Pregnancy can cause varied levels of discomfort no matter what time of year it is. However, an increase in blood volume, fluid retention and a metabolism working in overdrive through summertime seems to take the cake in terms of a heightened sense of discomfort 🤰🥵
Luckily, there are a few easy tips that will help you stay cool and comfortable this summer 🌸
STAY HYDRATED 💧
Guidelines recommended that pregnant women drink 8-12 glasses of water each day and more if exercising. Water helps regulate your body temperature, when you are hydrated your body is better able to release heat (primarily through sweat). It’s important to make sure you replace the water leaving your body!
FIND A LOCAL POOL OR BODY OF WATER 🏊♀️ 🏖
Swimming has numerous benefits in addition to cooling you down – it is a whole body workout, increases circulation, provides relief from swelling and minimises stress! Exercising is an important part of maintaining health during pregnancy and doing so in a safe body of water avoids any risk of overheating in the summer sun.
HOME MADE ICY POLES OR FROZEN FRUIT SNACKS 🧊🍉
Pick some of your favourite fruit with or without some yogurt (for a diary free option) and make your own refreshing ‘nice’ cream or icy pole. Healthy, refreshing and full of vitamins and minerals!
WEAR LOOSE, LIGHT AND BREATHABLE CLOTHES 👗
These items speed up the evaporation of sweat allowing your skin to cool quickly, plus they don’t dig in. Pop on light colour and your clothing will absorb less heat too.
KEEP YOUR HOUSE COOL 😎
Open your windows in the evening and overnight once the temperature has dropped then in the morning close the windows and blinds to trap the cool air in.
Aloe Vera, Areca palm tree, Ficus tree, Fern and Snake plants all cool and purifying their air space. Pick one up yourself or ask someone to purchase for you as a lovingly supportive gift!
These are just some of the ways to bring more comfort to you through a summer pregnancy.
Written by Dr Nicole Cukierman, Fertility, Pregnancy and General health Osteopath at Fertile Ground Health Group.
How do you build your best healthy pregnancy diet?
In this article I will share with you our top non-negotiable recommendations. At Fertile Ground health Group, we believe in educating patients on their fertility journey with the most up to date and relevant research when it comes to making healthy babies.
This type of education involves jumping ahead of the curve in regards to current preconception and fertility dietary guidelines. There is often a wide gap when it comes to emerging research making its way into public policy; therefore our job is to merge the two and share the most up-to date nutritional and dietary information available. At the core of our philosophy on prenatal care is ensuring that every mother is educated on the nutritional foundations of a growing a healthy, thriving baby.
It is now more commonly understood that most conditions occurring in adulthood originate in foetal life. This evidence highlights the importance of following an optimal prenatal diet to not only set the stage for the health of your growing baby and your personal pregnancy, but it holds a strong influence on the health outcomes of future generations. By making evidence-based food choices and becoming familiar with real wholefoods, you will provide an excellent basis for great pregnancy nutrition.
Our top dietary tips during pregnancy include
Eat small, regular meals
The notion of ‘eating for two’ has been largely disproven in literature, when in fact there is only a modest increase in caloric requirements during pregnancy. Smaller meals and snacks benefit a pregnant mother in a number of ways; they balance blood sugar, providing your growing baby with a consistent stream of nutrients, prevent nausea, heartburn and reflux whilst keeping energy levels balanced.
Enjoy high quality proteins and fats
Ensuring meals are rich in quality protein and fats rather than being high in refined carbohydrates will keep you fuller for longer, reducing unwanted energy dips and preventing the incidence of overeating. Our advice is to keep snacks at arms reach at all times to ensure you’re eating regularly. Wholegrain crackers, vegetable sticks, dips and a handful of nuts are all excellent options to keep available at all times.The key is to prioritise high quality foods wherever your budget allows.
Choose grass fed and free range over grain fed and conventionally raised meat and poultry. Healthy fats to include are small fish rich in essential fatty acids, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil and avocados. We understand it’s important to allow yourself some dietary flexibility during your first trimester when you may be suffering from morning sickness and food aversions are prominent. After this period, the above recommendations should form an essential basis of your prenatal dietary requirements, reflecting a wholefood, non-processed Mediterranean style diet.
Avoid sugar and processed foods and adopt a lower GI way of eating
Evidence shows that increased sugar and processed food consumption during pregnancy may contribute to increased gestational weight gain and the development of pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and preterm birth. To mitigate this, our suggestion is to move away from foods that offer empty calories and little nutritional value. Swap processed bread, white pasta and sweets for more nutrient dense options such as wholegrain sourdough, pulse pastas, legumes, whole grains, full fat yoghurt and seasonal fruits.
Whilst these recommendations are an essential part of any pregnant mothers daily nutrition, we suggest ensuring foods rich in vitamin A, folate, iodine, iron, choline and B12 are consumed regularly and supplemented where necessary. In addition to this, conventional dietary guidelines are designed for women who are healthy and nutritionally replete. Therefore, individual prenatal nutrient requirements may differ from woman to woman. Seeking guidance from an experienced health provider can be beneficial in assessing your unique nutritional needs.
Written by Freya Lawler
Freya Lawler, Naturopath and Functional Nutritionist at The Melbourne Apothecary, is passionate about food. She believes that in order to optimise your health from the ground up, you must begin with your diet. She loves to identify simple ways to make a huge difference in your health, through optimising your diet and creating tailored nutritional plans. Whether it be for supporting your pregnancy, balancing your hormones, clearing your skin or improving your digestion – Freya can guide you back to your best health through functional nutrition.
Pregnancy can be an amazing and rewarding experience for many women. It’s an experience that is often accompanied by varying degrees of pain, but how you look at pain and how much you understand it can drastically alter your perception of it.
Pain is a misunderstood beast
It is perhaps one of the most important survival systems your body has.
It used to be believed that pain was a reaction to tissue damage, but we now know that pain is predictive, it functions more like a warning of potential damage either real or imagined, and the most interesting part is that it is an adaptive system.
This might seem obvious to anyone who understands that the body is a living, learning and constantly changing organism, but unfortunately many medical professionals fall into the trap of seeing the body as a machine with simple mechanisms and unintelligent parts.
It’s too often from this view point that many medical professionals discuss healthcare with their patients. Modern science is at odds with a mechanistic view, the more we learn about pain the more we see a highly complex system capable of completely remodelling itself.
The pain we feel is influenced by many aspects our life and physiology. The unique make up of our bodies, how we move, what we eat, as well as our thoughts and beliefs are just some of things that contribute to our experience of pain.
Knowing this we can take a different approach to treatment by understanding that pain can help navigate us towards what our bodies need.
During pregnancy the body transforms dramatically and its needs can change daily, so interpreting what it’s trying to tell us becomes even more important.
Pain is multi-faceted, and so should your treatment be
As many healthcare professionals specialise in particular areas, the best care is often delivered by a team who work together to provide you with an individualised and multifaceted care plan. Your team should collaborate with you to ensure you are receiving the appropriate treatment, guidance and advice that reflects your wishes, goals and intentions. That is the philosophy of multimodal and patient centred care.
If you are experiencing pain, it is often a good idea to see a healthcare professional who specialises in musculoskeletal pain and associated conditions such as a Clinical Myotherapist.
What to expect when you see your Clinical Myotherapist
During your consultation your Clinical Myotherapist will take the time to have a detailed discussion about all possible aspects of your life that may contribute to your health.
Then with your consent they may assess any areas of pain to help gain a better understanding of your musculoskeletal health. Using all the information collected they will then work with you to draw up a healthcare plan that can be used as a roadmap to achieve your health goals.
Your healthcare plan is tailored to your specific needs and may incorporate things such as manual therapies (massage, PNF stretching, dry needling), pain education (understanding how pain works in the body), and exercise prescription, as well as referral to other practitioners that may be better suited to different areas of care.
Your Clinical Myotherapist can be an important part of your healthcare team.
Written by Zach Hannan
Zach is a Clinical Myotherapist at Fertile Ground Health Group. He is available for in person consultations to support you through pain, through your pregnancy, through COVID and beyond. Learn more more about Zach here.
By holding springtime in mind as a time of new growth and new life we can harness its vitality. We can get in and hug it close.I have found myself witnessing my daughters’ raising a newborn lamb after his mother died during his birth. Witnessing him being loved and cared for as he gains strength and recovers from pneumonia has filled me with delight. He provides the perfect container for my daughters to manage their struggles with COVID restrictions dampening their wings, in getting on with the business of taking flight away from the parental gaze. He has provided a structure of feeding times, nappy changing (yes he wears nappies with a hole for his tail) and cuddles. They have also had to figure out how to house him once he is able to be left outside in a little paddock with shelter for protection.
Extending the love you have to a willing recipient is never time lost, but rather the stuff OF you and the life you create. Extending the love you give to include yourself is too often overlooked. It is a gift we love to give but too often fail to receive. Accepting the need to love ourselves somehow is always the last priority that we just never seem to get back to. As I say to my clients it is a discipline that requires your consideration and requires skill building. It is a constant endeavour, also never lost, but it will fade if not fed and watered and fertilised. Just like our lamb.
The idea of fertility is varied and many to different people and life circumstances.
It can be a time of regrouping with new energy for latent projects including our own fertility, be it reproductive fertility, new experiences, wealth creation, new ideas and passions created or reinvigorated. It is a time to uncurl, albeit slowly if needed, from the nestled cocoon of Winter where we have rested our energies and made room for inactivity and quietude, perhaps more so this year than any other. Have a think about how you want to get down and hug in close to your own fertile mind. Care for a lamb, a new baby, nurture your eggs, build a nest, bud forth an idea, spring into life.
Spring is a time of opportunity new and renewed. Seek out the evidence of the fertile season. Spend time in your garden to see the rich green of new leaves, the buds of maples amid the bursts of ideas that spring to mind as you mindfully wander your surroundings. Reap what you sow and do not bypass yourself. Spend time with your goals, your dreams no matter how fanciful, get real with your budget and imagine the life you seek and how to get there. If you can’t spring into life, just walk or crawl, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time and allow the seasonal vitality to be absorbed through your skin, your cells and your imagination. Set your gaze at different distances, near, middle and far and align your ideas with achievable actions at each pinpoint. Join with others, team up, mentor in. Make it sow.
Written by Suzanne Hurley
Suzanne is a Perinatal & Fertility Counsellor at Fertile Ground Health Group. She is available for telehealth consultations to support you through COVID. Learn more more about Suzanne here.
Pelvic girdle pain. What is it and what can be done to help?
Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) is a term given to describe the discomfort felt anywhere from the front of the pelvis (pubic symphysis) to the back of the pelvis (sacrum) and even around to the sides of the pelvis (hips).
During pregnancy 1 in 4 women will experience pelvic girdle pain due to changes the body will undergo in a relatively short period of time. This can occur at any stage of the pregnancy however, it is most commonly experienced in the second and third trimesters.
What causes Pelvic Girdle Pain?
Ligaments throughout the body stretch and soften to accommodate for the growing baby. When these ligaments relax our muscles are required to work extra hard which may result in pain. Additionally increases in load, changes in posture, centre of gravity, walking style and alterations in core function can contribute to pelvic girdle pain.
While some individuals accommodate well to these changes, experiencing limited or no pain, it can be debilitating for others and 7% of women will continue to suffer with this pain after their baby is born – requiring ongoing treatment.
Common symptoms
Sharp, stabbing or grabbing pain that is aggravated climbing up and down stairs, getting dressed/undressed, rolling over in bed, getting in and out of the car, extended periods standing, sitting or walking and pain on sexual intercourse.
Helpful tips
If you are experiencing pelvic girdle pain try these helpful hints:
Sleep with a pillow between your knees
Keep knees together when rolling in bed or getting in and out of car
Focus on maintaining good posture while standing and sitting. Avoid crossing your legs
Avoid heavy lifting (your joints are already under enough load), prolonged sitting, wearing heels, carrying uneven loads e.g. bag on shoulder or toddler on hip
Wear support bracing or garments such as tubigrip, SRC shorts or Serola belt
The specific tissues causing pain differs between individuals and it is best to seek professional advice from an osteopath with experience in this area for appropriate treatment.
Pregnancy is an exciting journey, but may involve a set of new and frustrating skin challenges. The body undergoes a tremendous amount of change through pregnancy with more than 90% of women experiencing significant and complex skin changes. These changes may be desirable for some, but for others, pregnancy may trigger the onset or worsening of pigmentation, acne or eczema.
Please understand that the tips included below are a general guide only. Each person requires individualised treatment as we’re all unique – so make sure you book in to get tailored advice before self prescribing as it may not suit your situation or health needs
Pigmentation
Hyperpigmentation (melasma) is one of the most common and early signs of pregnancy. High levels of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH), oestrogen and progesterone are believed to be responsible for hyperpigmentation. Progesterone appears to increase oestrogen to signal melanin output, which stimulates pigmentary changes in the skin. This type of pigmentation is seen more in those with darker skin and hair. Melasma is said to be caused by stagnation of Liver energy, which effects the movement of qi and blood throughout the body. Acupuncture around the area of pigmentation is thought to help improve the flow of energy and blood, so that melasma are less pronounced in colour and size.
Tips – Protect the skin from sun exposure with physical sunscreens, as these reflect the heat away from the skin, which is good for a pregnancy-flushed face. Use a natural SPF 30+, such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. For targeting localised brown spots, opt for Vitamin C. For safe exfoliation, use Lactic Acid or a gentle exfoliating enzyme mask to brighten the skin.
Avoid – Limit exposure to ultraviolet light. Topical formulations containing hydroquinone and tretinoin should be avoided in pregnancy, but may be added after pregnancy, or as advised by your doctor.
Acne
Although some women experience improvements or no change in acne during pregnancy, a substantial number suffer acne flare ups during this time, which may also indicate a higher risk for similar flare ups during future pregnancies. A shift in hormones, specifically progesterone, estrogen and androgens, during pregnancy can stimulate the sebaceous and sweat glands, resulting in more perspiration and oilier skin triggering breakouts. Studies show hormone levels spike during the earliest stages of pregnancy and often again in the third trimester, which may explain the initial onset of hormonal breakouts and then another surge of acne toward the end of pregnancy and up until birth. Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, when combined with dietary and lifestyle modifications, may help to positively impact any skin changes, improve digestive function, reduce inflammation and redness, swelling and painful pimples, and bring your body into harmony.
Tips – Opt for oil regulating products such as niacinamide (B3) and bentonite clay spot treatment. Reduce acne triggering bacteria with zinc, topical probiotic/ferments, and antioxidants such as resveratrol and green tea.
Avoid – Concentrated salicylic acid formulations should not be used, as well as prescription and oral retinoids, and high strength topical retinoids. Always check the ingredients of your skin care for potential toxins.
Eczema
Atopic dermatitis, otherwise known as eczema, is another commonly seen skin condition that may be worsened through pregnancy. The reason for this is not well understood, but may be due to the effects of oestrogen on cellular responses in the immune system. Specifically, this involves a shift from cell-mediated immunity toward humoral immunity. Additionally, the high estrogen state of pregnancy stimulates mast cell activation and allergic responses. The relationships between skin, brain, and gut health and between eczema and the nervous system suggest an important role for acupuncture due to its known impact on calming nervous system hyperreactivity.
Tips – Fish oils deliver anti-inflammatory omega 3s, which is great for skin inflammation and dryness of the skin. Probiotics containing lactobacillus rhamnosus are safe to use through pregnancy and helpful in atopic conditions. Mild gel/cream cleansers and products should be used, containing calming and soothing ingredients like Panthenol, chamomile and Licorice root. Barrier-building ingredients such as oats (Avena Sativa), sunflower seed extract and borage seed oil reduce irritation.
Avoid – No hot showers or abrasive scrubs, as these will irritate the skin. Stay away from artificial fragrances and direct application of essential oils.
Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine
Because acupuncture sessions to improve skin conditions are focused on moving qi and blood, treatment will depend on your current health and stage of pregnancy. Sessions with me will mostly involve a combination of facial gua sha and sliding cupping to move lymph, increase blood circulation to the area, and encourage any skin changes to move towards skin healing, alongside constitutional and pregnancy support acupuncture, nutrition and lifestyle counselling.
Written by Holly Peyton-Smith
Holly Peyton-Smith is an Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Medicine Practitioner at Fertile Ground Health Group.
If you’re suffering with a skin condition and seeking treatment, please feel welcome to make a booking with Holly.
