Natural Pregnancy & Childbirth?

Birthing Mama offers a holistic approach by a yoga teacher who guides you through each week of the nine-month journey with reflection, yoga postures and breath, self-care and creative projects. Write a Pregnancy Affirmation Statement, blend a herbal tea formula and breathe into mountain pose, for strength and healing. The gentle empowering style can blend self-nourishment and discovery with contemplation and celebration.

Quick & Simple Pregnancy Guides

1. Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond is a practical photographic guide to poses specifically chosen to support you safely through pregnancy, and the first few months following the birth. The posts are adapted to each trimester, with relaxation techniques and simple breathing exercises to adjust to the physical demands of labour, to help you give birth with confidence.
2. Pregnancy Hacks is a book of 350 simple hacks to keep you comfortable and happy for nine months. Make electrolyte popsicles for a quick fix, soak tired swollen feet in tonic water to reduce swelling and use kitchen tongs to reach things on the floor.
3. Pregnancy Made Simple is an illustrated guide to find out how your baby is growing and get you up to speed on what’s happening. It covers lifestyle choices, what to eat, nutrition (like folic acid) and how dads can help.
4. Pregnancy for Dads-to-Be is a nice book for the fathers to join in the fun. This jargon-free easy-read book helps you also plans for the first, second and third trimesters, birth and beyond. It also has tips for life with a newborn.
5. Pregnancy After Loss is a book to help people go through their pregnancy with less fear, if they have already had a miscarriage or lost a baby previously. The author (who has been there before you) compassionately guides you through the fear of scans and pregnancy milestones, building relationships with your medical team, and processing ongoing grief while pregnant.

If you have a growing child in your belly, it’s even more important to use sustainable skincare, because around 60% of what we put on our skin, is absorbed by the bloodstream. Here are some alternative brands made from natural biodegradable ingredients and in zero waste packaging.

Essential oils are best avoided in pregnancy (especially during certain trimesters) so check the info below. If essential oils are used, these brands use them in safe amounts, and have info on what trimesters not to use them for. Avoid shea butter for latex allergies. 

1. Moksa Bump Balm is sold in a glass tub with metal lid. It contains shea butter, calendula, rosehip and sea buckthorn, all known effective against stretch marks. Also has mango butter. Gently massage into tummy, can  also use on nipples, breasts and babies’ bums.
2. Fushi Really Good Stretch Mark Oil is unfragranced, made with a blend of oils. It helps to improve the appearance of stretch marks, scars and uneven skin tone, and contains triple-strength Tulsi, known for its skin healing powder. It is also rich in omega 3 and vitamins D and E.

The Importance of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is an important vitamin, but too much can cause nausea, vomiting, weakness, frequent urination, bone pain and kidney stones. Most people get enough vitamin D from sunlight in summer but not in winter. And people who cover their hands and face (like some Muslims) and people who don’t go outside also need it (the millions of people who have been shielding would need it, for instance).

NHS recommends taking a supplement in these cases and during winter months. Talk to your midwife or GP, regards pregnancy, babies and children as most need supplements. Vitamin D is only found in a few (animal) foods. So choose fortified plant milks and cereals, and use a good D2 supplement (made from algae, not sheep’s wool).

What’s more important is simply to eat a balanced healthy diet, and get regular gentle exercise.  But when you’re pregnant, or there’s a chance you might get pregnant, you should take a folic acid supplement. The only supplement it recommends is 400 micrograms of folic acid daily (2020) from before conception until you are 12 weeks pregnant, this is to reduce development problems in the early weeks. A few women with higher chance of neural tube defects may be advised to take a higher dose, if there is a family history, if you have diabetes or take certain medicines. It also suggests taking a general prenatal supplement that’s safe. Don’t take cod liver oil, as too much vitamin A could harm. And there are many foods to avoid while you are expecting including:

1. Mouldy, blue and unpasteurised cheeses
2. Cold cured meats, liver, undercooked and game meats
3. Raw or partially cooked eggs
4. Too much oily fish or tuna steaks
5. Limit caffeine & alcohol (ideally none)
6. No more than 4 (safe) herb teas daily
7. Liquorice root
8. Fruits, veggies or salads with soil on them
9. Sometimes peanuts (if advised)

The following supplement is okay for vegans, who need to ensure they get extra iron and vitamin B12 during pregnancy. Although women who qualify for Healthy Start Vouchers can use them for supplements, there is presently a campaign ongoing, as the supplements are not vegan-friendly, which does not seem fair.

Plastic-Free Pre-natal Supplements

Plastic-free prenatal supplements are few and far between. It’s worth noting that NHS says that not many are needed anyway, so think on that before you start buying up the health store (some could be dangerous).

Nourished Prenatal Nutrients are sent in compostable packaging, unlike most. They include folic acid to help prevent spina bifida too, as should any reputable supplement for pregnancy. This nurturing blend of 7 highly researched active ingredients is available on subscription, each box contains 28 chewable vegan gummies (fruity, so keep away from pets and children)in plastic-free packaging. The supplement is designed to help foetus development, breast milk production and energy levels, and protect against nausea and headaches. It has natural sweeteners (does not mention pet-lethal xylitol so hopefully is free of it, keep supplements away from pets anyway). Compared to traditional pills, Nourished has 99% higher efficacy and 70% higher absorption. The blend includes:

1. Folic acid
2. Iron
3. Milk thistle extract
4. Zinc
5. K2 Vita Delta
6. Vegan algae D3
7. Ginger extract (in safe dose – pregnant women should not take excess ginger in pregnancy, as it can contract the uterus)

Tips for Vegan Pregnancy/Childbirth

If you are a vegan, life may be difficult enough. But become ‘with chid’, and then often the knives will come out, with uneducated people questioning your ethics, as if you can’t raise a child on a plant-based diet. Of course you can, but there are also those who don’t do it right, and end up in the papers (parents who feed their children homemade nut milks, and they tragically die). The reason these stories are in the papers, is because they so rarely happen. Most pregnancy parents do their research and know how to get nutrients for both them and their growing baby bump. It would help if your doctor knew as much as you, but it’s unlikely, so you will have to discreetly do your own homework, and perhaps bring your doctor up to speed too!

These books are all written responsibly by people who know what they are talking about. You likely have enough to do while pregnant, you don’t want to be reading great tomes that complicate what is essentially a pretty natural event, which happens across all species (a swan doesn’t need to read a 400-page book on how to raise cygnets, and neither do you). This list also includes some good quick-and-simple generic guides. Your Complete Vegan Pregnancy is ideal if you eat plant-based, as you’ll need some special info on getting the right nutrients, and likely your GP and midwife are not vegan, so won’t be that knowledgeable. This book (by a highly qualified dietitian) covers how to get all the nutrition needed for both you and your baby through all three trimesters, and includes 50 simple recipes.

Plantfed Mama’s Holistic Guide to a Vegan Pregnancy is by registered plant-based nutritionist and registered master herbalist Candy Marx, who includes an infant feeding guide and over 75 gluten-free vegan wholefoods recipes. There are 22 chapters of information including how to get the proper nutrients, the link between morning sickness and painful breastfeeding with certain foods, information on gestational diabetes, stretch marks and cramps, and the importance of gut health for mama and baby.

Feeding Your Vegan Child is a guide by NHS dietitian Sandra Hood, who has years of experience helping vegan families in the UK. It covers tips for pregnancy right through to the teenage years, addressing issues like protein and the myths surrounding vegan diets being unsuitable for growing children.