This is real pre-natal care.  At the very least, one should begin when one gets married or begins to be sexually active, since one never knows exactly when pregnancy will occur thereafter.

2. Most prenatal vitamins are extremely deficient in many nutrients, if they contain them at all.  Among the important nutrients that are low in these vitamins are zinc, selenium, magnesium, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, omega-3 fatty acids, iodine and many others.

3. They are one size fits all. No testing is usually done, yet some women need far more of certain nutrients than others.  For example, certain prenatal vitamins are very high in copper, containing several milligrams of it in one tablet or capsule.  This works for some women just fine. In others, it can cause difficulties ranging from skin disorder to headaches and worse.  I will give just one example from my own nutritional balancing practice.

The Depressed Young Mother.  A young woman consulted me for depression soon after she had given birth.  I asked if she was taking her pre-natal vitamin and she answered yes.  I told her to stop it immediately.

She returned to my office in a week with her physician husband.  He told me to write up her case because it turned out she was beating her baby because she could not handle the baby crying.  Within a day or two of stopping the prenatal vitamin, the depression and her inability to cope with the baby’s crying went away.

 

OTHER TIPS FOR PREGNANCY

• Statistics indicate that home births are usually much safer than hospitals or even birthing centers.  Make sure, however, that a car or other methods are available should you need to be moved to a hospital.
• Try to have a midwife or doula help you with any pregnancy.  You may also have a regular doctor, but statistics again indicate better outcomes when these birthing professionals are also involved.
• If you go to a hospital or birthing center, make sure someone watches over you and over the baby at all times so your wishes are carried out and no mistakes are made.  This is very, very important today.
• Do not spend any more time in hospitals than is absolutely needed, but do not leave if you are unwell. Pregnancy should be treated as a disease with a lot of drugs.  However, some women are in bad shape after the birth, and medical care is required for them.
• Babies should never be given “formula” at the hospital or anywhere else.  Make sure of this with your baby. Breast milk is far better.  If a baby gets ‘hooked’ on formula, breast feeding may be difficult later.
• I strongly suggest strenuously avoiding all vaccines in the hospital and everywhere else if you want a healthy baby.  Read up on vaccines now, before you have a baby, and preferably before you get married so it does not create a fight with your spouse.  Vaccination, in my view, is the worst abomination of the medical profession and causes far more suffering than it could ever prevent.  Natural methods of care can prevent and treat all diseases for which vaccines are given.  The medical and pediatric establishments lie regularly about vaccine statistics, so most doctors are ill-informed.  Besides, if they told the truth, they would lose their licenses, so their hands are tied.  You must do your own research and read both sides of the story.  See the article Vaccination on the Center for Development website for more information.