Supporting a Nourished Pregnancy
Preparing for the beauty and wild transition from woman to mother.
How do we support our bodies and our babies in the best way to experience an optimal pregnancy? I want to tell you a secret... in my experience, if you are feeling the aches and pains of pregnancy, there is almost always a way to remedy it.
We’ve all heard the adage, Food is Medicine, and there is a reason it’s getting a resurgence. Our culture has fallen away from using food as a way to support our bodies with the convenience of processed foods. But science doesn’t lie.
A huge part of supporting pregnancy is balancing blood sugar through eating plenty of proteins and healthy fats. Pairing all your meals and snacks with protein and fats will help to reduce blood sugar spikes and crashes. A great example of this is eating your bananas with some nut butter, or berries with plain full fat yogurt. You want to aim for 80-100 grams of protein per day. That’s A LOT! But the more that you intentionally pair all your foods with protein, the easier it gets.
If you don’t already have one, order a quality Prenatal Vitamin. This will cover your base nutrition but certainly doesn’t mean it covers it all.
Our Recommended Prenatal Vitamin Brands:
Needed - use code: MARMA for 20% off the first order
Full Script - automatic 10% off for all Marma users
Let’s dive into some of the most important nutrients to support an optimal pregnancy.
Log in to the Marma App to purchase our recommended supplements.
Vitamin A: daily recommendation 770mcg or 2566IU
There are 2 types of Vitamin A: Retinol (animal-based) & Beta-Carotene (plant-based). The synthetic version of Vitamin A can be toxic to a young fetus and so many pregnant people decide to steer completely clear of it, or are even advised by their providers to avoid it. However, Vitamin A is a necessary nutrient that supports the proper development of the face, especially the eyes, nose, dental arches and lips. It supports thyroid function, adequate birth weight and full-term gestation.
How to get it: It’s important to get Vitamin A through food or food-based supplements such as desiccated liver pills.
Foods: organ meats, egg yolks, grass-fed butter, carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, & green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin D3: daily recommendation 4000-6000 IU
Adequate levels of Vitamin D3 help to strengthen immunity and the development & function of the placenta. It helps to support proper teeth & bone development and protects against infection. It is recommended to supplement beyond food and your prenatal vitamin with a base of MCT oil.
How to get it: Sunlight is the best way to get Vitamin D3 naturally. 30 minutes of mid-day sun exposure is the equivalent of 10000-20000 IU. (Depending on how much skin is exposed to the sun!
Foods: raw milk, cod liver oil, wild-caught fish
Omega 3/DHA: daily recommendation 1400mg / at least 300mg DHA
Omega 3s are made up of 3 chains: ALA, DHA & EPA. DHA is the most important of the 3 as it is imperative to optimal brain development. I like to call Omega 3 the brain vitamin. It supports cognition, supports mental health, and helps to dissolve fatigue & brain fog. Your brain chemistry changes drastically during pregnancy to create more room for the love hormone, Oxytocin. This increases our empathy and capacity to nurture another human being. This change can often cause what is commonly known as Mommy Brain, but we much prefer to refer it to Love Brain. Omega 3s can significantly help to support this transition.
How to get it: It’s important to take Omega 3s daily, as they are a cumulative supplement and have the best effect when consumed daily. You should be eating fish or seafood at least 3 times weekly and if that’s not possible, supplement with a high quality fish oil or algae supplement.
Foods: salmon, cod, sardines, squid, shrimp, crab, fish roe, oysters
Folate: daily recommendation 600-800DFE or mcg
Most prenatal vitamins contain Folic Acid, the synthetic version of Folate. This is difficult for most people to convert into methylated folate, and it can also cause negative effects on the body, such as anxiety and body aches.
Folate is the natural form of B9 found in food. Folic Acid is the synthetic version most people cannot convert in their bodies.
Those with MTHFR (60% of the population) must use the methylated food-based version of B9. Folate is essential for midline development which is formed by six weeks gestation, many times before you even know you're pregnant! This is why it is so important to have a nutrient-dense diet and a quality prenatal throughout the childbearing years. Study
How to get it: Methylated Folate should be included in your Prenatal Vitamin and can be found elsewhere through foods.
Foods: dark leafy greens, beans, beets, avocado, nuts, organ meats
Choline: daily recommendation 450mg
90% of women are deficient in Choline.
Those with MTHFR mutation could benefit from 930mg of Choline, especially while breastfeeding. Over double the amount! Study
While everyone's looking at Folate, very little attention is paid to Choline. Most women are deficient in Choline, yet most prenatal vitamins contain little to no choline at all.
Choline also affects the midline and neural development as Folate does, resulting in defects such as spina bifida, tongue ties, cleft lip and palate, and neural tube defects.
Choline supports the baby's brain development and the function of the mother's placenta.
How to get it: within a quality prenatal vitamin and through foods.
Foods: egg yolks, grass fed butter, nuts & seeds, liver & organ meats
Probiotics: daily recommendation 30-80 billion CFU
Health begins in the gut, and probiotics can help balance a healthy gut microbiome. Probiotics help to prepare the vaginal canal for birth and the baby’s healthy microbiome. They also help to keep GBS levels balanced, so be sure to be taking them regularly before your GBS test around 36 weeks. Probiotics are essential if antibiotics were necessary throughout pregnancy to help rebuild healthy gut flora.
Talk to your provider about a "vaginal swab" in the case of Cesarean birth. This is a swab of your vaginal microbiome onto your baby that can set the course for healthy digestion for years to come.
How to get them: through a supplement or fermented foods.
Foods: lacto-fermented veggies, kombucha (in small amounts), sauerkraut, kimchi, plain kefir and yogurt.
Iron: daily recommendation 25-30mg
Babies inherit their Iron stores from their mothers which will support them for the first 6 months of life until they begin to eat solid foods. If the mother is deficient, the baby will be deficient.
Consume iron-rich foods with Vitamin C-rich foods. Vitamin C increases the absorption of Iron. An example would be steak with roasted red bell peppers.
Cooking with a cast iron pan can increase the Iron content of food up to 29x!
There needs to be a proper balance of iron and copper in the body to properly assimilate into the body.
Symptoms of Iron Deficiency:
heavy fatigue
cold and/or tingling hands + feet
tight chest/sense of anxiety
pale skin, lips, inner eyelids, nails
dark under-eye circles
can lead to anemia which can cause hair loss, hypothyroidism, dizziness, depression, irregular heart rate, restless legs
Effects on Baby:
preterm labor 2x higher
low birth weight
anemia
developmental delays
cognitive delays
obesity
diabetes, low blood pressure
How to get it: within iron-rich foods or food-based supplement (iron bisglycinate)
Foods: organ meats, egg yolks, dark leafy greens, spirulina, lentils, red meats, dark chocolate, sardines.
This is only a short list of the nutrients we need and can find in our foods. For an even deeper dive, check out our expansive list of nutrients within the Explore section of the app.
While food and nutrients have a huge impact on our health, they aren’t the only important components. We invite you to also consider adding these critical daily life choices within your pregnancy.
Daily movement & exercise: yoga, swimming & walking
Meditation & Yoga Nidra: we love the app Insight Timer!
Deep Breathing
Bodywork: chiropractic, massage, craniosacral, physical therapy
Laughter & Connection
Postpartum is a Dirty Word.
Preparing for the beauty and wild.
Just the word postpartum in western culture has a stigma of mental illness, hardship, instability, anxiety, pressure, and the list goes on. There is immense silence and a lack of support for families bringing a baby into the world. In eastern cultures, even still today, the mother is cared for completely throughout the fourth trimester: the first three months or forty days after giving birth.
It is thought in these cultures that postpartum is actually an OPPORTUNITY to build health and strength that will last for the next forty years. After birth, the mother’s body is struck bare and left a clean slate to rebuild the gut, energy life source, and foundational nutrition. And not just the mother. That health and strength are built into the baby and trickle through the entire family. It is a family’s duty to their ancestors and lineage to provide this care.
The term “It Takes a Village” is thousands of years old. In fact in tribal communities, it is documented that an average of 14 adults tend to each baby born! The child is raised by the entire community. The men go off to hunt and provide. The women gather around the mother to nourish her with healing meals, prepare proper sleep conditions, bathe the mother, and care for the home and other children.
This practice continues on in many countries throughout the world. Some of these practices have been modernized, for example, many European and Asian countries send a postpartum nurse to the home to care for the mother PAID FOR BY THE GOVERNMENT. Many governments require a 1-year leave of absence from work to stay home with the baby and properly heal.
Postpartum continues far beyond 12 weeks if you are “lucky” to get that from your American employer. Mothers are often left with the decision to quit their jobs or leave their babies much too soon. The lack of postpartum care in the United States is actually sickening. We are not caring for our mothers and the future of our world.
It is no wonder so many experience depression, anxiety, and so much overwhelm. In fact, I expect it. I thought I had prepared a lot for postpartum with my first child. And yet I was still completely taken aback by the enormity of it. The transformation from a woman to a mother is an enormous experience emotionally and physically.
Birth can be a traumatic experience for so many women. Our culture, again, does not support a healthy birth process. Prenatal care leaves much to be desired. And even if you did everything “right” (there is no right), you can still be left to navigate a l o n e .
The birth of my first son brought me into the work of my life. I often say I wish I didn’t have this job. I wish I didn’t make money because our culture doesn’t support each other enough. But there is so much more to it than that. I grieved my son’s birth for three years. I couldn’t talk about it without sobbing for at least the first year. I felt like absolutely no one understood it. I didn’t understand it. It sent me down a rabbit hole chasing to find “what happened to me”. I took a doula course not to become a doular but to find answers. I found sanctuary in yoga and meditation. I became a yoga teacher. I became a childbirth educator. I am healed through each experience I am part of. Each mother I support. Each birth I witness.
My second son's home birth VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) instantly healed all wounds of the first. It was amazing. I instantly felt, “Gosh what was the big deal anyway?!” Everything was different and so was this past year postpartum. I did so many things differently to support myself physically and emotionally.
Here’s my laundry list of necessities:
FIND YOUR VILLAGE! You just have to create one. Meal trains. Babysitters. Birth doula. Postpartum doula. Make a plan and post it on your refrigerator. Delegate to family members and friends.
HIRE out the help. Housekeepers, chefs, physical therapists, talk therapy, laundry service. A postpartum doula can do SO MUCH in just one session per week. I would often send mom off for a shower and a nap while I take the baby and older siblings out for a walk, do the dishes, throw in a load of laundry, prep out dinner, make mom a snack, or sometimes we just talk for four straight hours.
EAT + HYDRATE. Eat a simple yet nutrient-dense diet. There are many healing foods that help to sustain and support the body. Bone broth is a staple. Water, coconut water, easy one-handed, healthy snacks. Soups + stews. Nothing raw. All food should be easily digested. Let the body concentrate its energy on healing. Healing spices like turmeric + ginger. Teas. Nettle is chock full of nutrients, supports the blood, and reduces fatigue.
LEAN INTO IT. Motherhood is tough. Throw away the notion that you must “bounce back” or get back into your skinny jeans. If you can begin to accept that this is crazy hard (and beautiful) and that emotion is simply the unfolding of experience and transformation, I hope you also will know that feeling overwhelmed is a perfectly legitimate feeling to have and likely something you WILL feel. That’s ok, just as it is.
-Victoria