Pelvic pain during pregnancy

Ligaments are like elastic bands that support the womb and hold the pelvis together. When they’re forced to stretch, you feel the pain. A hormone called relaxin helps them to do this – but relaxin also affects other support structures of the pelvis (namely the hip joints, spine and the pubic cartilage) making these temporarily ‘unstable’. By your third trimester the baby is well and truly in your abdomen (stretching all your clothes and directing you to the Preggie department) and you will feel more comfortable (well … sort of!)

What can you do about this?

•  Slowly manoeuvre yourself when getting out of the bed in the mornings 

•  Do the same when getting out of the car

•  And standing up after you have been sitting 

•  Heat is the best pain reliever – take a long warm bath when you can or use a hot water bottle or heated pad during the day

•  Look for Carriwell Maternity support bands or Maternity flexi belts at stores like Baby City, Babies ‘R’Us, Baby boom or selected Clicks or Dis-Chem pharmacies 

•  Sleep with a pillow between your knees

•  Go to ante-natal exercise classes, swim in a heated pool or if you’re very uncomfortable, go for physio and learn about which exercises you can do

•  Make ginger tea (shave fresh roots, add boiling water and honey for taste) – it’s great for inflammation and very refreshing!

•  Relief from pain killers is short-lived – don’t use them without speaking to your doctor/midwife.

When should you worry?

•  If the pain gets worse to the point of being unbearable it could be something unrelated to pregnancy – for example an appendix, bladder infection or ovarian cyst. 

•  If you have the following, please speak to your doctor/midwife today. 

•  Abnormal discharge

•  Vaginal bleeding

•  Nausea and vomiting

•  Abdominal cramping.

Colds & flu during pregnancy

At one time it was thought that pregnant women had a weakened immune system so that her body would not reject her baby, but a 2014 study at the Stanford University Medical Centre has found that pregnant women have an unusually strong immune response to influenza. This may also explain why pregnant women get sicker from the flu than other healthy adults! And that’s why it’s important for pregnant women to have the flu shot.

•  Don’t take over-the-counter medications if you’re not feeling well – even herbal and homeopathic. You should speak to your doctor/midwife first.

•  Seasonal fruit is rich in vitamin C and as we know, this vitamin helps to boost immunity. Because it’s water-soluble, vitamin C needs to be taken every day. Eating an orange a day – the pulp and the juice – will give you fresh vitamin C in the perfect dose for your daily needs!

•  Viruses travel in the air and it’s easy to breathe them in. Avoid busy people-places e.g. malls over week-ends, music concerts where people stand closely together and crowded lifts. If the lift is full – wait for the next one!

•  Germs stick to equipment, furniture and hand-rails, especially in public places. Wipe the telephone receiver before using it – especially when the previous user has a cold.

•  Politely avoid kissing and hugging strangers (or people you know) who have a cold. Sick people should stay at home rather than being a martyr and going to work where they only spread their germs!

•  Wash your hands before eating or preparing food

•  Find ways to reduce stress because it can affect immunity. Read, meditate, use lavender oil in your bath, listen to music, take a brisk walk or a slow walk through the park.

•  Go to bed early and get up early to avoid the early morning rush. Make lists, get organized so you don’t stress or lie awake at night worrying away when you should be sleeping! 

•  Keep covered if you’re having night-sweats. Throwing off all your blankets when you’re wet can quickly make you cold – and sudden changes in body temperature challenges your immune system.

•  Eat a variety of green, yellow and red fruits and vegetables every day – these give you a variety of vitamins that you need.

•  There’s some truth to the nutritional benefits of home-made chicken soup as well as the comfort and enjoyment of eating it – especially in the company of somebody special in your life!

International Breastfeeding Week 2015

Breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks and it takes time for mothers and babies to get it right. After struggling through the first few days, and then weeks, mother and baby usually start enjoying the experience by the time her maternity leave is up! Then it’s back to work and the end of breastfeeding!

This is a pity because the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the initial inconveniences and difficulties. If men had babies, maternity leave would be much longer and the work place would provide crèche facilities so that babies could be fed during working hours!

But since this is not to be, working mothers can arrange to work shorter hours or she could minimize breastfeeding to the mornings and evenings when she is home with her baby. Hand and electric pumps are useful to express breastmilk during the day while she is at the office – but finding a suitably clean and private place to do this is often a problem. Stored EBM (expressed breast milk) in the office fridge is either frowned on or joked about – much to the mother’s embarrassment. 

With the economy nosediving and the cost of living and child care escalating, many women are taking advantage of modern technology and setting up office from home (even if it’s only a small table with a printer and space for a laptop) and popping into the office once or twice a week. Income can be earned by investing in a sewing machine and becoming creative, whisking up cakes for restaurants, making healthy sandwiches for the school tuckshop or cooking meals for other families. 

Motherhood does not mean shelving years of studying or working hard to earn your place on the corporate ladder – but lost quality time with your baby and children can never be reclaimed no matter how successful you become. Extra money to buy, buy, buy doesn’t impress children, but they do enjoy it when you give them your time and attention. When women are so busy trying to keep everybody (husband, boss, day mother, employer and taxman) happy, the little people they brought into this world are often the first to be ignored. 

Self-employed from home can and has become a full-time, successful career for many women. It takes guts, help and co-operation from your partner, energy, determination and perseverance – but it is possible.  I don’t regret doing it – and I don’t think my children do either! 

The second trimester - nothing short of a miracle

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning of your pregnancy, you will be in your second trimester or ‘honeymoon phase’ by now. This is when niggles have been ironed out and you’re actually enjoying being pregnant! Your baby is developing in his astronaut's capsule of amniotic fluid, unaffected by gravity and safe from danger. You may have seen primitive jerks and kicks in earlier scans and now you’re waiting to feel him kick for the first time. 

During the second trimester you baby will become more active as his senses will develop.

Facial expressions such as frowning, squinting and grimacing begin and besides basic survival reflexes, your baby’s sense of taste, touch and sound will develop from 16 weeks onwards.  These are the very beginnings of bonding or ‘emotional senses’ that give your baby a sense of belonging – which, at this stage, means that all of you belongs to him! After the birth your baby will have to learn that he is a separate entity from you. This is called self-actualization and begins from about four months onwards. 

Right now your baby’s world is filled with a variety of sounds – the churnings of your intestines, the steady rhythm of your heartbeat and the muffled sound of your voice. When your baby listens to the tone and pitch of your voice he believes that the sounds are coming from him. Your baby also ‘switches out’ interfering noises – which is why he will be able to sleep through noise as a newborn. 

By five months your baby enjoys touching the womb and exploring his body with his hands. In a way he is getting ready for the big day when he leaves the comfort zone of your womb – holding onto his umbilical cord, sucking his thumb, kicking his legs and waving his arms!  Like anything under construction it’s not only his muscles and senses that are developing, your baby’s brain is in a critical state of development. This ‘jelly-like-mass’ will in time contain about 10 billion nerve cells or neurons and about 90 billion glial cells to make up the cerebral cortex that becomes furrowed and convoluted to make room for all the nerve cells. It’s nothing short of a miracle!  

All this is happening without you having to do anything besides protect your baby from toxins (alcohol and nicotine), eat healthy, go for regular check-ups and connect positively – walking, dancing, playing music, singing and making the most of this unique time together!

Endometriosis and pregnancy...

Endometriosis is a chronic (ongoing) autoimmune condition. Like other autoimmune conditions, antibodies attack the cells of some of their own organs. More recently, endometriosis has been diagnosed in younger women – even teenagers. Sometimes endometriosis is discovered by accident (e.g. during abdominal surgery) but mostly when women are looking for answers to their period problems.

Endometriosis is when tissue from the womb (called the endometrium which is shed when you have a period) somehow gets through the fallopian tubes and into the pelvis. The problem is that this tissue is influenced by the cycle of menstrual hormones and bleeds slightly with every period. 

This intermittent bleeding from endometrial tissue outside the womb can affect other organs like the ovaries, fallopian tubes, bowel and urethra (urinary tube). This tissue can become like ‘glue’ and make these organs ‘stick’ together and interfere with the way they work.  

Symptoms of endometriosis are severe period pain, painful sex and difficulty conceiving. It’s also associated with painful ovulation, heavy and/or irregular periods, severe backache before periods begin and pain when passing stool or urine.

The condition affects between 1 – 15% of women and is not conclusively genetic. Many women with endometriosis today are older ‘career women’ who have chosen to delay motherhood – but this is not always the case.  

A diagnosis is made on symptoms and treatment means eliminating these. Treatment can be hormonal to mimic menopause and a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, evening primrose oil and selenium. It’s best to speak to a homeopath about natural treatment.