nourishing mothers pt.1

Resolving Tricky Pregnancies

Nourishing New Life

Heather Bruce - AACMAC 2014 Resolving tricky pregnancies 2

Format – WS 1 & 2Nourishing new life (eg HG)

Techniques

Resolving tricky pregnancies - clotting problems

Workshop 2 (following) will cover

Saving babies from 24 weeks,

Multiples and

Pain as warning of Ki Qi not strong enough - back and PGP as for these disruptions to fetal Jing inheritance)


ReviewEnergy medicine – not biomedical stance

From my 35 years of maternal focus – plus being the health care provider/when medicine doesn’t work problem solver the past 8 years in a community that uses no contraception. .

For them - God provides - so babies are made with no preparation for maternal health or baby quality.

Not so different from modern life where no thought is given to WHY sex is not naturally making babies …


Nourishing new life

Has she been in great shape prior to pregnancy?

What are her eating habits?

Has she been looking after herself?

Does she listen to her own body?

Is her gut in a state of perfect health to support her own and a new life?


Normal digestion

Is required for sustaining all life.

Steps:

Need to know the template/blueprint

What has deviated this?

What to do to regain optimal?


Hormonal ‘mud-map’


What tends to block nutrient assimilation/life


Maternal nutrition As part of the research prior to my research project ‘Saving Babies After

24 weeks, I have immersed myself in what a generation or two back, was not needed – what appears to be ‘down-on-the-farm’ common sense.

The dietary deficiencies of the average persona, and woman, esp of reproductive age is alarming. More can be found on many sites - ‘Nourishing Our Children’ and anything by Sally Falloon is a good start.

All traditional societies had sacred foods.

It would appear anything that is nutrition free, highly processed and full of excito-toxins wins over real nutrition/Jing enhancement nowadays.

Medicine sees the consequences of poor nutrition differently - as being based on a potential genetic, not epigenetic cause.

I am putting my findings (YouTube medical conferences mostly) up on www.simple-natural-solutions.com These underpin all we do with patients as their foundation needs supporting.

http://www.simple-natural-solutions.com/


Magnesium Depletion Markers

Ligament and muscle aching and cramps/spasms, twitching, irritability.

Emotional unrest and insomnia, possibly with feelings of heat in the afternoon, with flushing; maybe extending into feelings of being overwhelmed and not coping emotionally. (Sircus, 2007)

(Sound like Stuck Liver Qi overlain with Blood deficiency?)

I have found a total 1:1 correlation. Easy to check out yourself.


What is ‘normal’?The Three Heater model


‘Mudmap’ organ placement


Passage through ..


Digestion – what should happen


Our inner food factory


Cooking pot


Upper heater workings


Lower heater


What goes in??


Normal digestionDependent upon the TH system to not be broken.

Good gut flora itself dependent upon food in, metabolism (Yang QI) working well – see low thyroid info) and a happy disposition – with few toxins cellular or situational.

Need micro and macro minerals to allow the ‘hormones’ – esp thyroid to function.

If no cold, or anger stored, (esp in the form of gall bladder heat/stones/resentment) then the gut should support life of mum and her fetus.


Human Microbiomehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvv

M#t=305 5.30 minutes . .

Sugar fertilises the bad bugs, fungi, causes inflammation . .

Grains, cereals, alcohol, fruit, juices, anything tasting sweet . . .

Inflammation the seat of premmie babies and all the pH and gut issues – esp HBP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM%23t=305

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM%23t=305


Emotions upset


Life stress . .what happens?


Normal pregnancy requirements

(From Julian Scott, and reaffirmed in my own decades of maternal clinical experience)

Increase in Blood

Increase in Damp

Increase in Heat

Increase in Liver energy

Decrease in maternally available Kidney energy


Revision – Spleen Qi xu


Formation of what we don’t want


Reasons for an upset gut


Not nourishing lifeMum may have had a history of eating disorders

shielding abuse and other crimes against her person.

She may also have had gastric banding and sleeving as an extension of this

She may have no concept of nourishing life for herself.

She may have no normal gut flora and no interest in changing what she always has done.

Not baby centred - all about her – is the theme of this generation of pregnant women it seems.


Reasons for nausea


Mechanisms of Qi flowVery often get forgotten as we have a biomedical model

that has framed TCM and all published data.

When seeing a person pregnant in distress, start with context – can the Yang work?

1 - She is distressed.

2 – Gut is thus distressed

Is the stomach Qi moving downwards – if not why not ad counteract the inner turmoil, as the Shen needs to be peaceful – has she accepted being woman?

Can she cope with being pregnant and what this will do to her body shape and her life forever?


New ‘cause’ – not found in texts – look at her life

Lora 17 weeks pregnant 1st child.

Lost 3 kg a week over the past 5 weeks and was sleeping so as not to vomit. Nothing eaten and minimal fluids.

Dehydrated – red/cracked lips, bleeding gums, very distressed.

Saw her 2x daily over a week.

Initially usual ‘morning sickness’ options not working.

Eventually I asked what was going on in her life – then gently pressed the R extra GB point under GB 34 and she nearly hit me. Reduced this with a long needle – and only did this and the whole situation then resolved.


Stress = Stuck Liver Qi


Violent rageSacked from well paying responsible job as was

pregnant.

Going through the Court process to sue the national carrier

Enraged by it all.

2nd session – reduced the Hua Tuo points Liver, GB and all others reactive.

After several more reducing fire and then building yin – esp with moxa on Bl 23 and then needling Ki 6, 25 (to rebuild yin) and general Shen calming points, she was well and happily pregnant.


Who is well enough to be pregnant?

and sustain themselves - let alone their forming fetus?

What about all those obese/gastric banded women?

Is the baby even considered in all of this assisted reproductive industry? (why might Nature have a brake on it all?)

Who thinks of the continuity of the species - as mum is making the ovaries and sperm generating cells that will make her own grandchildren later on . . .


Baby – who is being made . . How Jing

Manifests


Crucial influences


Pregnancy is a time to hit the ‘reset’ button

Dr John Shen suggested that there are 4 times in a woman’s life when she can either disastrously wreck her future, or repair herself

Puberty

Onset of sexuality (he was in the age that this was marriage/moving into one’s own maturity)

Pregnancy

Menopause

We thus can potentially make permanent changes in a conscious pregnancy


H-G What is it?Pernicious vomiting of pregnancy, is a complication of

pregnancy that affects various areas of the woman’s health, including homeostasis, electrolytes, and kidney function, and may have adverse fetal consequences.

Nausea and vomiting are common in pregnancy, affecting up to 70% to 85% of pregnant women. Hyperemesis affects between 0.3% and 2.3% of all pregnancies. The condition is defined as uncontrolled vomiting requiring hospitalization, severe dehydration, muscle wasting, electrolyte imbalance, ketonuria, and weight loss of more than 5% of body weight.3

Most of these patients also have hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and a low serum urea level.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410506/%23B3


What else may happen?The differential diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum

includes urinary tract infection, uremia, thyrotoxicosis, diabetic ketoacidosis, Addison disease, hypercalcemia, gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, pancreatitis, bowel obstruction, hepatitis, drug-induced vomiting, central nervous system (CNS) disease, and vestibular disease.

It may also cause Mallory-Weiss tears and esophageal rupture. Unchecked, this can result in maternal death.

Baby obviously is compromised as mum can’t sustain her own levels of nourishment or foster great fetal Jing.


Who gets it?This is not (medically) considered to be normal morning

sickness/pregnancy nausea. In my experience, any usual case of pregnancy nausea: those with

poor gut flora,

gall stones,

‘stress’ (unexpressed emotional charges), including subconscious) and

any store of unresolved cold from any source

Are easily resolved by returning optimal TH function – however each person needs this to be restored.


What can mainstream medicine do?

Symptom management

Reactive, not restorative medicine

Pharmaceutical, not functional medicine

‘TCM’ which is based on organ pathology, and many bio-medically trained therapists have fallen into a trap of ‘differential diagnosis’ at the expense of really seeing what is in front of them.


How a life ‘pans’ out –the use of Jing to gain wisdom


Heather’s version of maternity

Based on multiple pregnancies of my own

Seen through the eyes of a strange eater – (vegan macrobiotic first pregnancy)

Then an acupuncture lecturer – used to hopeless cases

Then as a mother of damaged children that she helped create through pigheadedness.

Now as a senior clinician who is seeing TCM as being the way to validate biomedical interest – not women’s ways of knowing across all aspects of being


Why I work as I doFound that what is published does not work.

Went back to beginnings . . .

What makes a strong gut/pregnancy?

Restore this

From being with the community women Stuck Blood and all the vein bleeding to ensure comfort (see pics) and undo what this congestion will be doing in other levels.


What to do?Something - quickly

Get a great case history – possibly WHILST the navel cup is on (or at least a token session is happening as when so very ill, there is little time for talking in between vomiting). Maybe Reiki????

Maybe get her to have written in (point form) the salient crises of her life, so there is less chance of her getting upset all over again about what ‘has gone wrong’ – as this alone may set off more vomiting .


ChoicesAs acupuncturists, we may want to go straight to what is

published in English/written through the TCM and biomedical lenses – forgetting that there are cultural assumptions.

We could play with moxa, heat wheat packs, heat lamps, needles, herbs . . ..

We could Gua Sha, but why not rescue the body as a global and preventative measure, improving mum’s Yang and TH and thus baby’s ride and mum’s body for ever after?

Go back to basics – and after removing the entire cold lodged in the system, rescue the Yang with moxa on salt in a tissue, on top of ginger slice, on the rescue Yang Point - CV 8.


There will be cold and exhaustion

Take out the residual cold – even if the belly is warm – it is often super hot as she is so dehydrated. Her BBT will be too low – some women are in the high 35’s BBT not 37+C

Add moxa – will restore normal

Maybe at the end of the session (as it have very many layers) - add points essential yin rebuilding Ki6, 25, GB 25

See her often daily – or maybe twice daily depending in how disruptive seeing you is – as it is easily remedied – best as an inpatient and three times daily.

If so – you can then construct a whole regime of doing appropriate actions at different times of the Chinese clock.


Bne clinic - Cases - HGLisa, 11th pregnancy – has terminated all others as the

40 kg she gets down to cannot sustain her own life.

Longest she has tried to hold a pregnancy is till 16 weeks. (Seeing me as Christmas means all abortion centres closed and is awaiting the termination in 2 weeks.

Has to live till then.

Massively distressed – accidental pregnancy

Medical profession is judgmental and not helpful – one nurse told her ‘go home and get over yourself or he will leave you’


Food/lifestyle changes We worked through a lot . . .

Most important – alter what she is doing

Sessions daily – and immediately removed the freezing belly and banned what she gravitated to – as all ‘good’ pregnant women who are so sick do – juices, salads, yoghurt and fruit. (cold/raw/sweet insulting Sp Yang/Qi)

Substantial family history of sexual abuse

Birthed her full term son after following all in the eBook package – easily accessed – all also on the pregnancy App found on www/HeatherSays.com

Ill still, she got to 39 weeks - she has a son!!!!

http://easybabies.com.au/ebooks/easy-birth-preparation/

http://heathersays.com/

http://heathersays.com/


Sample case 3Dawn, 30 today, 6th pregnancy

Has a 4 month baby and a 20 month old toddler plus 3 others under 6 years.

Came to me as she had read in my pregnancy manual - WDCD about cold and thought this was her issue – and could I do something about the sickly children she was having?

Freezing cold belly, cupped, added moxa – and instantly a lot happier/tongue changed/nausea ceased with cup still on.

http://www.heatherbruce.com.au/shop/%23!/~/product/category=2471900&id=10848341


Usual starting place .. Cup – felt pulling from back and also vaginal area

and up from toes.

Looked heaps better and moxa really helped.

Felt the nausea leave whilst cup on

Moxa five lots on belly

Extra GB 34 + point ® and bil Liver 14 and all good.

Felt a lot warmer instantly and was a lot brighter when moxa used.


Happy and keen to feel better - the beginning!!

Cupped navel – was freezing to start with.


After moxa.

Cup was on for over an hour and the moxa revived her.

Has damaged abdominal skin (belly felt like an empty baby sack at this point - 6 weeks pregnant)


After careVery important

Banned from anything not body temperature inside her.

Sent off with Vit D, magnesium to roll on herself

Must eat so much more fat and protein

Take Qi Reversal caps at least 1 x 3

Use moxa often


Dawn (2) Midwife doubted her dates as by 11 weeks (not 20) she was well

– could not be only this pregnant as she was not vomiting.

All went well, until she caught the horrendous bug – so she was then vomiting again as a consequence of not able to stop coughing.

More navel cupping, vast amounts of Vit D and moxa. she was back to feeling/looking more well than any had seen her for years.

Although still has awful veins and prolapses – more belly (CV totally empty) resilience straight after the moxa).

Total avoidance of all cold drinks and foods

Use more moxa on sacrum


Early Jan – (26 weeks) Ill with bad

flu/can’t stop

coughing/vomiting as

a result


After scraping

and cupping

back


All better

– spirit

back!!!


34 years oldP - 9 children –

Very ill as usual 1 ½ - 15 years old

Has had most of her teeth pulled as are rotten

Always reddened, cracked, very dry lips.

Her, her husband and all children – even as babies – have feet out of the covers – and it is often freezing!!

All have terrible gut problems

Came in to have preventative measures . .

Heather Bruce www.simple-natural-solutions.com 60

Extreme illness throughout pregnancy

Is the eldest of only 7 children. Her mother was very ill all through her own pregnancies.

34. Currently 5 weeks pregnant with 9th baby.

Best I have ever seen her tongue to date. Her lips are the best she can remember – they are not cracked, bleeding or too red.

Changed the diet and gave gut improving medications.


What helped?Recipe

Panaxea – Helicoix 6 every night for 10 nights.

Prebiotics, as well as the Gut Bug and Gut Clear

Multizyme tablets with all meals, and various vitamins, minerals.

Switched to Probiotics when Prebiotics finished.


Her story . .All babies started between 8 -18 months of each

other.

Usually so sick unable to keep food down.

Also incredibly ill with flus etc.

Generally mastitis after babies

After 7th, took minerals one month before and not as ill.

This pregnancy (9th) was not seen to be dragging herself around as a dead dog as usually would be at this stage . .


BUT . . . 24/10/12. . Was great until her husband went off for work for a few months and she fell in a heap.

She totally collapsed – even was not standing up straight.


Typical pregnant woman’s tongue

Most with tongues as this are eating too much sugar and have not got good gut bacteria.

This was improved vastly by changing the diet & clearing out the sugar

As was the vaginal and bladder constant infections . .

nourishing mothers pt.1

Health & Medicine