10 Reasons Why A Holistic Approach To Fertility & Pregancy Is Best
Prior to the birth of our daughter, or even the thought of conception, I embarked on a self-empowering journey to improve and intentionally support my own health. I sometimes call it being “pre-baby body ready", because like the saying goes "if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready".
My journey included optimizing nutrition, exercising, tending to my mental and emotional wellbeing, reducing environmental toxins, and supporting my body's ability to function as it was naturally designed.
In my approach to my own health and fertility, I sought to create an environment that would establish a lifetime of health for myself, my family and our daughter.
And I'd like to think we were pretty damn succesful!
The work we did, both together and seperately, manifested into a fully planned, undisturbed, natural freebirth - and a healthy baby and postpartum. I was also able to breastfeed our daughter until the age of 3, regardless of societal norms.
This was the greatest gift I gave myself, my daughter and our family.
Here are 10 reasons why a holistic approach to pregnancy and motherhood is better!
1. You get to nurture your womb!
Before you can plant and sow seeds in your womb you have to take care to cultivate the richest, most fertile soil. You must learn to nurture your womb and manage any threats that may arise.
Preparing your body for a conscious conception requires intentional action. A holistic fertiity plan regards the womb as a sacred portal to life and cares for it in that manner.
2. You include your partner and support his sperm health!
A holistic approach is about nurturing your mind, body and spirit to create the most ideal conditions and environment for your future seed, and this includes both parents! While so much attention is placed on the mother’s health in our modern day culture, we know that the health of the father, and his sperm, is equally important as the mother's egg and womb health.
You and your partner both need to place equal importance on your health. Several studies show that poor sperm quality affects fertility outcomes and can cause miscarriage.
3. You learn healthy ways to minimize and cope with stress!
Listen, stress is inevitable, and once your little one arrives there will be new stressors you have not experienced before. By finding healthy ways to manage your stress early, you create a better balance of hormones in your body, get to train your nervous system, learn to release tension rather than store it, and increase your likelihood of conceiving and carrying full term.
Learning healthy ways to minimize and cope with your stress before baby arrives decreased your chances of developing postpartum mood imbalances like depression and chronic stress. Having a baby in a stressful living environment whether it be physical, mental or emotional does impact their development and longterm health.
4. You eat nutrient dense foods and adopt a healthy relationship with food!
There's no secret nutrition is one of the most effective ways to support your fertility. To be frank, there's just certain food you must limit and certain food you must include on your holistic fertility journey. Making sure you provide your body with the right vitamins and minerals to support your body, a healthy egg, and a growing baby is CRUCIAL.
Now more than ever women are entering into pregnancy with a number of nutrient deficiencies. On top of that, you may have spent a fair share of your life on birth control which depletes your body of essential nutrients for healthy fertility. This requires that we bridge those lost nutrient gaps.
Because of the demands of pregnancy, it is near impossible to build nutrient stores once you are pregnant. So getting it right before you get pregnant just makes sense. It's how you actively avoid pregnancy and childbirth complications.
Investing in a high-quality prenatal supplements before conceiving is key. Shop the "Pregnancy Health" tab.
5. You support your body's natural detox pathways!
We live in an environment where our bodies are constantly bombarded by chemicals and toxins that must work to be moved out of our body efficiently. When we don't support this process in our body we create additional stress on our system.
Medication, birth control, heavy metals, food pesticides and herbicides, skin care products and househould cleaning products all add to your body's toxin load. So if you're not diligent in your food choices, buying eco-friendly products or incorpating herbs in your lifestyle now is a great time to start.
Pregnancy is a time when your hormones are always fluctuating and your liver has to work harder to do its job. The more you can support your body, the better. Natural detox practices should be started at least six months prior to conception.
Be sure to visit the "Cleanse Health" tab to purchase your gentle cleasning supplements. I personally recommend ALL women trying to conceive to purchase my 30-Day Cleanse Health Program for holistic preconception health care.
6. You eliminate more environmental toxins!
As women, our personal care products and home environment is the number one place we are exposed to chemical toxins. Every. single. day. Let's not even bring up some of our work environments we frequent daily too.
Examine your cleaning, beauty and personal products as these may contain chemicals that are toxic to your body and have the ability to disrupt your hormones.
Limiting exposure and removing some of these products will prove to benefit you and your family for years to come. This is an important step that a lot of women overlook during their fertility and preconception stage.
7. You get to optimize your gut health!
Mom's microbiome is baby's microbiome. It is literally your lineage that will be passed along for generations to come. A healthy microbiome is essential for your health and baby's immune system. Gut infections that are undetected can create nutrient deficiencies, cause hormonal imbalances, increase inflammation and inhibit your ability to become pregnant or maintain a healthy pregnancy.
As part of my holistic fertility approach with my clients we always explore gut health and implement natural ways to improve it. Gut imbalances does contribute to infertility and miscarriages.
Again, I recommend you purchase my 30-Day Cleanse Health Program to improve your gut health and for holistic preconception health care.
8. You get to establish a baseline for your health!
Establishing a baseline for your health empowers you to trust yourself and your body's ability to do what's it's naturally designed to do. If you have a history of health issues and different imbalances, getting your hormone levels tested should be apart of your holistic fertility plan.
Hormone imbalances and nutrient deficiencies can be identified and corrected prior to conception. This will help you determine which prenatal care aligns best for you as well. Depending on the current state of your health, there may be nutrients that your body specifically needs beyond what the general prenatal vitamin can support.
An individualized approach is needed in all aspects of health, especially for your fertility.
9. You learn and explore resources in your community!
Look for lactation groups, baby wearing classes, prenatal yoga, nutrition classes, and mom and baby groups in your area. Now-a-days because of the gift of social media, especially Facebook Groups, you can find support groups online for free.
You may not feel you need these resources, but you’d be surprised at the amount of information you can learn through these groups and how much support you can find in answering questions or just having a conversation.
10. You find what really resonates with you!
There are many types of health care practitioners available to work with you in becoming pregnant. There is also a great deal of advice on how to become pregnant, how to be pregnant and how to be a parent, but what really matters is that voice inside of you.
There are many paths that lead to the same end result and for an approach to be effective it must be something that fits you as an individual. Cultivate your intuition now and you will find that it will serve you once you welcome your baby into this world, but know that I'm here to support you.
By taking a holistic approach to your fertility you support the mind, body and spiritual aspects of fertility and you are better equipped to address the unforeseen issues that may arise.
Motherhood is one of the most amazing adventures and you can help yourself enjoy it by taking care of your body and your needs prior to conception.
Do you want to take the steps to effectively prepare your body for pregnancy and do it right from the start? If so, book a FREE Health Discovery Call and let’s have a conversation about your next steps to make this dream a reality!
Love and health
- Shavonne