Precious Pathways Midwifery

11/01/2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQcozF-ki7o/?igsh=aG14dnV2em85ZGw2
The main reason I left California. Be careful of the people who want to take rights away from families/parents.

10/21/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CSBh9tLTh/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/20/2025

10/20/2025

If you are pregnant and looking for a homebirth option…call and set up your free consultation to get questioned answered.
Serving the Treasure Valley

10/09/2025

Allowing the baby/mother to choose positions is part of who midwives are! An outsider telling women how to be is an interruption and disruption to the work that needs to be done. Encouraging moms to listen to their bodies/babies needs helps override generations of being told what to do.

Birth doesn’t follow a script, because everybody speaks in its own way.
The invitation is to listen: to the baby, to the sensations, to the quiet guidance rising from within. This is where birth begins.

09/29/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19NUW45Xp6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This is one of the most thorough explanations of how acetaminophen works and what it can contribute to in our bodies.

Because our office sees many babies with lip and tongue ties, having this information is essential!

Tylenol, Glutathione, Genes, and Folate Forms

Many parents assume Tylenol (acetaminophen) is harmless during pregnancy or given to infants, especially around vaccinations. But research is showing that Tylenol can deplete or interfere with glutathione, a crucial antioxidant in the body. Glutathione helps neutralize toxins, protect cells from damage, and maintain healthy brain and immune function. For a developing baby (in utero or just after birth), the systems that produce glutathione are still immature, making them more vulnerable to anything that stresses or lowers glutathione levels.

When the liver processes Tylenol, most of it goes through safe detox routes (like sulfation or glucuronidation). But a portion is metabolized by liver enzymes — including one encoded by CYP2E1 — into a harmful byproduct called NAPQI. Under normal conditions, glutathione neutralizes NAPQI so it doesn’t cause damage. But if glutathione is low, due to genetic predisposition or other factors, NAPQI can accumulate and cause oxidative stress or liver/brain cell damage.

Genetic differences matter a lot here. For example, MTHFR mutations reduce the efficiency of folate metabolism, which is needed to supply methyl groups and support glutathione production. GST (Glutathione S-Transferase) genes are needed to attach glutathione to toxins so they can be eliminated. If you have variants that reduce GST activity, detox pathways work less well. And CYP2E1 variants may increase the amount of toxic NAPQI made per dose of Tylenol, raising the burden on glutathione.

Now, folate (a B vitamin) plays into this whole system. Most folic acid in supplements and fortified foods is synthetic, and needs to be converted in the body (via enzymes like MTHFR) into its active, usable forms (one of which is 5-MTHF). People with MTHFR mutations often don’t convert synthetic folic acid well, which means unmetabolized folic acid (UMFA) builds up. UMFA may block folate receptors or interfere with folate activity, disturb methylation, or contribute to oxidative stress. So even though folic acid supplementation has been protective in many studies, synthetic folic acid in large amounts, especially combined with genetic risk, may have drawbacks.

Because of that, “active” folate forms like folinic acid (also known as leucovorin) are now being used or studied as treatments in autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Clinical trials have shown that adding folinic acid can improve language, communication, and behavior in children with autism — especially in those with autoantibodies against folate receptors or with genetically reduced folate metabolism. It helps because it bypasses some of the “conversion steps” that synthetic folic acid requires.

Putting all this together: the idea is that Tylenol use during pregnancy or early infancy may stress or deplete glutathione; genetics (MTHFR, GST, CYP2E1) may reduce how well glutathione is made, used, or how much toxin load one must handle; and poor handling of synthetic folic acid (or high amounts leading to UMFA) may make methylation and folate availability weaker. In contrast, using folinic acid or active folate may help “shore up” the system, helping with glutathione production, methylation, and reducing risk for oxidative damage.

This doesn’t show a definitive proof that Tylenol causes autism, but it offers a plausible biological mechanism, especially in people who carry certain genetic variants. It suggests that parents and doctors might want to think carefully about Tylenol use during pregnancy or early infancy, test for or consider genetic risk, and support detox and methylation pathways where needed.

➡️ And if you’d like to know more about your own or your child’s genetic makeup, MaxGen Labs offers testing that includes many of these genes (MTHFR, GST, CYP2E1, and others involved in detox and methylation). It can give you a clearer picture of how medications and vaccines may affect your child uniquely, and what nutrients may help support their system. You can learn more at MaxGen Labs (https://maxgenlabs.com)
— and use my affiliate code SARAH10 for a discount.

BTW - I have all kinds of medical freedom / health related studies and content in my PTF community classroom at https://www.skool.com/pathtofreedom, and I fully realize that the ingredients/components in v's contribute just as much (if not more) to the symptoms that make up the label of 'autism'. There should have been a lot more emphasis on that yesterday.

Also, tomorrow (Wednesday) we have our weekly 'medical freedom' discussion via zoom from 3-5pm EST. PM me if you'd like the registration link! We can talk about this more!

References:

Efficacy of oral folinic acid supplementation in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39243316/

Unmetabolized Folic Acid: Relationship to Supplementation, Intake, and Plasma/Red-Cell Folate Concentration
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317000/

Unmetabolized Folic Acid in Plasma Is Associated with Impaired Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxicity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622080324

Safety and Efficacy of High-Dose Folinic Acid in Children with ASD
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/9/1602

Molecular Mechanisms of Unmetabolized Folic Acid and Effects on One-Carbon Metabolism
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10381082/

Folic Acid and Autism: A Systematic Review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8394938/

Treatment of Folate Metabolism Abnormalities in Autism
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071909120300462

Thank you Sarah Peterson for this info 💪🏽😘

08/25/2025

08/05/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BuJjvGUEt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

⚡️plαnnєd cєsαrєαns dσ nσt lσwєr rísk⚡️
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The amount of twins being born is on the rise due to fertility treatments. And this also means that the amount of cesareans being performed on mothers carrying multiples has risen as well.
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Canadian researchers found that mothers who had a planned cesarean to birth twins did not lower their risk of a baby dying or having a serious medical complication, compared to mothers who had a vaginal birth.
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Mothers carrying multiples can and should consider that having a cesarean is NOT their only option.
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Finding a strong, competent, skilled and knowledgeable provider can make all the difference.
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If your provider cannot or won’t offer you the birth you desire, it’s time to go provider shopping again.
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This photo was taken by Midwife Nneoma who assisted a twin vaginal birth in Nigeria.
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-Love,
Flor Cruz
Badassmotherbirther
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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, & 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭!
Midwifery Today

07/29/2025

Dear elder midwives,

You were the ones who walked this road before we even knew there was one to follow.
You held the thread when it was unraveling.
When midwifery was silenced, criminalized, or hidden - you kept it alive.

You stood at births when the world told you not to.
You learned from experience, from blood, from instinct-
from whispered stories passed hand to hand, heart to heart.

You were here before midwifery was trending or hashtagged.
Before politics and policies shaped every choice -
you were there with your hands, your heart, your wisdom, and your deep knowing.

You taught us that while clinical skills are essential - lifesaving, even -
they are not the whole of midwifery.
Midwifery is also a lineage.
A remembering.
A fierce and holy walk between worlds.

You carried what others could not see -
the weight of impossible choices, the shadow of challenging births,
the sting of scrutiny, and the ache of holding it all together without always being held yourself.

You gave your body to this work -
your sleep, your bones, your fire, your joy, your tears, and sometimes your freedom.
Your family gave too - missing pieces of you while you gave pieces to others.
And still, you returned, again and again.

Some taught with open hearts.
You welcomed students into your homes, your births, your lives -
even when the culture encouraged competition over kinship.

You extended your hand instead of your judgment.
You chose to hold your sisters, not slander them.

Not everyone did.
But you did.
And that changed everything.

The ripples of that choice stretch far beyond what you can see -
into our hands, our care, our births,
and into the generations yet to come.

For this - we thank you.
Humanity thanks you.

You showed us that strength isn’t in hierarchy, but in humility.
That real midwives don’t eat their young - they embrace them, and build them up.

Even though midwifery sometimes looks a little different now-
with new tools, new language, new landscapes -
we are still holding the same sacred thread.
Still standing at the same threshold.
Still guided by the same fierce love.

You’ve learned, when the time comes,
to place the weight of this calling
into the hands of those rising behind you -
not to retreat, but to release with trust.

Not to let go, but to pass on.
The wisdom carried through time, unbroken.

A thread woven through generations.
A flame tended through seasons.
A sacred trust passed through time.

You are not stepping aside.
You are anchoring the circle in a new way.

We still need your voice.
We still look to your eyes for grounding.
We still carry your stories as part of our own.

Thank you for staying through the hardest seasons.
Thank you for choosing mentorship over gatekeeping.
Thank you for reminding us that midwifery is not a competition-
it’s a lineage, a devotion, a living thread between generations.

When it is our turn to place the thread in new hands,
may we remember how gently you placed it in ours.
May grace guide us, as it did you.

With reverence, memory, and unending gratitude -

A sister in this sacred circle.