I am not pregnant, but have had a few scares of being pregnant in the past. At one point, I even went and looked for information about pregnancies - but i actually found hardly anything. I'm a book person, so was looking at information in books, but only mainly found information on natural chilbirth and natural parenting. Is pregnancy missed out, or was i just not looking hard enough? What are some things that would have to be considered in natural pregnancy? Would you have to change your diet? I lead as natural and healthy a life as possible, and if i ever did get pregnant it would be so important to me to go through that stage of my life in a good way. I also have back problems, so was trying to find information. I did find a book on yoga during pregnancy though... Eeek, i'm rambling! I was just wondering really.. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx big love sunny xxx
There are a LOT of books on natural pregnancy. Look at www.lalecheleague.org (the catalogue http://www.lalecheleague.org/catalog.html ) www.mothering.com www.breastfeeding.com My favorites are books by William and Martha Sears, Ina May Gaskin (I just got her new book "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth") Peggy O Mara (editor of Mothering Magazine) Also "A Good Birth, A Safe Birth" is a great guide to natural pregnancy. Stay away from "What to Expect...." crap. It is not based on fact, and FAR from "Natural" pregnancy. Go to those websites and the books they have in their booksstores and you will see LOTS of natural pregnancy books. Does anyone have Ina May's website URL? I have to find it.
Here's Ina May's site (she is the womyn who brought midwivery back to the USA!) I met her a few years ago, she is an amazing person. READ her books. I think "Spiritual Midwivery" should be required reading for ALL pregnant womyn. http://www.farmcatalog.com/
Well, i'm not really sure how a woman could have an "unnatural" pregnancy, lol, but i'm sure what most people are referring to is having a good diet, etc. Most would suggest seeing a midwife, because they are better at letting you experience your pregancy as an individual, and without so many interventions and unnecessary tests as the usual ob/gyn, but in my own experience, a midwife is very hard to find. I am still looking. Homebirth, of course, is highly stressed, but again, if you can't find a midwife, and you're over an hour away from the nearest hospital, it's pretty difficult to do such a thing with confidence, no matter how many books you read on the subject. Even regular pregnancy books focus mostly on the actual birth, and care of your newborn.
yeah, me too!!! major - herniated disk & sciatica issues (damn all incompetant chiroprators, he did this to me). i was hobbling around on a cane for a couple of years prior to my getting pregnant. but it seems that my body adjusted as i went along, i tried to keep as active as possible to condition myself as i gained weight. my baby was born in the summer, winter is the worst time for me because of the cold. your body does become stronger during a pregnancy. i luckily got through it without hurting my back any worse, i was really worried for a while. now that joey's getting bigger every minute! i do exercises using him as a weight so i can strengthen my back. actually, to help a bad back, you need to strengthen your abs too so you have better posture. there's all kinds of exercises you can do to help your back, i'd suggest starting before you even get pregnant.
Wow, thanks for all that information! It is definately reassuring that there are some nice books out there on it. Gr8fulyDeadicated, aren't back problems such a pain? It's good once you feel some strength in your back though - i'm really going to start getting into some exercises and yoga more I think. Big Love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx sunny xxx
i'm going to look into yoga, i've never done it but i will tell ya this - my sister has a very bad back also, she's been going to the chiropracter & taking pain meds almost her entire life. she has started doing yoga and she says she can't believe how good it makes her feel, brings the pain level down and her strength & ability way up. she's got a couple of videos and does it at home because it's more flexible with her schedule than joining a class.
There is also the unassisted pregnancy and childbirth school of thought. You can check out more information at http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/. I had two unassisted pregnancies and working on my unassited childbirth... well whenever my little bean decides to show it's face.
