06/04/2022
A post from a pregnant colleague:
Let’s be honest mamas,
taking care of yourself in pregnancy is freaking hard.
Gaining the understanding that everything you as a mother do, eat, consume, say, think and feel from the moment of conception
- yup, already in utero-
throughout birth, the early postpartum and the first three years of your child‘s life are utterly important, primal memories that will influence everything in your child’s, your and your family’s life forever, is a ginormous untertaking!
I mean- taking care of oneself as is, is already hard enough.
Then the extra care and attention needed to accommodate a pregnant body and psyche is extra hard.…
Add a couple of kids on top and throw in an 8h corporate job and you know what I’m taking about.
Seeing a Doctor for 20 min once every few weeks is not prenatal care.
At least not in my eyes.
These are prenatal appointments.
They often foster insecurities and disconnect from true maternal intuition and instinct.
They shrink the epic event of creating and growing a new soul in our bodies into a single layered physical event which can be measured and compared.
And that’s why I personally chose to opt out completely!
In the medical model pregnancy and birth are solely physical events that can be measured and compared in scales and timelines and centimeters.
There is no understanding that pregnancy and birth are a spiritual right of passage, an initiation, a true transformation, an expansion of no comparison.
There is no understanding that pregnancy and birth are unique and organic, flowing and outer worldly, almost psychedelic, nothing that can ever be put on any scale or timeline invented by men.
In my humble opinion prenatal care is something very different.
It’s 24/7 intention, attention, energy, space and time dedicated to me and my growing baby.
On the physical level that is for once eating and drinking enough and the right stuff.
Roasting beets and asparagus to have easy snacks, juicing fresh veggies, making kale chips, preparing green smoothies and herbal infusions.
Or cooking bone broth, or cutting fruit or soaking nuts and sprouting seeds and buying organic veggies and raw dairy.
Taking my supplements, loading up on protein, getting all of the macro and micro nutrients on a daily basis,
plus making sure to drink enough water and red raspberry leave tea and and and….
Ahhhhh!
Just this alone can be completely overwhelming…
If it isn’t done with intention, attention, time and energy to prepare.
I‘ve never heard a doctor talk about this. EVER.
They give us medication for morning sickness, heartburn and restless legs, completely dismissing the changing needs of a pregnant body.
They put us on a scale, measure our belly and scold us if we gain too much.
Then there is movement, the staying active and fit in pregnancy.
And it‘s not just the walking from the car to your job or to Walmart and back.
I’m talking about moving your body for a good hour or two a day.
Are you getting your heartbeat up and a sweat on?
Are you building strength to accommodate the new alignment in your body so baby can be positioned optimally and you can endure a possibility long labor or better have a short, quick and easy one?
Do you stretch to open up and prepare for the big event?
And then stress.
Stress, physical and emotional, is the number one reason for premature labor and low weight babies.
How can we reduce stress in our workplace, finances, family and relationships?
Ever heard your Doctor tell you about prenatal yoga and walking up the hills to strengthen your pelvic floor or meditate to keep your stress levels low?
Or do they just push their diabetes Tests, ultrasounds and genetic test and more tests to confirm the inaccurate test?
How about the emotional parts of prenatal care?
Like taking time to meditate and figure out how your new family dynamic will influence your relationship with your partner or older siblings?
How to stay grounded and at ease when the tears come out of nowhere or your mood changes 10 times in a day?
How to journal your feelings as a means to process this new territory?
How to get a moment of quiet every day to
reflect on how we act as a mother and how we want to be?
Be honest, Doctors don’t mention this stuff in their 20 min appointments?!?
They give us pharmaceuticals if we are anxious, depressed or stressed out instead.
And then… as if this all wouldn’t be enough-
How about that mind and spirit connection in pregnancy?
The understanding that we create our own outcomes with our mind?
For better or worse?
How can we take the time to research and aquire new wisdom, and uncover the control and deception of the medical and pharmaceutical machinery?
How to make connections with the right people who support the way you wanna birth?
How to tune out and protect your mind and soul from all the negative stories, disempowering beliefs and unsolicited advice that is thrown at pregnant women ALL THE TIME.
How can we make sure to stay focused on the pregnancy and birth we truly want, write affirmations and create visionboards and get our partner on the same page?
Again, no Doctor ever brings this up.
Only, and only if we understand the extend, responsibility and power we have as women and mothers to shape the life of our children, ourselves and our families-
only then we will understand that a pregnant mother can never be cared for by a Doctor or Midwife in a single prenatal appointment.
We women have to stand up and reclaim our own self care in this oh so incredibly sacred time of pregnancy.
Let’s question medical prenatal care.
There truly is a need for reinvention.
I‘m a 💯 sure of that.
Or just opt out, like I do and many many other mothers!
And instead tune in to yourself, your body, your perfect mother instincts and your baby‘s innate wisdom.
Everything you need to know, is already inside of you.
