Best Probiotic & Other Tips for Pregnant Moms with BV or frequent UTIs

Whether you are pregnant already or are opening the door to that possibility,  improving your vaginal health will reap huge benefits for your baby when she comes into the world. Ultra Flora Women (available at the clinic - 403 609-8385) is specifically designed to be safe and effective in pregnancy --- it is of benefit in supporting the immune system in cases of bacterial vaginosis, frequent urinary tract or yeast infections. 

Often I hear moms suffer during pregnancy or breastfeeding with this complaint or the other because they do not wish to take pharmaceuticals and inadvertently expose their baby to it so they take nothing. When this is the case my client and I both get to celebrate that there is another way as I share a naturopath's toolbox with her and show her that there are in fact many natural, pregnancy-safe, effective solutions to the common complaints of pregnancy. For example, so much can be improved through diet and through proper supplementation.  

For example diet wise -  decreasing sugar, eating according to blood type and keeping blood sugar balanced is key in treating BV and any infection. As with any immune system imbalance, identifying and eliminating food sensitivities (96 foods panel $180) is another easy avenue to explore and identify to move your whole health in the right direction. Once the food sensitivities are eliminated, all the resources and energy that were being used to deal with them can be used by the body to deal with the unresolved infections and in the case of pregnancy take the load of the liver so it can focus on processing the extra hormonal output of this time. When we free the body's demands up healing can happen more easily.

Local treatment: There are many old school natural remedies and protocols to treat BV but to be honest the one I've used in the past - although effective - is fairly messy and involves several steps.  My colleague Dr. Biswas has more clinical experience than anyone I know and loves simplicity - he introduced me to a remedy called Pleonot that he has used for many years with great success for BV - and I've added it to my Toolkit. Thanks Kumar!

Lastly, as an ND I look at my clients as a whole - body, mind, spirit. So to be complete I will briefly touch on a couple points in this area. Address the stress in your life - tiny steps, big steps, whatever is available for you to do. Anything you can do to decrease your stress levels will effect your immune health and give more power to your immune system to resolve and restore balance. Add in more joy and peace in your life. Everyday take time to be still …to stop … really look at your life and  - no matter what  - notice what you like in it - what are you grateful for. Smile. Growing this pathway in your brain grows wellness. Mindfulness practices are a powerful way to build resiliency and change our relationship to stress - this - bringing our attention to gratitude is a simple one to start with...