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Natural Pregnancy
Text Copyright © 2014 Lauren Feder
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-1-57826-499-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-57826500-8
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission
from the publisher.
DISCLAIMER
This book does not give legal or medical advice. Always consult your doctor, lawyer, and other
professionals. The ideas and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute
for consulting with a physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision.
Cover and Interior Design by Carolyn Kasper
www.hatherleighpress.com
v3.1
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction to Natural Pregnancy
My Path toward Natural Medicine … and Natural Pregnancy • My
Births • History Overview: The Medicalization of Childbirth • Fear
and Anxiety: The Nocebo Effect • Benefits and Risks of Modern
Medicine • Mother-Friendly Care • What Is Natural Pregnancy and
Birth? • Why Natural Childbirth? • Natural Medicine for Any Birth •
Holistic Medicine and Homeopathy • How to Use This Book: The
Midwifery Model and Homeopathic Medicines
I
Optimizing Your Health: Before, During, and
After Pregnancy
Lifestyle Choices and Pregnancy • Nutrition and Pregnancy •
Pesticides and Food • Rest and Sleep • Exercise • Your Relationships
and Stress
II
Making Decisions: Practitioner, Birth Place, and
Prenatal Tests
Midwives to Medical Doctors: Different Models of Care • The
Midwife Approach • Home Birth • Birth Centers • The Doctor
Approach • Hospital Setting • Find Your Comfort Zone • Doulas •
Choosing a Practitioner • Informed Choice: Making Decisions Using
Your B.R.A.I.N. • Prenatal Tests: What to Do with the Information •
Ultrasound • AFP: Triple and Quadruple Screening • Chorionic Villus
Sampling (CVS) • Nuchal Translucency Scan (NT) • Amniocentesis •
Group Beta Streptococcal Infection (GBS) • Gestational Diabetes
(GD) • Rh Factor (RhoGAM) • Vaccinations during Pregnancy
III
The Wonderment of Childbirth: Natural Birth
and the Medical Approach
The Normal Birth Process • Birth Hormones: The Agony and Ecstasy
• The Stages of Childbirth: Birth Cues and Clues • More on Birth … •
Vocalization and the Sphincter Law • Perineal Massage • Ring of Fire
• Comfort Measures during Labor: Nonmedical Relief • Delayed Cord
Clamping • Cord Blood Banking • Vaginal Birth and Gut Flora • Birth
Wishes and Plan • Tips on Having a Natural Undisturbed Birth •
Interventions: Policies and Procedures • Intravenous Fluid Infusions
(IV Fluids) • Vaginal Exams: How Far Along Am I? • Labor Station:
Your Baby Positions Herself • Purple Line • Electronic Fetal
Monitoring • Your Due Date • Amniotic Fluid Levels • Overdue •
Inducing Labor • Meconium Aspiration • Pain Relief: History in
Medicine and the Natural Birth Movement • Epidural Anesthesia •
Cesarean Section • Large Baby, Small Pelvis: The Myth about
Cephalo-Pelvic Disproportion (CPD) • VBAC (Vaginal Birth after
Cesarean) • Episiotomy
IV
The Emotions of Pregnancy and Birth
The Role of the Father • Unexpected Results: What to Do with the
Information • Pregnancy, Birth, and Sexual Abuse • Birth Trauma
and PTSD • Postpartum Depression (Postnatal Depression) • Birth
Spacing and Birth Control • Forty-Day Period • Everyday Tips for the
Attached Parenting Marriage
V
Natural Treatments and Homeopathy for
Pregnancy Conditions and Childbirth
Using Homeopathic Medicines • A Note on Chronic and Severe
Illnesses • Case Taking • Charting • Examples of Record Keeping
A to Z Guide to Pregnancy Conditions
Acid Reflux • Amniocentesis • Anemia (Iron Deficiency Anemia) •
Anxiety • Bladder Infections • Breech and Turning Babies • Cesarean
Section • Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) • Constipation and
Digestive Issues • Cystitis • Depression • Diarrhea • Edema •
Emotional Upset • Epidural • Episiotomy • Genital Herpes • Grief and
Sorrow (including Postpartum Depression) • Heartburn •
Hemorrhoids (Piles) • Herpes • Indigestion • Infertility • Iron
Deficiency Anemia • Itching (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques
of Pregnancy [PUPPP]) • Mastitis • Milk Supply • Miscarriage •
Morning Sickness • Nausea and Vomiting • Nervous Partners and
Grandparents • Newborn Conditions • Perineal Tear • Piles •
Postpartum Depression • Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of
Pregnancy (PUPPP) • Rash • Surgery (Cesarean Section) • Swelling •
Tongue-Tie • Varicose Veins • Wound Care •
Homeopathy for Childbirth
Labor Preparation • Homeopathic Pre-Labor Protocol for Easier
Childbirth • Overdue: Natural Approach to Inducing Labor •
Homeopathic Medicines for Labor (Including Miscarriage) • False
Labor Pains • Premature Labor • Normal Labor • Extreme Labor
Pains • Difficult, Slow Labor: Failure to Progress • Afterpains •
Miscarriage • Retained Placenta • Postpartum Wound Care
VI
Natural Medicine Chest
Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (Materia Medica)
Aconitum napellus • Arnica montana • Caulophyllum thalictroides •
Cimicifuga Racemosa • Gelsemium • Ignatia amara • Kali
Carbonicum • Natrum muriaticum • Nux vomica • Pulsatilla • Sepia
Natural Essentials
Prenatal Vitamins • Red Raspberry Leaf Tea • Placenta Encapsulation
• Birth Ball • Hot Water Bottle • Kegel Exercises
Labor At-A-Glance
Commonly Used Homeopathic Medicines During Labor
RESOURCES
REFERENCES
DEDICATION
To Guadalupe
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
S , writing a book is a team effort that is greatly
IMILAR TO GIVING BIRTH
aided by the guidance, support, and patience of others. Many thanks to
my agent, Jessica Faust, and the Hatherleigh publishing team including
Andrew Flach, Ryan Tumambing, Anna Krusinski, and Ryan Kennedy. In
addition, my gratitude extends to the wonderful assistance and
information I received from childbirth educator, Kathy Killebrew
(www.imagineyourbirth.com). This all is made possible by the support
of my loving family, including my dear husband, René Haarpaintner,
and our wonderful children, Etienne and Quentin. We are so blessed.
—D L F
R. AUREN EDER
Los Angeles, CA
Introduction to Natural Pregnancy
T experience is considered one of the most
HE PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH
coveted experiences in a woman’s life. Many women aspire for the most
natural pregnancy and birth possible, yet for many this often does not
come to fruition. One of the reasons is that our lives have vastly changed
compared to the past: from family life, including midwifery services to
the advent of modern medicine with its sophisticated technology. As a
result, the diverse and vital ways in which we embrace the childbirth
experience have changed. The benefits of the natural approach is that
when a woman is allowed the freedom to experience her birth in her
own unique way at her body’s pace, undisturbed, most of the time she
can have the natural birth she envisioned. This woman-centered
approach—called the midwifery model of care—is beginning to gain
more acceptance in hospitals where most births take place. This
approach empowers the woman and in doing so allows her to experience
a more meaningful childbirth. Whether a woman has a home birth or a
cesarean section, the natural approach is holistic, versatile, and universal
and can be used to complement a woman’s needs along any step of the
pregnancy journey. In the end, this is about our babies. I believe that,
the more natural our approach (one which relies on healthy lifestyle
choices and use of the least interventions and medications possible), the
healthier our children will be for the next generation.
Maternal health is no longer just the domain of physicians, but of
expectant parents. This book aims to empower parents and give them
the confidence to make the best, most-informed decisions regardless of
giving birth at home, at a birth center, or in a hospital. With this
information, you will be given the insight needed to have the most
fulfilling experience possible.
