Picking Your Prenatal Team

By Dr. Nikki

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Pregnancy is an absolutely life-altering season of life. Having recently experienced it myself, I find myself more passionate than ever about this experience in life. When a woman finds out she’s expecting, it is a very exciting time, it also is an occasion where she and her family will be faced with numerous decisions!

Most of us have heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” and it’s absolutely true… starting while they’re still in the womb! One of the most important decisions a woman faces in pregnancy is the village of people who will be supporting her throughout pregnancy and birth. While this prenatal team will look different for each individual woman, there are three crucial components that I think should be considered.

The first member of the prenatal team is a midwife or OBGYN. While both professionals deliver your baby, the environment and approach will vary greatly! I discuss some of these differences in the video below. There’s no right or wrong decision, it just depends on what each individual woman needs and feels comfortable with.

The next member of the prenatal team is a doula. I’m lucky enough to work with a number of doulas, with all different personalities and styles. If a woman knows that she needs someone to push her, there’s a doula for her! If a woman knows that she needs to be nurtured and mothered, there’s a doula for her too!

The third member of the team is the prenatal chiropractor. Did you know that there’s a group of us chiropractors who actually specialize in chiropractic care during pregnancy? We have completed additional training and certification through the ICPA in a technique called the Webster method and oftentimes have the credentials FICPA or CACCP after our name. Chiropractic care is extremely helpful in maintaining proper function of the spine and nervous system throughout all stages of pregnancy. A woman’s body goes through a great deal of changes and it’s important that her body is able to adapt to these different stressors appropriately!  Just a few of the benefits that research has shown include decreased back pain during pregnancy, decreased labor time, and decreased postnatal pain. 

With all of these professionals, we are dealing with a human to human interaction. I mention this to say that it’s really important that a woman jives and feels comfortable with the different people who she’s turning to for her prenatal care and advice. Tension, conflict, or a lack of trust can result in emotional stress as well as physical stress, and ain’t nobody got time for that, especially a hormonal pregnant woman! Asking for recommendations from friends and family members or looking for professionals who have great online reviews is a great place to start. From there, interviewing a few different people ensures that it’s a great fit for momma-to-be and her family!

If you’re looking for recommendations for members of your prenatal team, please don’t hesitate to ask! I would love to help you find your ideal team.

Powerful Produce

By Dr. Nikki

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Throughout any given day we are exposed to a plethora of toxins which result in oxidative stress within the body and cause bad molecules, known as free radicals, to form. These free radicals go around attacking and attaching to healthy atoms, causing damage to cells, proteins, and DNA! While you probably aren't looking for a chemistry lesson, I want to paint a picture of why it’s important that we do what we can to prevent and get rid of free radicals! This is where antioxidants enter the scene, preventing the free radicals from causing damage throughout the body.

So how do we get antioxidants? Antioxidants are not something that our bodies can make, but are found in a variety of foods!

A food that is seriously jam-packed with antioxidant power is turmeric! Widely known as an ingredient in Indian foods, turmeric is a root that looks similar to ginger but has a rich orange/yellow coloring to it. You can find turmeric in powder form in the spice aisle of your local grocery store or in whole-root form in the produce section of stores such as Whole Foods and Central Market.

The active compound found in turmeric is called curcumin. Curcumin is a very potent antioxidant that is extremely beneficial in preventing cellular damage as well as helping our bodies to detoxify. The only problem is that our bodies aren’t very good at absorbing curcumin by itself. Fortunately, adding a few ingredients to some turmeric and we’re able to enjoy ALL of the benefits of this antioxidant-rich root!

What are these three necessary ingredients? Great question! One of the elements necessary for us to absorb curcumin is called quercetin. Quercetin is a plant pigment found in red onions, capers, cranberries, kale, blueberries, romaine lettuce and apples (to list a few). Another element which increases the bioavailability of curcumin for our bodies is called piperine. Found in black pepper, piperine increases the bioavailability of curcumin (turmeric) by 2000%!! No, that is not a typo, two thousand percent!! The final ingredient that is extremely helpful in our absorbing curcumin is a healthy fat. By consuming turmeric with a healthy fat we are able to absorb curcumin directly into the bloodstream through the lymphatic system, rather than having it filtered through the liver first!

These may sound like some random ingredients to throw together in order to have  better health, but a little concoction called a Turmeric Tonic (see recipe) does just the trick! In the video below, I show you how to make a turmeric tonic and the benefits of each ingredient that goes into it!

Turmeric Tonic Recipe:

• 2 cups of coconut water

• 2 inches of turmeric root

• 1 drop of food quality black pepper essential oil

• 1 inch of ginger root

• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon of local honey

• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until the consistency of a juice. Pour and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.

Making a recipe that calls for turmeric? Throw in a dash of black pepper and you’re automatically making your meal a natural detoxifier! What are your favorite ways to cook with turmeric? We would love to hear how you integrate this power-house antioxidant into your daily routine!