The first time I was pregnant things didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t a blissful time and it didn’t end well. I lost my first baby to a rare genetic condition. When it became clear this was not a normal pregnancy, the doctors began talking to us about what it was like to have a child with very special needs who would never be able to do things for themselves. That baby didn’t live and we never found out. Those were very dark days. Happily, they passed and my husband and I were able to conceive and I gave birth to three miraculous and healthy babies. But starting with that first pregnancy, I learned there are many paths to motherhood and no “right” way.
During the weeks of agony as the baby inside me began to diminish, we started to wonder, could environmental factors have played a role in the poor outcome for our first baby? We were renovating a home while I was pregnant? We didn’t live there at the time, but I visited the site daily. Was it because we painted and redid the floors? Or, did I eat the wrong things? Not enough of the right things? Was I getting enough exercise? Too much?
At the time, I wished that there was a guide that would tell me how I could improve my health and well-being, and therefore improve my odds for a healthy pregnancy.
While there are no guarantees, I’ve spoken to countless women who want this very guide. Just the facts, all based in hard-science and research, on the ways to cultivate healthy practices and a healthy pregnancy.
There is so much happening in our world today that has changed since our moms and grandmothers were pregnant. These aren’t things one can be expected to know innately. We must become educated. We no longer live in a time where the old paradigm that “the dose makes the poison” is acceptable. We are exposed to chemicals daily and some of those chemicals can pass from mom to developing baby. Babies are exposed to chemicals in utero, and one study found over 200 harmful chemicals in umbilical cord blood. The good news is, we can minimize or mitigate some of these exposures with avoidance techniques and making simple, easy and often, affordable, changes.
The Healthy Pregnancy Guide
MADE SAFE and the Plastic Pollution Coalition have combined their expertise to provide a one-of-a-kind essential guide for hopeful parents who are pregnant, trying to conceive or beginning to think about expanding their family. Just launched, The Healthy Pregnancy Guide is filled with tools, tips, information, and product recommendations for healthier solutions. This is the guide I wished I had when I was pregnant.
The Healthy Pregnancy Guide provides scientifically-backed information about a variety of areas of home and personal life. It’s intended to empower women by giving them information as well as way to take the information and make informed choices. The goal is for readers of this guide to see how small changes can actually have lasting and important impact on their lives, the lives of their unborn children, and the planet.
The guide is structured to go room-by-room broken down into digestible, actionable portions. Some readers will read from cover to cover, and others will dive right into a particular section. We start in the kitchen and talk about food, food storage, water, what to eat and how to cook it. From there topics such Cleaning + Laundry, the Bathroom, Beauty + Personal Care, the Bedroom, Household and more. Each chapter has a list of tips to get you going. It’s not expected that you will do everything suggested but rather that the reader can choose to tackle only what they can manage. Because, every exposure that is avoided and every better option selected is an opportunity for improved health and increased wellness for you and the planet.