more accessible for digestion and absorption. They are available as capsules or tablets (Biocare and Dr Udo brands are good) and should be taken twice a day, half an hour before meals. Alternatively probiotic drinks and yoghurts from supermarkets can be taken if they are sugar-free and well within their sell-by date.
Herbs are also an important part of this programme and I recommend my mothers have two different sets of herbs. These help prepare your body for a gentle birth and should be taken daily throughout pregnancy from week 13. These come in the following forms:Herbal TeaIngredients: false unicorn root, squaw vine leaves, cramp cut bark, raspberry leaf. This tea detoxifies and tones the uterus. Place one teaspoon of the above mixture in a teapot then add one pint of boiling water. Let it steep for 10 minutes, then strain and drink slowly. You can drink it all in one go or half in the morning and half later (just warm it up). It can look an alarmingly large volume to drink but many of my mothers come to really enjoy it.Baladi Choornam drinkVarious Ayurvedic herbs are included in this powder (for stockist details see Appendix C, page 312). The powder is mixed with 1/2 a cup of warm milk (goat’s milk or rice milk is preferable to cow’s milk as it’s more digestible). It should be taken after your evening meal. This is started at week 13 of pregnancy. The herb Bala, the main ingredient of Baladi choornam, has the following properties:
– It reduces the undesirable effects of nervous excitability within the pregnant mother
– Has a calming effect on the central nervous system
– Regulates blood pressure
– Regulates the hormones of pregnancy
– Controls blood sugars thereby helping you to eat healthily (eating healthily can modulate your baby’s weight)
– Very mild diuretic
– Stimulates regular bowel movements
– Softens the cervix and pelvic tissues
In addition to these herbal drinks, you should also take a tiny pill of herbs called the Dhanwantaram pill – I call them ‘baby pills’. These contain potentized digestive herbs that are good for your digestion and absorption of nutrients and, as such, they help to nourish you and your baby. (See Appendix C, page 312 for stockist details.)
Dose: 1 a day along with your herbs.
Homoeopathic Tissue Salt Programme
During pregnancy the baby requires certain salts, which it gets at the expense of the mother. This programme will help to make good any salt deficiencies and help the baby with its salt requirement. Some health food stores sell tissue salts alongside their homoeopathic remedies, or alternatively try companies that supply homoeopathic remedies via the internet (see Appendix C, page 312). Alternatively, the Homoeopathic Tissue Salt Programme is available from the Jeyarani clinic.
Remedies:
Calc. Fluor. – for bone development and elasticity of connective tissue (helps prevent stretch marks)
Mag. Phos. – for heartburn and nerve development
Ferr. Phos. – for blood oxygenation
Nat. Mur. – helps control salt and therefore fluid balance, and helps prevent
swollen ankles
Silica – for teeth, bones, hair and general strength
Dosage:
Take one tablet of each twice a day, morning and evening. The potency is 6c. If you are lucky enough to have a homoeopathic pharmacy nearby, they will combine the required tissue salts into one tablet for you – in which case take one twice a day.
Pregnant mothers may also like to take the following supplements:
Digestive enzymes. I recommend Biocare or Dr Udo’s digestive enzymes as a digestion support for mothers with abdominal distension and discomfort. Take one with breakfast and one with your main meal.
Ambrotose. In the late 1990s a Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of 8 non-calorific sugars that make up cell membrane receptors for cell to cell communication. In nature all these 8 essential sugars should be available to us through the food that we eat; however, due to the storage of fresh produce and undesirable modern farming methods the food we eat is lacking in some of these nutrients. During pregnancy they are important for the development of the foetus and help the pancreas to normalize maternal insulin production and reduce the risk of gestational diabetes. Ambrotose can be obtained from Jeyarani (Appendix C, page 312).
Birth Story: Quick Labour Christine
On Sunday 12th September 1999, my contractions began at 5.00am. I visualized and meditated until they were 5 minutes apart, and decided to go to the hospital. My due date was the 20th September, so this was a week early.
We arrived at the hospital at 11.30am, where I was found to be 2cm dilated. We were told it could be early evening before the baby came, so we asked to be left alone so Mark could help me with breathing techniques and visualizations. He also massaged my back and big toes, especially during the longer contractions. Suddenly at 2pm, I had an almighty urge to push. Mark dashed off to find a midwife who was astonished to find that I was fully dilated. At 2.10pm, Logan Tyler Harris made his appearance, weighing 7lbs 15oz.
I’m proud to say that I took no drugs, had no tears, cuts or stitches and am recovering rapidly. I’m blessing my good fortune at having met Gowri, having heard many ‘horror stories’ about labour and the delivery.
Thanks to Gowri I could cope with labour and manage the whole procedure. I’m so grateful for the preparation that I learnt by attending her classes.
Ayurveda and The Gentle Birth Method
Ayurvedic remedies and philosophies feature strongly in The Gentle Birth Method. Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine that has become fashionable in the West in recent years, but it is an automatic reference tool for me – something that I grew up with which complements my conventional medical training. Literally translated, Ayur means ‘life’ and Veda means ‘science’. In India, where this ‘life science’ has been practised for thousands of years, it is a deeply respected and credible medical authority but I am particularly drawn to its holistic approach, especially its emphasis on emotional – as well as physical – caring for the pregnant mother and her unborn child.
Ayurveda groups the study of gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics together in a section of text called Kumara Bhritya, meaning ‘how to take care of the child’ and it draws a clear link between the mother’s well-being and the health of the embryo, including its impact on the implantation process, early foetal development and the whole pregnancy.
Ayurveda expounds that the character, physical attributes and health of a child begins with the mother and her pre-conceptual status – in terms of how well nourished, rested and emotionally prepared she is for pregnancy and motherhood. It also emphasizes the great need for the mother to be surrounded by the love and care of her partner. These values all align very closely to my own instincts about how we should care for expectant mothers and it is for these reasons that I allude to Ayurvedic wisdom throughout the programme.
Yoga is also an intrinsic part of Ayurveda and forms an important part of birth preparation. The section on exercise (see pages 75-83) outlines the benefits of yoga in pregnancy.
Ayurveda as a Diagnostic Tool
Ayurveda isn’t just a support system for my own beliefs. It is also a great clinical guide and its teachings on constitution and body type are used in my programme in order to further eliminate pregnancy symptoms and rebalance the body for birth.
In fact, these guidelines are so detailed