Health Affects Childbirth


One of the most common complications in childbirth is a postpartum hemorrhage (bleeding too much after the baby comes). One factor that plays greatly into this issue is nutrition. If a body has the right vitamins, minerals and proteins to draw from, it has more strength to perform as intended during childbirth, and it has the ability to heal much more quickly afterward.
Food and beverages are the first thing we think of when we say nutrition, but so much more goes into it. Taking vitamins regularly, drinking the right herbal teas, getting enough rest and exercise as well are ways to improve our body’s health and resiliency. Some things we want to avoid are environmental toxins, cigarette smoke, processed foods, and of course, stress. Smoking cigarettes makes the skin much more fragile and easy to tear, and it causes placentas to form very poorly, affecting the amount of oxygen and nutrients the baby gets.
A woman’s body nearly doubles its blood volume in pregnancy, allowing for about 2 cups of blood loss just after the baby is born.  This protective mechanism causes the blood’s amount of iron to be diluted, or reduced somewhat.  Less iron in the body makes one tired, sluggish, dizzy or light headed, and possibly depressed; all because the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity is deminished.  But eating foods rich in iron, cooking in cast iron pans, or taking an iron supplement may raise iron levels.

Some good sources of iron for the body are nettles tea, red meat, liver, clams, shrimp, pumpkin seeds, squash, nuts, beans, fortified grains, leafy greens like spinach, kale, and swiss chard, dark chocolate, and tofu.  Some sources of iron cause constipation, and those are usually the pills.  Floradix and Hema Plex are two that rarely cause constipation.  A sublingual liquid vitamin B12 complex can improve energy and focus.  Chlorophyll tastes funny but it can help improve blood iron levels if taken in addition to iron supplements.  The best method of increasing iron levels is food and teas, but supplements are good if food sources are lacking in your area or what is available to you.

To your health!

Lilia Designs

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