The subject of my most recent live discussion centred on a woman’s journey to pregnancy and beyond. I was joined by nutritional therapist, Sophia Hill, who as mum to recently turned one-year-old Freida, had plenty to share – from how she prepared her body pre-conception, how she navigated pregnancy itself to how she is faring post-pregnancy. If you didn’t get a chance to join, you can watch the video here.
Sophia and I covered a wide range of topics, including how she did a series of stool tests before she got pregnant just to ensure that her gut microbiome was as healthy and balanced as possible, especially after her IBS issues as a younger woman. Sophia shared lots of her professional wisdom and tips about nutrition, diet, lifestyle, and supplements; she also talked about her home water birth, her struggles with breastfeeding and how a lactation consultant was able to help her and baby Freida.
We also touched on:
- How environmental toxins can harm a developing baby.
- The effect of a low-fat diet on a baby’s brain development.
- How a Mediterranean style diet, with plenty of protein and good fats, will benefit baby’s developing brain and nervous system, and mum’s overall health.
- Rates of autism – in the 1970s and 1980s, autism affected about 1 in 2,000 births; these rates are now hovering around 1 in 200 births – and how this puts a huge financial burden on both society and families. An increasing body of evidence suggests that autism often results from a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers.
- Plummeting birth rates in Western countries.
- Surprising environmental factors – such as how men shouldn’t put their mobile phones in their front pockets as the radiation can affect their testicles and their fertility.
- Epigenetics – how a pregnant woman’s environment and behaviour during pregnancy, such as whether she eats healthy food, can change the baby’s epigenetics. Some of these changes can remain for decades and might make the child more likely to get certain diseases. You can read more about epigenetics here.
- The importance of folate in pregnancy to help prevent neural defects in the growing baby – folate is the natural form of vitamin B9 found in foods such as asparagus, avocados, Brussels sprouts, leafy greens like spinach and lettuce – while folic acid is a synthetic form. You can take a folate supplement; 400mcgs is the recommended daily dose.
We covered a lot of ground in our chat so to get the full benefit of Sophia’s insights, please enjoy watching the video. Do get in touch if you have any further questions.
