Homeopathy & Pregnancy
Helen Cohen, ND
The moment a woman becomes pregnant, that is, the moment a tiny bundle of cells becomes implanted in her womb, many organs in her body alter their usual functions to accommodate the implantation and encourage the development and growth of a healthy embryo. Several major changes take place in her hormonal system, immune system, digestion, internal structures, and circulation. These changes are normal and have only one purpose: to save and nourish her baby.
Since the uterus normally throws out any foreign object, a powerful surge of hormones from a pregnant woman’s ovaries override the normal function of the uterus and "order" it to refrain from going into contractions and to save the thick endometrial layer that covers the inside of the womb, so that the embryo can dig itself into this blood-rich substance and feed from it. Second, the immune system of the mother-host receives an equally powerful overriding message to suppress its normal reaction to foreign protein, which would lead it to destroy the embryo as if it were some kind of a virus. The third important change occurs in the pregnant woman’s digestive organs, because it is now vital to prevent the possible exposure of embryo to toxins during a crucial period of its development, when all its organs are being formed. In the first six to eight weeks of human life, the tiniest change in the cellular structure of the embryo will inevitably result in gross pathological changes to its future organs. The mother, therefore, must be prevented from eating toxic foods. Later on in pregnancy, due to many hormonal changes that affect the liver, pancreas, and gall bladder, the digestive processes slow down considerably, causing more discomfort and requiring adjustments. In addition, the circulation of a pregnant woman increases; her internal organs are pushed out of their normal place; and her ligaments soften.
So how does homeopathy view pregnancy: as a disease that needs to be treated or as a normal process in which suffering should be tolerated? We differentiate between normal physiological processes and pathology. It is normal to experience some discomfort from all the changes that suddenly overcome your body before you adjust to them; it is not normal, however, to suffer severely from these changes. A healthy, happy woman, who works very little, lives in a forest, and eats pure food feels wonderful during pregnancy. Most of us live in polluted cities, work around the clock, eat toxic food, and suffer from emotional problems. Let’s examine what happens to the average pregnant woman as the result of the changes that her body experiences and what she can do to alleviate the discomfort.
• As a result of the hormonal activity that helps to establish successful implantation and maintain pregnancy, many unpleasant symptoms may develop. These include water retention, increased urination and irritable bladder, unusual hunger or nausea, joint and muscle pains, mood swings, and anxiety. Many of these symptoms are familiar to those women who suffer from PMS, and the homeopathic treatment is the same in both cases.
• During pregnancy, especially the first trimester, the mother’s immune system is seriously suppressed, and any encounter with a virus may lead to a prolonged and often serious infection.
• Morning sickness is often the first manifestation of pregnancy, though many women do not experience it at all. It is accompanied by an increased sensitivity to odours and various foods. It is normal to experience this sensitivity, which is probably a preventive measure designed by nature to protect the embryo from toxins. However, this sensitivity should not lead to persistent nausea and vomiting; the latter can usually be treated by homeopathic medicine and occasionally by psychological counselling. Digestive trouble is also often experienced by those who, before they became pregnant, had such problems as stomach and abdominal pain and cramps, heartburn, indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.
• In the third trimester, the pregnant womb pushes abdominal and chest organs out of their original positions, ligaments become soft, and the spine is forced to change its shape. These normal physiological changes may lead to such problems as a persistent backache and joint pain, breathlessness, fatigue, anemia, urinary tract infections and incontinence, and abdominal pain.
Many of these conditions you can treat at home by yourself. We will suggest a few ways that you can find the right homeopathic remedy for some of these problems. Do not treat yourself for anything serious, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, bleeding, kidney infection, abdominal cramps, or epilepsy. Perhaps the most important homeopathic medicine used for the complaints of pregnancy is Sepia. Its most frequent application involves ailments that arise during the times of hormonal changes, such as puberty, menopause, and, of course, pregnancy and the postnatal period. Sepia’s action covers many different organs, most importantly the uterus, ovaries, circulatory system, colon, and joint structures. It cures such conditions as constipation, urinary infections, yeast infections, back and joint pain due to softening of ligaments, fatigue, skin discoloration, depression, worry, and anxiety. It is also the primary remedy for morning sickness and postpartum depression. The most important action of Sepia, however lies in its remarkable ability to alleviate postpartum depression, which makes it the most important medicine from the point of view of the newborn’s well-being as well (see Homeopathic Medicine and ADD). The following is a list of other excellent homeopathic remedies that treat conditions associated with pregnancy (check in next week to learn about another one in more detail): Cimicifuga, Staphysagria, Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Kali-carb, Nux-vom, Nat-mur. Aconite, Arsenicum, Colocynthus, Ipecac, Chamomilla, China, Bryonia, Belladonna, Ignatia, Phosphorus, sulphur, Cantharis, Phos-ac, and Causticum. Pregnancy unedited Before we examine how homeopathic medicine approaches pregnancy, we have to understand how it views health and disease in general. Homeopathic medicine has a unique perception of disease. We see it as the process whereby an organism is being subjected to an assault of a toxic entity, or what we call a morbid agent or an agent of disease. This disease agent could be a viral protein, a tree pollen, or a toxic chemical. Normally, a healthy body would be able to repel the virus or detoxify a poison, but if a system is weakened by fatigue, depression, unhealthy lifestyle, malnutrition, or the disease agent is very powerful and comes in great numbers, it may overpower the resistance of an organism and begin to cause internal damage. The struggle between the toxic agent and the organism’s immune defenses produces symptoms and signs of disease: headache, fever, anxiety, cough. In acute conditions an individual’s system is usually able to overcome the disease and expel the toxin eventually. But often weakened, overworked immune system is not able to completely cure itself and a chronic state eventually emerges whereby the sick person is able to function but they suffer constant unpleasant and often debilitating symptoms that drain their vitality and prevent them from enjoying their lives. When a person has been exposed to a potent poison, such as swallowing or inhaling a toxic chemical or being bitten by a snake, they are given an antidote, which is a specific substance capable of either removing the poison from the body or helping the body to detoxify this poison by converting it into an unobnoxios substance. Homeopathic doctors, by studying hundreds of diseases and sick people found a way to determine how each disease toxin could be antidoted or illuminated by a specific substance found in nature, which we call a homeopathic medicine. One specific antidote for each specific malady. When an organism falls victim to an infection, the agent of this infection often interferes with body’s normal cellular processes by producing a biologically active chemical (a protein) that reacts with the host’s proteins and destroys them. Once a vital protein is destroyed in sufficient numbers, the body’s functions are altered, depending on the type of functions this particular protein performed. Since these proteins are often valuable enzymes that catalyze vital biochemical reactions in the body, these reactions cannot be carried on and as a result we experience unpleasant symptoms of the disease. Each particular enzyme is often used by different organs in different ways because Nature is very economical and unlike humans abhors waste and overproduction. Thus different organs may suffer and often in a single disease we experience a whole range of symptoms. Homeopathic doctors study the pattern of these symptoms to determine the "antidote" for each particular disease. We have to know the pattern of behaviour, so to speak, of each disease toxin in order to determine with which medicine to treat it. That’s why we only use one medicinal substance at a time, because our studies have shown us that each morbid substance needs only one antidoting medicine to eliminate it. That is also why we take such careful and detailed histories, so that we will be able to discern the "signature" action of an invading toxin, that is to decipher which organs and systems are affected. PREGNANCY The moment a woman gets pregnant, that is, the moment a tiny bundle of cells becomes implanted in her womb, many organs in her body alter their usual functions to accommodate the implantation and encourage the development and growth of a healthy embryo. Several major changes take place in her hormonal system, immune system, digestion, internal structures, and circulation. These changes are normal and have only one purpose: to save and nourish her baby. 1)Since normally uterus throws out any foreign object, a powerful serge of hormones from her ovaries override its normal function and "order" it not to go into contractions and save the thick endometrial layer that covers the inside of the womb the embryo, trying to dig itself into this blood rich substance and feed from it. 2)The second thing that happens is that the immune system of a mother-host receives an equally powerful overriding message to suppress its normal reaction to foreign protein and not to destroy the embryo as if it were some kind of a virus. 3)And the third important change occurs in the pregnant woman’s digestive organs, because it now becomes increasingly vital to prevent the possible exposure of embryo to all toxins at a crucial time in its development when all its organs are being laid down. In the first 6 to 8 weeks of human life a tiniest change in the cellular structure of the embryo will inevitably result in the gross pathological changes of its future organs. The mother, therefore, must be prevented from eating toxic foods. Later on in pregnancy, due to many hormonal changes that affect liver, pancreas, and gall bladder, the digestive processes slow down considerably, causing some more discomfort and requiring adjustments. 4)Circulation increases; internal organs pushed out of their normanl place; Ligaments soften ....................................................................................................... So how does homeopathy view pregnancy: as a disease needed to be treated or as a normal process where suffering should be tolerated. We differentiate between normal physiological processes and pathology. It is normal to experience some discomfort from all the different changes that suddenly overcome your body before you get a chance to adjust to them, it is not normal however to suffer severely from these changes. Healthy, happy woman, who works very little, lives in a forest and eats pure food -- feels great in pregnancy. Most of us live in polluted cities, work triple time, eat toxic food, suffer from emotional problems. Let’s examine what happens to a average pregnant woman as the result of the changes that her body experiences and what she can do to alleviate the discomfort. 1) As a result of hormonal activity that helps to establish successful implantation and maintain pregnancy, many unpleasant symptoms may develop. These include water retention, increased urination and irritable bladder, unusual hunger or nausea, joint and muscle pains, mood swings, anxiety and others. Many of these symptoms are familiar to those women who suffer from PMS and the homeopathic treatment is the same in both cases. 2) During pregnancy, especially the first trimester, the mother’s immune system is seriously suppressed and any encounter with a virus may lead to a prolong and often serious infection. 3) Morning sickness is often the first manifestation of early pregnancy, though many women do not experience it at all. With it come an increased sensitivity to odors and various foods. It is normal to experience this sensitivity which is probably a preventive measure designed by nature to protect the embryo from toxins. However, this sensitivity should not lead to persistent nausea and vomiting, the latter can usually be treated by homeopathic medicine and occasionally by psychological counseling. Digestive trouble also often experienced by those who had already had some problems before they became pregnant. These include stomach and abdominal pain and cramps, heart burn, indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation. 4) The normal physiological changes of the third trimester, when the pregnant womb pushes abdominal and chest organs out of their positions, ligaments become soft and spine is forced to change its shape, lead to such problems as a persistent backache and joint pain, breathlessness, fatigue, anemia, urinary tract infections and incontinence, abdominal pain, and others. Many of these conditions you can treat at home by yourself. We will give you a few examples of how to find the right homeopathic remedy for some of these problems. Do not treat yourself for anything serious such as diabetes, high blood pressure, bleeding, kidney infection, abdominal cramps, epilepsy, and so on. Perhaps the most important homeopathic medicine used for the complains of pregnancy is Sepia. Its most frequent application involves ailments that arise during the times of hormonal changes, such as puberty, menopause and of course pregnancy and post-natal period. Sepia’s action covers many different organs, the most important of which are uterus, ovaries, circulatory system, colon, and joint structures. Conditions it cures include: constipation, urinary infections, yeast infections, back and joint pain due to softening of ligaments, fatigue, skin discoloration, depression, worry, and anxiety. It is also the number one remedy for morning sickness and post-partum depression. The most important action of Sepia, however, lies in its remarkable ability to alleviate post-partum blues which naturally makes it the most important medicine from the point of view of the newborn’s well-being (see "Homeopathic Medicine and ADD").
The following is a list of other excellent homeopathic remedies that treat conditions associated with pregnancy.Check in next week to learn about another one of them. Cimicifuga, Staphysagria, Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Kali-carb, Nux-vom, Nat-mur. Aconite, Arsenicum, Colocynthus, Ipecac, Chamomilla, China, Bryonia, Belladonna, Ignatia, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Cantharis, Phos-ac, Causticum.
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