Written by: Claire Nicol
Pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and mothering are all natural processes for which a woman´s body is well designed. It´s the modern, fast-paced world we live in today that has made these processes ´manufactured´.
By understanding the body´s own instinctive knowledge, unnecessary medical intervention can often be avoided.
A ´natural pregnancy´
What is a ´natural´ pregnancy I hear you ask. A natural pregnancy includes creating an internal and external environment of healthy, positive elements: healthy eating, appropriate exercise, listening to positive birth stories, gathering knowledge, planning the ideal care, and partnering with a caregiver who can lead you through each step safely and confidently. This caregiver can be a midwife.
In most parts of the world, especially in the UK, most women give birth with midwives, as they have throughout history. Midwife care has been proven to be a safe, nurturing alternative to a physician-attended hospital birth.
To home birth or not to home birth, that is the question
Home births allow the woman to dictate the type of environment that she wants to have for the birth. The birth feels more natural and less sterile. The woman can play soothing music, rent a birthing pool, select the position for the birth and the labor, and so on.
At home women can feel more in control of their own birth. Some women might end up taking medication in the hospital, even if they were not planning to, because it´s there and it´s offered. At home, these pressures and temptations are not present, and this allows the woman to stay committed to having a natural childbirth experience. The woman is assisted by a midwife or birth assistant, people who are committed to helping her to have a beautiful birth at home. They don´t suddenly leave because their shift has ended; they are there for the duration of the labor and they want to help the woman to achieve her goal.
Having said this, home births are not suitable for high-risk women. Should the woman start to experience any problems during labour and need a Caesarean section, she would have to be quickly transferred to a hospital. Many people would find this very unsettling in the middle of the birthing process, and would argue that it makes more sense to give birth at a hospital, where these services are available. So at the end of the day whether to home birth or not would be a personal decision based on your medical history.
Natural Remedies
Morning sickness can be helped with various blends of aromatherapy oils such as spearmint, lemon and sweet orange. Experiment to find the mixture that works best for you. Before using essential oils always be sure to research the blends you choose are safe for pregnant women.
An eco chic babe
The best part about having children for many women is the opportunity to shop for their little one. Nowadays there is no excuse for mothers not to dress their offspring “green” as there are many eco chic kiddies clothing brands available in SA. We love Mother Nature Products for locally made bamboo cloth nappies and Scarecrow Organics for their fabulous range of eco chic local and overseas labels.
Preventative Measures
On the other hand there may be some of you out there who are trying to avoid all of the above the ´natural way´. Well fear not, there is a solution. According to Meg Fey of No Surprises Naturally, natural contraception is contraception without the use of drugs, barrier devices, implants or inserts. The focus is rather on the health and well-being of women, without stressful or even harmful intervention in your body’s natural processes. There are various methods of natural contraception ranging from daily charting methods, assessing various fluids, to urine testers and temperature measurements.
But how reliable it this? Fey acknowledges natural contraception in general does not have a good record for reliability due to the lack of discipline and the difficulty in learning various, rather complicated, methods of analysis. No Surprises Naturally offers Lady-Comp, Baby-Comp and pearly which are highly developed fertility computers, which are able to monitor the subtle temperature changes of your body and relate this information to your fertility status.
“Lady-Comp and Pearly are easy to use and 99.3% Reliable,” says Fey. “The computers get to know your individual cycle and record up to 6 months of cycle data. The computers have a built in alarm system which will wake you at your desired time of awakening. A built in sensor is used to take a daily reading of your core temperature to a 100th of a degree. It is important to take your temperature reading before becoming active in any way. The sensor is placed under the tongue for max. 60 seconds. Lady-Comp, Baby-Comp and pearly display temperature reading values, predicting your fertility status for the next 24 hours – It could not be easier!”
So there you have it from natural ways to bring you baby into this world to natural ways to prevent yourself from conceiving you already have everything you need, carefully and thoughtfully provided by Mother Nature herself. So what are you waiting for… go out and enjoy life the way it´s meant to be… naturally.
O and in case you were wondering, breast is ALWAYS best!
The liveeco team
