During Pregnancy
Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 should ideally be part of the diet and taken in supplement form from 3 months before pregnancy. It is an essential element in the diet important particularly to enable correct formation of your baby’s spine, it also helps you to produce healthy red blood cells and so avoid the feelings of exhaustion that can accompany the early part of pregnancy. Floradix is a vegetable and herb supplement that contains iron in a readily-absorbable form and can help with the extra demands being made on your body. You can take most multi-vitamin and mineral supplements while pregnant but please avoid those containing Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Essential Fatty Acids play an important role in the development of your baby’s brain tissue, so eat plenty of oily fish or take High Potency Fish Oil or Flax Seed Oil.
During your pregnancy you can help to strengthen the skin of your perineum by applying Almond Oil once a day.
Being pregnant can put pressure on the veins in your pelvic cavity that may lead to haemorrhoids. These should clear up after your baby is born. You can help to minimise the discomfort of Haemorrhoids by eating plenty of fibre, especially soluble fibre (fruit and vegetables) and by using our Witch Hazel Suppositories.
Keep the skin of your abdomen supple with Wheat Germ Oil, it may also help to lessen or even prevent stretch marks.
At the first sign of mastitis (any redness and swelling in the breast) you need to get to work to clear the milk duct. Massage the breast towards the nipple with Calendula Cream. A cabbage leaf in your bra can really work wonders! Bruise the leaf first using a rolling pin. Don’t let it get out of control, if you start getting a fever, or feel fluey, seek professional help.
Treating Your Baby
For nappy rash wash the area with diluted Witch Hazel Water or with cooled Chamomile Tea and apply Calendula Cream, Chamomile Cream or Hypericum Oil. For a skin reaction to the actual nappy use our Borage Cream.
Colic is usually worse in the first three months of a baby’s life as s/he adapts to life outside the uterus. What mother eats while breast-feeding can also affect the baby. Cutting out onions, garlic, beans and dairy products or anything that you went off during pregnancy can help, as can the “Hay diet” (not mixing proteins and carbohydrates). If the baby is bottle-fed the formula milk might be the problem. Alternatives to cow’s milk formula are now widely available and goats milk is likely to cause less problems than soya milk.
