food, diet, herbs, and supplements for pregnant moms

[moon mountain mama]

I was wondering if some of you with your vast experience and knowledge could lend some advice. I have had quite a few miscarriages but I also have one son so I can be succesfful with being pregnant. This time around it took us almost a year to get pregnant. JUst before I got pregnant this time I was taking Maca, Super food vitamins which has green plants and seaweeds, and royal jelly. Also I did acupuncture for about three visits and was on Chineses medicines that my doctor had given me. Now that I am pregnant I do not know what to continue. I pretty much have cut everything out and now I am just taking prenatals and the superfood supplement at lunch but just one capsule. Should I still be taking any of these herbs or vitamins to continue regulating my hormone levels? Any recommendation for herbs or supplements to help with miscarriage that you know of? Also, does anybody know of any good "diets" for pregnancy, (beyond eating whole foods and well balanced meals), maybe if you know of any websites that would be very helpful.
Thank you so much;)

[swampwitch]

I would start by finding an OB or MW who is well-versed on the use of herbs and supplements. While we didn't start with that situation, we are now :twothumbs with an OB who was a lay-midwife for many years. She has been great helping me figure out some of the particulars.

Also, I am in my third trimester and just started seeing an acupuncturist/chinese herbal doctor. I'd just be really clear with them about your history and together you can determine what route to continue.

As for a good pregnancy diet, we are taking Bradley Method classes and that method encourages using the Brewer Diet. (Named for Dr. Brewer...there's a website with it somewhere...) Each day we are supposed to get 80+ grams of protein. Now, I'm a vegetarian and that can be a hard number to hit, but my OB has recommended that as long as I'm hitting 60 (or really close) I'm doing okay. If you eat meat, 80 grams is a lot easier to get. The following is what I'm supposed to check off each day in my food journal:
4 servings milk products
2 eggs
2 servings green veggies
1 serving veggie
4 servings grains (whole)
vitamin c source
3 sources fats
1 serving fruit
water

Each week we are supposed to get
4 servings yellow or orange colored fruit or veggie
1 serving of liver
3 baked potatoes (not the monster potatos, more the size of your fist)

One thing that I have found to be important is to start the day with some protein, double digits if I can get it. So I usually have a Lunabar (10 grams) and a glass of soy milk (6 grams) or a bowl of yogurt (7 grams) and granola. Eggs and cow's milk make me feel gross in the mornings, but if you can handle it, two eggs and a glass of milk would be 20 grams right out of the gates.

[Leylla]

I think Brewers diet is on www.blueribbonbabies.com

Also, something I drink usually, but will have my two cups daily during pregnancy is red raspberry leaf tea. Not only is it fairly tasty, but it is supposed to tone uterine muscles. Since I have 2 c/ses under my belt, I feel that this helps.

Steph

[marie1080]

I'm pregnant and take an Omega 3 supplement along with my prenatal vitamin. It is supposed to help prevent preterm birth, help promote fetal brain development, and help prevent maternal depression.

Some links about fatty acids and pregnancy:

http://www.fatsforhealth.com/library/libitems/Mother_Infant.php

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15907142&itool=iconabstr&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12198007&dopt=Abstract

I was taking an omega 3 pre-pregnancy, and googled it when I became pg to see if it was safe. I found an article here

http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/01/supplements_for.html

which is also where I found the other links which convinced me to keep taking it! Google will find you articles as well, these are just what I had bookmarked.
Oh, my OB also said an omega-3 supplement was fine with her.
Good luck in your quest :)

[Ryoko]

I am headed out to the health food store today to pick up some flax seed oil, thanks for the links!!!
I'm also picking up either some pregnancy tea or some red raspberry leaf tea, which I've heard works great in pregnancy as well (although there is some conflicting info out there regarding taking it during the first trimester - I am 16weeks tomorrow so I think I'm OK).
Here's a link to a thread about it (which is how I found out about it!) and there are some more links within the thread about it's benefits, etc. Hope this helps! Good thread!
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=347728&highlight=red+raspberry+leaf+tea

[turtle81]

Swampwitch - thanks so much for your post! Very helpful!

[CaraO]

I definitely take flax seed oil. I was drinking red raspberry/nettle/red clover tea before I got pregnant, but have stopped.

I have heard conflicting things about red raspberry tea in pregnancy--my accupunturist told me not to drink it until a few weeks before labor.

What is your opinion?