Pre Natal Care - The Traditional Chinese Perspective

Pre Natal Care

It takes 100 days for the ova to mature before ovulation and in this time is susceptible to damage. It also takes 116 days for sperm to form and this also needs to be taken into consideration.  Getting the parents bodies healthy before conception is ensuring the health of your child. Just like with gardening, farmers would choose the best seeds, and well fertilized soil to reap the benefits from their crops. The health of the fetus depends on the quality of the inherited DNA or “Jing” (Essence and Vitality), from BOTH parents. It is dependant on how they have lived their lives – not just the month they attempted to conceive is on trial.

Lifestyle habits such as poor nutrition, regular consumption of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, environmental pollution, stresses, late nights, dehydration, immunizations and infections are also risk factors when planning and preparing for pregnancy. The way you live before and during conception will impact on the health of your child forever.

This is particularly important if the mother and/or father to be, have been on any long term medications such as the Oral contraceptive Pill, anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories, aspirin, corticosteroids, or had recent CT scans X rays or major dental work. If any of these drugs have been taken long-term, please consult your G.P to see if you can reduce or remove any medications. The use of these drugs and tests could affect the health of the embryo. It is useful to wait a few months post these prescriptions to enable the liver to detoxify these chemicals out of the body.

Healthy menstruation leads to healthy pregnancy. When we have a regular healthy cycle (28 days apart, 5 days of bleeding, no stopping and starting, no clotting, pain or brown blood), then our body is full of Qi and Blood, which is what is needed to make a child. If there are menstrual disorders prior to pregnancy, the very same


NATURAL CONCEPTION

It is important to consider when to stop taking the pill. Consider other forms of contraception before you stop taking the pill as it takes at least four months for your hormones to balance themselves out naturally.  Condoms may be your best alternative.

If using an IUD, have it removed at least 4 months prior to conception to resume your natural cycle and hormone levels. If it is a copper IUD this may reduce your zinc levels, which is a crucial vitamin for fertility.


THE CHINESE PERSPECTIVE

Asian Cultures always avoid allowing their bodies to be exposed to cold. Perhaps our Grandmothers told us not to wear midriff tops as it injures the kidneys, and maybe being modern women, we have considered this type of advice to be just another old wives tale. However in China today, expectant mothers, pregnant mothers and especially new mums are kept well away from the cold, and are advised to do so not just by their culture but in the hospitals as well. 

The most important organ and meridian for conception according to Chinese medicine are the Kidneys. In relation to the other organ networks, the kidney is situated in the lowest position. Therefore has a large role to play in the function of the sexual organs, and sex drive. The kidney is the source of the human body, and the initial sprout of physical life in conception. Thus it is paramount that the mother and father to be have strong Kidneys.

The kidneys are thought of as the ocean of the human body.  As oceans are situated on a lower level than the earth's streams and rivers, they draw every one of them to form one large body of water. So the kidneys rely on the strength of all other organs to support them, so they can then in turn nourish all other organs and the brain. Oceans may appear vast and inexhaustible, yet they still drain off some of their seemingly unlimited supply. The Kidneys can become drained from stress, cold invasion, birthing many children and sadly to say too much sex!

How much sex is too much sex? .........







Note:

FOR DAD

If you suffer from night sweats, erectile dysfunction, your penis is cold to touch, you can not sustain an erection or get a full erection, then any of these factors could be indicators for sub infertility issues. Please book an appointment with your Chinese Doctor to receive treatment at least 4 months before trying to conceive.

For more information see http://www.foresight-preconception.org.uk

Do you have Estrogen Dominance? What does this mean for you health?

Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance

• Allergies and Asthma
• Missed or irregular periods
• Swollen or Fibroycystic Breasts
• Irritability
• Fatigue
• PMS
• Infertility
• PCOS
• Fibroids
• Mood Swings
• Magnesium deficiency
• Thyroid dysfunction

Causes of Estrogen Dominance

Estrogen is primarily generated in thecal cells of ovaries in menstruating women, and in the adrenals in post-menopausal women.
Sugar intake promotes estrogen production, stimulates thecal cells in ovaries, increase in testosterone production, aromatisation of testosterone to produce more estrogen. (positive feedback loop). Need to cut out sugar!!!
Can also be a problem with liver not properly detoxifying hormones properly leading to a buildup in the body.
• stress
• obesity
• birth control pills
• plant estrogens (soy, flaxseed)
• hormone replacement therapy
• peri-menopause
• glandular dysfunction
• environmental estrogens (read more at http://www.energeticnutrition.com/vitalzym/xeno_phyto_estrogens.html)

Increase Anti-estrogen foods

• cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts) - have natural antiestrogenic indoles
• all green vegetables
• citrus fruits, berries - contain flavonoids
• green tea - polyphenols
• herbs: resveratrol, passionflower, chamomile, and turmeric, rosemary
• conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in grass-fed, organic milk products
• nuts, seeds, avocado and fertilized eggs - high-fat, "male" (y-chromosome) containing foods that nourish the hormone system
• Goji berries (preferably organic)
• Fish oil/flaxseed oil
• Garlic, onion

Why Icing your lower Back can Damage your Energy Levels & Fertility.

Have you ever been to a Traditional Chinese (T.C) Doctor and have them tell you not to apply ice to your injury to reduce swelling, and that you should apply heat? Or that you should keep your lower back and feet warm to build energy and prevent infertility? Ever wondered why?

Human beings are warm blooded. This means our resting body temperature is around 36.6 degrees. If we think about the homeopathic principle ‘like cures like’, then applying cold to an ‘injured’ warm blooded being could actually be counter productive.

When you look at how cold effects liquids, then what would cold do to your blood? When the blood becomes cold, the blood congeals, stopping nutrient supply to our injury. This is why a T.C. Doctor would never recommend icing any part of your body. Even an acute injury, in this instance you may want to apply the R.C.E principle, R.I.C.E with out the Ice. After 24 hours you may want to increase blood flow to an injured area. This will increase the nutrients that blood provides to an injury, you would actually apply heat.

T.C Doctors are also very carful in advising their patients to NEVER apply cold to the lower back, abdomen or sole of the foot. This denotes the area of the Kidney Organ and corresponding end point of the Kidney meridian. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the Kidneys are known as the “Root of Life”, this is because the life essence that we receive from our parents which denotes the health of our entire life resides in the Kidneys. Like every Organ the Kidneys have a Yin and Yang aspect, however the Kidneys Yin and Yang are the foundation of the Yin and Yang for the entire body. This means the body’s ability to regulate temperature, control fluids and water metabolism, energy levels, sexual vitality and fertility are all dependant on the regulation of the Kidneys Yin and Yang.