How homeopathy helped during my pregnancy

Being a pregnant homeopath has been interesting to say the least, as it has made me question a lot of things about pregnancy in general.  I thought I would put my experience out there; maybe some of you have experienced something similar or have wondered about some of the same things.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started using homeopathy during my pregnancy.  Sure, homeopathy can be helpful with certain things in pregnancy, but pregnancy also isn’t a disease; it’s a normal state.   And many “symptoms” in pregnancy are considered “normal”:  food cravings, fatigue, heartburn, nausea, swelling, etc.  Therefore, I was curious about how big a role homeopathy would play in managing these so-called symptoms, since they were supposedly normal. Especially since some of these things are considered not just normal, but healthy.  Women who are nauseous are less likely to miscarry, so it’s considered a good sign.  Increased fatigue is treated like a good thing, because “you are a making a human - you need to rest.”  So, should we treat nausea? Should we treat fatigue? If it’s not just normal, but considered “good”, then should I take a remedy?  I really wasn’t completely sure either way. 

Because of my uncertainty, I didn’t take remedies for the first 9 weeks of my pregnancy.  I felt horrible though. I was nauseous all the time (and terrified to see patients in person – I didn’t want to have to run to the bathroom and puke in the middle of an appointment!) and the only thing I wanted to eat was candy and cookies and potatoes.  Seriously. So while everyone told me to “not worry if you lose weight because of nausea” I was in fact gaining weight really fast, since my diet was now entirely simple carbs, all day every day.  And I was so tired I could barely function. I mean I was going to sleep at 6pm, waking up at 6am and needing to nap for a few hours at noon. It was ridiculous. I also had a lot of other symptoms, more than I could count to be honest. Every single body system had changed. My emotions, concentration, breathing, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, urination, appetite and cravings, sleep, were all completely different. And not in a good way.  So I finally gave in a took a remedy, Nux Vomica, and everything cleared up within a week.  I feel so silly now for waiting that long to try something. 

Based on this experience, I am starting to believe that we do a disservice to pregnant women by saying these symptoms are normal and healthy and should just be put up with.  It’s like menstrual cycles; a lot of women think it’s fine that they have to eat Advil like candy once a month and be incredibly moody, but it’s not.  It is a very common thing, but it’s not a healthy thing.  You do not have to treat it if you don’t want to, and I know it can be hard to get good care, but let’s not mistake suffering for health. 

So anyway, my second trimester was pretty smooth.  This was due to the remedy (especially for the non-stop heartburn!), and the fact that the second trimester is usually a bit easier anyway. I did get some headaches (which is not necessarily uncommon for me) and while I did used to just take Advil (don’t tell the other homeopaths!!), I couldn’t do that now. So I had to use homeopathic remedies to handle them, and I did have quite a bit of success which was great. I was grateful (again) that this medicine can work so quickly and thoroughly, while still being safe enough to use during pregnancy!

However, I did use a lot of other therapies in addition to homeopathy.  As someone in alternative care, I see a lot of women, particularly of childbearing age, who often have complaints that started during pregnancy or after the delivery.  So, I have been a bit obsessive about trying every kind of therapy and making sure every ache and pain I have is taken care of, because I just hear so many stories about how these issues can last for years afterwards.  I’ve gotten massages for some of the physical aches and pains, regular chiropractic adjustments, gone to a pelvic floor physio for prehab essentially – prepping that part of my body for all the stuff it’s about to go through - and I have started taking a lot of supplements. I usually don’t take any supplements, but during pregnancy they did actually help me continue exercising the same way I did before pregnancy, and of course a lot of supplementation has research in pregnancy that show potential benefits to mom and baby (1, 2, 3, 4). So I figured the risk of harm was relatively low and the potential benefits were…. above zero.

My third trimester has been pretty good, but definitely been more of a struggle than the second.  I am finally needing to really modify how much (and the type of) exercise I do; my body just does not seem to enjoy moving like it used to!  And baby kicking me in the ribs or bladder while I am working, and needing 5 meals a day to be satisfied, is a bit tiring.  But the more common third trimester symptoms, especially insomnia and swelling of the hands and legs, have really been helped by the Nux Vomica.  It makes me wonder if I would have had a difficult pregnancy without it, since if I miss a dose, oh my, it’s like nonstop heartburn, no sleeping after 3am, everything in the entire world irritates me and makes me want to scream, and I still only want to eat chips and cookies, plus I can’t stand for more than 30 minutes with out my legs swelling.  I just basically hate life.  It’s awful.

Labor and Delivery Plan:

I am planning a home birth with midwives and a doula.  In Ontario, the midwives have an incredible scope of practice; they bring a lot of equipment that lets them deal with minor occurrences during birth, and so you can be really safe at home with them.  I didn’t like the idea of the possible intervention cascade at the hospital (1, 2), and research shows that movement is incredibly important in reducing perceived pain and keeping labor moving quickly (1,2).  Movement is usually restricted at the hospital because of the monitoring you must undergo (you can get around this of course, but I did not want to have to bother with it).  So, I wanted to be at home.  Doulas also come up repeatedly as being phenomenal for ensuring that you are happy with your labor, regardless of whether things go to plan or not!  Which is my goal – to be happy and at peace with whatever happens, regardless of what actually does happen – so I got myself a doula.

A lot of people have asked me about remedies during labor.  And obviously, I haven’t gone through it yet so I can’t say what will happen or what I will do exactly.  But I won’t have a homeopath there, nor to have many remedies around to take. I will be high on hormones at the time, so trying to treat myself probably won’t be the best idea, and I didn’t want yet another person in the room at the birth, so I also decided not to have a homeopath there. I will keep some higher doses of Nux Vomica around, since it’s helped me so much for the pregnancy, and very high doses of Arnica.  The placenta detaching from the uterus does create a large, bleeding wound and so my plan is to use Arnica to heal from that physical trauma.  Perineal damage as well is often associated with tenderness, bruising, swelling, all things Arnica may really help with.  But we will see, as a tear in the perineum and uterine wall may need something else (the joys of individualized treatment…). 

Conclusion:

I hope that gives you an idea of how useful homeopathy can be during pregnancy.  Homeopathy is often looked at as just a way to deal with nausea and fatigue in the first trimester, but I was impressed by how much better I felt through this whole experience.  I would say that except for the last 2-3 weeks, I have felt exactly like myself while taking the Nux-Vomica, just a little bigger in the middle.  Or a LOT bigger in the middle!