Blockbuster Medical Breakthrough?

After 35 years promoting preconception healthcare for both prospective parents as the best way to ensure a beautiful, bright, happy, healthy baby, the so-called ‘Blockbuster Medical Breakthrough’ by the Victor Chang Institute leaves me frustrated and for once almost lost for words.

Let me explain. My work in the area of preconception health was inspired by the work of UK-based Foresight - Association for the Promotion of Preconceptual Care. That initial inspiration led to a best-selling, 4-book series with co-author Francesca Naish, recently 2 updated, simplified books, ebooks and 3 associated mini ebooks (all published by Penguin Random House). The recommendations for both prospective parents are simple:

• In place for a minimum period of 4 months prior to conception
• Abundance of ALL essential building blocks
• Absence of ANYTHING that is potentially toxic.

ALL essential building blocks is the key I want to emphasis - singling out one nutrient, in this case Vitamin B3, suggesting it is the holy grail to prevent miscarriage and heart defects does nobody any favours. 

Here is an excerpt from The Natural Way to Better Babies - Preconception Healthcare for Prospective Parents. This was my first book with Francesca Naish, published in 1996, it is still in print and explains the importance of all vitamins, essential trace elements, amino and fatty acids - singling out one has the capacity to cause deficiencies in others! Of course you’ll also read that the link to deficiencies of B-complex vitamins and miscarriage, heart defects (and more) is hardly new!

My frustration? The importance of preconception healthcare as a way to transform the health of the next generation is undisputed. The research is clear. For a family to enjoy a lifetime of better health, their journey must start before conception. Foresight ’s work (established in the UK 40 years ago) has involved researchers & research institutions from around the globe.

• Professor David Barker physician, epidemiologist and originator of the Barker Hypothesis stated that ’Preventing heart disease & type 2 diabetes needs to begin before a baby is even conceived.’

• In 2006 the US CDC stated ‘If you want to prevent any damage to the baby while the foetal organs are being formed, you need to take action before that time.’

• Professor Rodney Dietert from Cornell University, Health Scientist and Author and many others have identified a raft of health issues that can be linked to the disturbed seeding of the infant microbiome with a delivery by Caesarean yet C-sections are now performed at many times the rate of the WHO recommendations.

The foregoing snippets are just the tip of a massive iceberg. So how about a visionary government committing to a program that not only encourages but rewards prospective parents for following a preconception program? Believe me, throwing a bit of extra vitamin B3 into a supplement is not the answer!

  

Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids? Where do healthy kids really start?

This week I came across a depressing number of studies, all completely missing the point in their desire to improve the health of the next generation. I really wonder what rock these researchers have been hiding under when for example the Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids study is “recruiting women in their second trimester (14 - 25 weeks) of pregnancy, so that they can participate in the study from the beginning of their third trimester (week 26), through to 4 weeks after their babies are born.”

In the same breath and from the same article I learn of the "Barwon Infant Study (BIS) - a major birth cohort study being conducted by the Child Health Research Unit (CHRU) at Barwon Health in collaboration with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and Deakin University. The overarching objective of the BIS is to generate new knowledge on the best way to provide babies and children with a healthy start to life. More than 1000 pregnant women from the Barwon region of Victoria, Australia were recruited between 2010 – 2013, and their children are now part of the invaluable BIS cohort." 

Then there’s the “The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Families research program, which focuses on what can be done in pregnancy and the early postnatal period to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.” 

Enough said - every one of these studies is closing the door after the horse has bolted! 

It’s a fact people! Excellent preconception diets (with robust supplementation), supported by toxicity and stress-free lifestyles (both his and hers), backed up by an excellent maternal diet during pregnancy, profoundly and positively impact the developing foetus and increase the likelihood that individual will live a life free of chronic degenerative disease. The effects carry across generations too! Conversely, poor preconception health (his and hers) and compromised pregnancy nutrient intake in addition to lifestyle and environmental toxicity contribute to poorer reproductive outcomes, increasing the chance of a child who will suffer a life-time of less than robust physical and mental health. Ditto for epigenetic effects. This is fact - not supposition!

So here’s an idea for researchers … how do we get the general population to listen up and take responsibility for the health of the next generation and generations beyond? Maybe we could start with a wellness-focused model of healthcare? Maybe we could reward practitioners for keeping their clients well, for keeping them out of the clinic and out of hospital? Maybe medical insurers could reward their members for never making a claim?  Wow, now there are some novel ideas! What would it take for scientists to get behind such novel ideas instead of constantly re-inventing the wheel (or in re-inventing just a part of the wheel in the case of the foregoing studies)?

I've been singing the preconception song for thirty five years, The Natural Way to Better Babies - Preconception Healthcare for Prospective Parents, my first book with Francesca Naish, just turned twenty (and it's still in print). As well as being a bible for hundreds of thousands of prospective parents, it's used as a reference tool by integrative practitioners around the world - maybe those researchers would like a copy? More on all of the above when you join my free webinar.

 

Folic acid for neural tube defects? But then maybe not ...

The European Food Safety Authority, Europe’s head science agency has joined other international authorities in backing B vitamin folate’s ability to reduce neural tube defects (NTDs) like spina bifida and hydrocephalus in early-stage foetuses.

Where the hell has EFSA been hiding? When Francesca Naish and I wrote The Natural Way to Better Babies - Preconception Healthcare for Prospective Parents, the studies linking folic acid to NTDs had already spanned 8 years and numbered in the hundreds. Better Babies, was first published in 1996 and is now officially an “evergreen” publication, the manuscript which led to its publication was several years prior to that in its creation, which puts those early folic acid studies into the veteran category. 

So how long will it be before EFSA catches up with the latest folate and methylation research. With the MTHFR polymorphism reaching epidemic proportions thanks to epigenetic changes now spanning several generations, we need to look at more specific folate (notably L-methylfolate + folinic acid) supplementation depending on the individual’s ability to metabolise and utilise the old faithful, folic acid. And please, when are practitioners of whatever persuasion going to pay attention to the best recommendations, which mean that isolated nutritional factors (e.g. folic acid) should never be given, but that comprehensive, robust supplementation is the way to go before conception and during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

TTC? All you need to know, and some of it is ancient history

Three months of coenzyme Q10 supplementation may improve the morphology and motility of sperm in infertile men, according to new data.

Well not so sure how “new” that data really is ... my co-author and I have included a specialty product for men “CoQ10 Lipoic” in our NFM range (for fertility, preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding) for several years. But researchers reinventing the wheel is nothing new. Just like the whole preconception/fertility story really.

No doubt that both partners actively preparing for conception has never been more important, but it’s not a new idea – even the Ancient Greeks and Romans knew that alcohol, drunk before and around the time of conception, was damaging to the fetus. They banned the drinking of alcohol by young women and newlyweds! Many tribal societies fed special diets to their young women (and young men) of child-bearing age. Back in the 1930s, Dr Weston Price (a dentist) studied communities from around the world and clearly established the link between consumption of a refined Western diet and compromised reproductive outcomes. 

The Great Dutch Famine or Hunger Winter as it was known, which lasted from October 1944 to May 1945 provides us with some fascinating insights. Studies have shown that women exposed to the food shortages before and around the time of conception, had poorer reproductive outcomes than the women who were subjected only to food shortages during their pregnancy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The next generation was shown to be prejudiced if the mother was in utero during the first trimester when her mother was exposed to food shortage. Those early observations became later research in the field of epigenetics and is what makes active preparation of both prospective parents in the time before conception so incredibly exciting and worthwhile! 

All the details of what to do, what to eat, what to avoid and best products to support your combined efforts in Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby and for those who want even more detail and the research behind the recommendations, you’ll enjoy my first book The Natural Way to Better Babies, which was inspired by my own very positive experiences! Conceived in the first cycle of TTC at 37, wonderful healthy pregnancy, three hour labour, successful long-term breastfeeding and repeat experience when I was 42. Best of all, my boys now 27 and 23 years old have always enjoyed the most robust physical and mental health! 

Never too soon to get started - the health of your children is in your hands!

Top 25 Author Moms Who Blog...

Thanks to all the wonderful friends and fans who voted (and voted again) and made sure I finished at Number 11 in Top 25 Mom author bloggers. In a few days you’ll be able to read the associated interview. The question “how did you balance motherhood and writing?” gave me pause ... I never really know how to answer this one. Looking back I wonder. I started writing just after Dave was born, waxing lyrical about the benefits of preconception care, birth at home, family bed and more. I just kept adding odd comments - they all went down on a big tatty notepad. Twenty seven years on, with all the new whizz-bang technology and my embrace thereof, I still jot notes on pieces of paper, napkins, backs of invoices, whatever comes to hand when inspiration strikes.

So my first manuscript, which became four books began as occasional, random jottings. I can also remember trying to transcribe those jottings, using an early Apple Mac with a sleeping baby nestled in a sling - my hands reaching for the keyboard over the top of his head. It was a drawn out process, from Dave’s birth in 1985, to first submission of a complete manuscript in 1990, through rewrites after several rejections, to hook-up with my brilliant co-author, to our first contract in 1994, through another massive re-write, to publication of The Natural Way to Better Babies in 1996. After that the process was much easier, boys were older, I had more free time, I could write and edit while watching their sporting activities, even when Alex took them out and left me blissfully and totally free of interruptions for a few hours. But 'easier' is only relative to what went before... so that means that my most recent books, published this year have been an absolute breeze. Going back to the mass of material I’ve created for multiple channels (I never delete anything), the manuscripts were completed in about 8 weeks. 

But the greatest joy in their creation was the contribution of Dave (Better Baby #1) and his wife Pauline, both hugely talented chefs. Their recipes bring a fabulous element to both Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby and Healthy Parents, Healthy Toddler - an element which neither Francesca nor I were ever able to tackle. Another element of the new books, their integration with an interactive casual game, was helped along by many discussions and brain-storming sessions with Mikey, (Better Baby #2)! So my writing has really come full circle ... those years of trying to write while kids were underfoot are long gone and my latest writings have been hugely enhanced by those two young men who were once underfoot. Given that the boys inspired my books, I can see there's a wonderful balance between my writing and motherhood, in ways that I could never have anticipated and in ways I'm sure the Circle of Moms interviewer never intended when she asked the question!