Month 4: Salts of the earth
During pregnancy, your baby requires certain minerals to develop healthily. Taking tissue salts during this time can benefit you and your growing baby in many ways.
Remember the old wives’ tale about losing a tooth to gain a child? It certainly makes sense, in that in past eras calcium and other minerals may not have been readily available, and Mother Nature raids your reserves in order to service the requirements of your pregnancy.
Alison Effting, a biochemic consultant at the Biochemic Institute of South Africa in Cape Town, uses this truism to illustrate how vital tissue salts are for good health in pregnancy.
“Since pregnancy is a phase of building an entirely new body from a single cell, tissue salts are required for the development of the foetus into a baby, as well as for you to maintain your health and wellbeing without your own mineral reserves being stripped,” she points out. Different tissue salts are required in each trimester, as the baby develops, Alison says.
Read on for more information on your needs throughout your pregnancy.
FIRST TRIMESTER
■ Take Kali Phos for the developing brain, heart and nervous system. “This can be helpful for you to counteract fatigue or stress throughout the pregnancy, and support hormonal changes during the early stages of the pregnancy,” Alison says. ■ Nat Sulph and Kali Mur are good for the liver, the glandular, lymphatic and respiratory systems, and other soft-tissue development. “These two can also safely help to counteract morning sickness.”
■ Take Calc Fluor as soon as the bump starts showing, for the elasticity of your tissue as well as the foetal development of elastic tissue such as veins, lungs, digestive organs, muscles, ligaments and teeth. “The amount of stretching that happens in pregnancy requires a constant supply of this tissue salt, and I recommend using it throughout the pregnancy, and for a few months afterwards, especially if there was a vaginal delivery and/or you’re breastfeeding,” Alison says.
SECOND TRIMESTER
■ Mag Phos builds and strengthens muscle and motor nerves, eases tension and counteracts spasms. “This is important for building strong contractile muscle tissue for vaginal deliveries,” Alison says, adding, “A lack of this salt during pregnancy can contribute to a tendency towards colic in the baby after birth.”
■ Kali Sulph conditions the pregnant skin and counteracts pigmentation marks. “This salt is necessary for the transfer of oxygen across the placenta. It’s important for the baby’s developing skin, kidneys and digestive system.”
■ Take Nat Phos to keep the kidneys conditioned to eliminate excess uric acid, maintain blood pH balance and counteract hyperacidity, although “digestive hyperacidity can be difficult to deal with due to the physical pressure on the stomach and diaphragm,” Alison says. “High uric acid levels have been associated with gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia,” she adds.
■ Calc Sulph is good for strengthening the vaginal and uterine linings prior to birth, as well as the development of strong cell membranes, building immune-system cells, and building the urinary system and stomach linings.
Nat Sulph and Kali Mur can safely help to counteract morning sickness.
THIRD TRIMESTER
■ Take Calc Phos for building bones and all cell division. “This is the most rapid growth development phase, and one during which your bones and teeth can be affected if there’s not enough for the growing baby,” Alison says.
■ Silicea keeps the connective tissues strong and conditions skin, hair and nails. ■ Nat Mur is necessary for white bloodcell formation and cell division, and it counteracts swelling of the hands, fingers and feet. “It’s also important in cases of post-partum depression,” Alison adds.
■ Ferr Phos oxygenates and builds red blood cells. “Oxygenation is critical during delivery and imperative for the baby to be able to take its first breath once it’s born,” says Alison. “It’s good for you too, to prevent excessive bruising and facilitate healing of vaginal tissues or caesarean wounds.”