Preconception Medicine

Optimal Pregnancy for a Healthy Baby

Maternal Health

The choices you make today can determine outcomes tomorrow!

The health of the mother is very important and can determine whether her child-to-be will be healthy, or not. We offer comprehensive testing and treatment prior to conception so that your child will have the best chance for a bright and healthy future!

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Enhance Your Chance For Having A Healthy Pregnancy and Baby

6 months before pregnancy

It is helpful to do a few things six months before pregnancy and not ‘just before’ pregnancy:

lower the ROS (reactive oxygen species) with Alpha Lipoic Acid, N-Acetyl Cysteine
support development with supplements
avoid resveratrol - not helpful at this time
Supplement with Selenium, Vitamin C, Carnitine, Acetyl L Carnitine and CoQ10
check Vitamin D3. Optimize levels.

3 months before pregnancy

In the three months leading up to pregnancy, these are also helpful hormones and supplements:

progesterone in the vagina
Melatonin and Human Growth Hormone are useful . First test for levels, then treat, then re-test for safest the way to do this.
peptide therapy such as DSIP promotes fertility as does low dose Naltrexone
avoid exposure to pesticides
Iodine level check, and if low start Iodoral (TM) (iodine and iodide) and take through pregnancy. Check level with Dr. Bieley to determine dosing. Iodine makes your child bright.
Iodine stimulates the making of the glial cells of neural tissues. Human IQ is stored in the glial cell system. IQ is higher with Iodine vs. no iodine therapy.
start Essential phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholine (PC) for a sharper brain in the mother and the baby. Remember, 90% of woman are deficient in choline during pregnancy.
start probiotics, particularly Bifidobacter infantus, due to antibiotic use, synthetic sweeteners, emulsifying agents.
Myo-Inositol 1-2 grams and up to 4 grams/day with folate 1mg/ day, before and during pregnancy helps prevent neural tube defects and blood sugar issues.
Men take CoQ-10 300mg of crystal-free CoQ-10/day to significantly improve sperm shape and motility.

During pregnancy and after childbirth

To prevent toxemia of pregnancy, make sure you have a high protein diet (Reference: book by Dr. Brewer). To totally prevent toxemia, and if you are low in stomach acid, take at least one betaine hydrochloride with pepsin at the end of meals.
high quality fish oil (omega 3 fatty acids) for better brain (DHA is a key constituent in the brain) and digestive health
probiotics
essential phospholipids, for example, phosphatidlycholine (PC)
if you are under chronic stress during pregnancy, taking hydrocortisone will decrease nausea and vomiting.
continue Iodine and phosphatidylcholine (PC) as discussed above.
Zinc especially for the man, can help decrease autism spectral disorder. Need good levels .
Check for biotin deficiency and if depleted or low, start biotin 1mg/day at the end of meals. Check to see if it’s in your prenatal vitamin. Pregnancy commonly lowers biotin levels. Biotin is useful for making energy and is good for skin, hair and nails.
Check for melatonin, and if depleted or low, start Melatonin to help prevent preeclampsia.

While breastfeeding

take probiotics like specifically Bifidobacter infantum (also during pregnancy) to reduce the risk for childhood eczema by improving immune modulation and promotes immune maturation
if the microflora is off /imbalanced in the first 6 months of life it can create an increased risk (life long risk) of allergy
After child birth, supplement Omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA for improved immunity.

-A CLARION CALL TO ACTION-

Not Acting timely.

Not taking the right action.

Nutritional Concerns

You cannot afford to wait. Act now. What is the right kind of action?

The science is rapidly developing and it certainly is helpful to ‘tune up’ both a woman and a man perhaps a year before she becomes pregnant. We can identify nutritional deficiencies, some genetic abnormalities, toxic heavy metals and environmental toxins that can alter factors, your computer software, that can influence health before conception. For example:

Approximately 90% of pregnant women are deficient in choline.

Having low pre-pregnancy iodine levels is associated with low IQ. View link. Another article in the medical literature shows association between low iodine status in early pregnancy (urinary iodine-to-creatinine ratio <150 μg/g) and lower verbal IQ and reading scores in the offspring. SC Bath, MP Rayman A review of the iodine status of UK pregnant women and its implications for the offspring.Environ Geochem Health 2015 Aug;37(4):619-29.

Prenatal conditions could be the cause to increased rates of things like Autism Spectral Disorder and Celiac Disease. Research by the Environmetal Working Group (Visit Link) has found hundreds of chemicals in umbilical cord blood. Sadly, the questions are typically asked after the fact. As a society we can not afford to wait until ‘after the fact’ to ask these questions. The answers are not so simple, but what is clear is that the environment, and our unique biochemical individuality interact to create these issues. New information shows that autism begins in pregnancy (Science Daily article, March 2014). Air pollution has also been shown to be linked to autism. It has been stated at a medical conference that I recently attended that in the next 10 years, if the rate of increase in autism spectral disorder does not change, in the year 2025, 1 out of 2 children born in the United States in 2025 will have autism. Currently (November 2021), in New Jersey, 1 in 20 babies born have been diagnosed with autism. Years ago, that number (in the USA) was 1 in 200.

Genetic Concerns

NEW: We are now offering to EVERY PATIENT gene testing screening for the MTHFR polymorphism (a gene mutation or change) because a one gene mutation affects over 40% of Caucasian and Hispanic Americans, 14% of Black Americans and 35% of Asians. It’s a simple test offered by Genova Diagnostics. If you have this mutation in the MTHFR gene, it can affect you and your yet-to-be conceived child. This is so important, so if you have it, your kids have it. Why test for MTHFR? This gene mutation acts throughout our biochemistry, and can play a major role health or disease. The main thing to know is that we can impact a gene mutation. We don’t treat snips, and we can not change your genes, but we can impact on how the genes express. For example, PEMT snips affect fetal development. Give choline in the form of Phosphatidylcholine ( PC ) can help.

Nitric oxide (NO): https://www.naturallynora.ca/blog/54?fbclid=IwAR3F790vOBXCIWJCS6D6YVUksg5srjaZIfrbbxA1IUNh7de4CLB9h_yQGQ4 good to listen to before pregnancy.

Environmental Concerns

The identification of abnormal genes, the removal of toxic heavy metals, and environmental toxins, eg, mercury, lead, pesticides, bis-phenol A (BPA), reduce EMF and RF -restict cell phone use and use only low EMF cell phones, do not use cordless phones in the house (causes thickening of blood) and particularly when pregnant, do not place a lap top computer on your lap- and correction of nutrient deficiencies, and hormone imbalances may lower the risk of disease or physical defects to your yet-to-be-conceived child.

Toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium can cause considerable harm. How? Toxic metals disrupt endocrine function either directly or indirectly. They act as endocrine disruptors meaning they activate or block specific hormone receptor sites. “Toxic metals: cross the placenta, are teratogenic, are fetotoxic, and are present in breast milk. Very low levels of Arsenic disrupts hormone signalling in regulation of a wide variety of biological processes: stress response, blood vessel formation, cancer suppression, embryo development, skin and lung development, bood glucose levels, and are associated with increasing diabetes mellitus. Arsenic may increase the risk for prostate cancer. Cadmium has been linked to the development of prostate cancer. Mercury has demonstated impaired nervous system development, impaired brain and nervous system function, Mental Retardation, blocks thryroid hormone binding sites.” Charles Masur, MD, Doctors’ Data. A4M Conference, 2011 Conference, Orlando, FL. References available upon request.

Chemicals that cause interference with our hormones are called endocrine disruptors and can interfer with the natural signals controlling fetal development. Learn more by viewing this link called, “Our Stolen Future”, for up-to-date information: Click here to view

Foreign estrogens also known as xenoestrogens have been implicated. One example is BPA (bis-phenol A): ‘Both boys and girls showed reduced levels of alertness and orientation if Mothers levels were elevated.’ (Engle, S: Neurotoxicology 2009). In recent news (October 2011), exposure to the chemical bisphenol-A before birth could affect girls’ behavior at age 3. New evidence about BPA exposure increases risk for development of cancer. Click here to view

Pregnant women exposed to PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls) have children that have increased cognitive defects, poor gross motor function, decreased visual recognition memory, lower IQ’s, and increased rates of hyperactivity. (From: Toxicology of Persistant Organic Pollutants, Pamela Smith, MD, (c) 2011). Chemicals to avoid during pregnancy (article published in 2014). Click here to view.

If a pregnant woman has enough choline during pregnancy, her child may go through his/her entire life with out cognitive decline, according to Dr. Ben Lynch. Approximately 10% of pregnant woman have sufficient choline. Giving choline helps and can prevent Alzheimer’s Disease before a child is even born! This is preventative medicine at its finest.

Consider this: We can not alter your genes, but we may be able to influence factors (the epigenome) to modify the expression/ manifestation of these genes (meaning what the genes produce). If you consider your genes to be the hard-drive of a computer, the epigenome is the software that programs the computer. We can influence the epigenomic programming through nutrition, bioidential hormone balancing, and removal of environmental toxins and toxic heavy metals.

The important thing is that you become nutritionally, and hormonally balanced as well as environmentally clean to have the best chance of having a healthy baby!