Photo; courtesy of my beautiful little sister
In the last 8 years, I have had the privilege of working with many children with autism and their families. During this time, I have had many discussions around the causes Autism. I know there are lots of speculations, opinions and factors. I have been learning so much about our bodies and just wanted to share my learning and perhaps hear from you as well. First and foremost ensuring that your own body is balanced and healthy will give your baby a healthier start to life.
Babies who are born through the birth canal of a healthy mother ingest healthy bacteria (probiotics) which help the baby build up a strong immune system. During this process, hormones are released which help mom and baby bond, as well as initiate milk production. The milk produced by a healthy mother will also give the baby more antibodies to help him/her fight off illness etc.
Since our world continues to be polluted with chemicals, unnatural foods, preservatives, dyes, fragrances and stress, our bodies are not always in the best shape for a healthy baby. Babies, if not born through a c-section, often pass through a birth canal which is full of yeast, deficient in minerals and high in toxins. This in turn becomes his/her start into this world. If this isn't enough, it is only a few months into life where this little body's immune system is fighting hard again when given its first set of vaccinations. In Canada, for example this happens as early as three months old.
It is a tough start for many infants. Some babies immune systems are continually fighting just to get ahead. This compromised immune system can make them more susceptible to illness. Babies can become quite sick and even be given antibiotics. The antibiotics although given to help fight off bacteria will also fill their systems with unhealthy bacteria compromising their immune systems again.
Unfortunately our environment has been tainted, however there is still so much we can do in order to be proactive in our health and the health of your children. If you are thinking about having a child, do consider reading, Preventing Autism & ADHD. Dr. Debbie Hamilton's medical experience gives hope that prevention is possible. For more on your digestive and gut health feel free to check out my post on Your Are What You Eat...
Irene!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving your blog! I just stumbled across it looking for healthy desserts! I also have a "health blog" - MandysHealthyLife.com. I started it for the same reasons as you. I just love modifying and creating new recipes to share that are healthier, in hope that someone will be inspired to take baby steps to changing their life.
I totally agree with you on this post. I don't know much about autism & ADHD. But I did do everything in my power to create a healthy enviroment for my new baby. I ate as healthy as possible and tried to ballance out my life before conceiving. I read many articles about how ultrasounds can interfer with babies natural developement as well, so I limited those. I stayed away from refined sugar, gluten and dairy and controlled my cravings with positive thinking. Our daughter, who is now 1, is the sweetest, easiest, smart little girl. She's was never colicy, never sick, no ear infections or other on going problems most babies have. 'Most babies' include my older son, who I was not healthy with and he now has ecsema, which we are trying to fix with a healthy diet. My son was vaccinated and my daughter was not. My son has been sick since day one and my daughter was not. I had my son in a hospital so he recived the standard treatment, which included the vitamin K shot, the antibiotic eye cream, and the hep B vaccine. From the start my son was filled with toxins, and the hospital staff didn't need my approval, which I think is wrong. My daughter was born at home and hasn't received any shots or antibiotics, with the help of our awesome midwife, who fully supported us.
Since I have seen both sides, a western medicine birth and a natural birth I can understand how many children don't seem typical. I read in Ecoholic that babies umbilical cords can have hundreds of stored toxins in them. So our new little babies are already so sick from the day they are born, constantly fighting off sickness, which can lead to developement issues. An awesome book is Pregnancy, Childbirth & Children's Diets by Joel Robbins. It's about preparing your body for a healthy pregnancy and baby. It's strict and he tells it like it is, no beating around the bush, that's for sure. A great book, my favourite, for over all health is the Conscious Health by Ron Garner. That book changed my life. And my new favourite book is the Kind Mama by Alicia Silverstone. Her natural, healthy way of conceiving, pregnancy and childbirth are true and I couldn't have writen it better myself.
Thanks for writing this post! It is so important that moms get healthy BEFORE they conceive! I could go on and on about western medicine and how important a healthy alkaline diet REALLY is, but I won't!
Mandy Dugas from MandysHealthyLife.com