Dr.Buttler’s Healthy Baby Guidelines
Starting before conception–
Intention of brining new life: it has been practiced for many centuries in indigenous cultures that before a man and women were to conceive, they would be taken away by their elders to have them focus their intentions on what type of person they would like to bring into this world. I believe this to be an important part of the conceiving process. Take some time to close your eyes and pray/meditate on the type of child you would like to bring into this world. See them being the best they can be for who they are, with love.
Nutrition before conception: what you eat and what your partner eats the 3 months before conception has a dramatic impact on the health of your baby. Take time to eat a whole food diet, eat regularly and stay hydrated. Avoid processed foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, etc…
After conception-
Balancing blood sugar: this is the single most important part of a pregnant women’s nutrition. In general, babies are suppose to be between 6-7 lbs. Given our cultures addiction to carbohydrate and sugar, women are consuming nutrition during pregnancy that is increasing the size of our babies. This strains the birthing process and influences the health of the baby. Eating a diet rich in whole foods, vegetables and animal protein while at the same time eating regularly is a corner stone of maintaining optimal nutrition during pregnancy.
Movement: remember that the birthing process is all about movement. How you move during your pregnancy will have impact on how your baby will move during the birth. You should essentially maintain the same type of active lifestyle during pregnancy as you would during non-pregnancy. How you move during the third trimester of pregnancy will play a key role in the birthing process. Daily walking and stretching during this time period are the two primary activities that support optimal movement.
Birth Plan: get together with your partner and write a bulletproof birth plan. How do you want your birth to go? When do you want intervention to happen? What interventions do you/don’t you want to have happen? Who do you want to be there? This is a great resource to have if you want to create the birth you desire.
Interventions to consider when it comes to the birth process:
Vaginal Strep test- a positive vaginal strep B test usually follows with a recommendation to have IV antibiotics going while a mother is giving birth. I highly recommend that the pregnant women weigh all her options before agreeing to do this. The detrimental impact of having antibiotics in the blood stream of a newborn baby has lasting consequences for ones health.
Erythromycin eye ointment– a common intervention that is done on the new born baby is a wiping of antibiotic eye ointment into each eye as a preventative for opthalmia neonaorum, which is caused by the mother having gonorrhea. If you can confidently know that the pregnant mother does not have gonorrhea, then this is not needed.
Vitamin K shot– Vitamin K is an important factor in the blood clotting process within the body. In select newborns they may not produce sufficient amounts of Vitamin K and thus the standard of care is to give the new born a shot of Vitamin K to prevent bleeding. A better option than a shot is using vitamin K drops which need to be purchased by the pregnant mom and given to her doctor/midwife prior to the birth process. Passing on vitamin K is appropriate if the birth process is very straightforward with decreased labor times and the child has no bruising upon delivery.
PKU testing- I recommend that you test for PKU (genetic diseases) as it is non-invasive and worth the information that can be received to prevent illness.
Vaccination- Vaccination is similar to politics and religion. Everybody has an opinion and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. When it comes down to it, if you are going to make a choice to not vaccinate your child, you need to be comfortable with that decision and the possibility of your child getting sick.
I am opposed to vaccination as a physician from an individual health standpoint. I believe that we were designed with a fully capable immune system and if treated and supported appropriately, it will out perform any vaccine. I believe we are playing Russian roulette with our children’s health when we decide to inject viruses and bacteria with heavy metal preservative into an undeveloped immune system.
If one is hesitant on whether or not to give a child vaccination, just hold off on doing it as long as possible.
During Pregnancy
General- Watch the movie The Business of Birth. If you are having a child in the hospital, do your best to let the child come along as nature would dictate. Your doctor for many different reasons will want to speed along the process which will only create complications. Try to avoid the need to administer pitocin. Be open to the possibility of reducing your need for pain medication (epidural). Understand that millions of women before you have done this and you can do it to. Our rise in frequency of C-sections is due to the misunderstanding of the birthing process. The benefits of a vaginal birth (both for Mom and child) cannot be overlooked and every possible effort should be taken to make this happen.
After Birth-
General: After the child is born, get them onto the mother’s (skin to skin contact) skin as fast as possible as this is the second inoculation of probiotic bacteria that the child will receive after coming through the birth canal.
Mother– do not be afraid to ask for help. Bond with your child, love them, be thankful for them. Nourish yourself with good food chioces. I highly recommend that women avoid hormonal birth control (Merina IUD, oral birth control pills, hormone patch, etc..) Barrier contraception such as condoms and diaphragms are effective as well as the rhythm method in which a woman follows her cycle to understand when she is ovulating.
Child: get the child into a routine as early as possible with sleeping and eating. Giving the newborn essential fatty acids in the form of cod liver oil will help their nervous system develop. Using a quality probiotic will help their gastrointestinal system to develop. Giving them a drop of water a day into their mouth will create a taste for an essential part of health. Cross crawling will help develop their nervous systems as well. Massaging castor oil over the abdomen of the newborn when changing the diaper will help with an anti-inflammatory environment through the movement of lymphatic fluid.
Nutrition: what you (while breast feeding) and your child eat the first 3 years of their life will have a lasting impact on their health. Focus on feeding the child a whole food diet with a good amount of fat and protein. Vegetables are an essential, so the introduction and consistency is a must.
Remind yourself to take care of yourself- Dr.Buttler