Realfoodology - 69: Birth Should be a Female Centered Experience with Emily Stanwyck

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

Emily Stanwyck is a traditional birth doula, birth coach & consultant and Birth Fit coach.We talk about why women need an advocate in the delivery room (or at home), why she argues for home birth (and why they are very safe), why she DIDN’T eat her placenta post partum, how to navigate and be prepared for a hospital birth, what to be sure to say if you ask for an epidural, and SO MUCH MORE!  Check Out Emily: https://www.instagram.com/emilystanwyck/ https://birthfit.com/

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. We have totally taken the love, the joy, the empowerment, and the spirituality and the femininity out of the hospital setting. So that is where a doula is really important. Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. I am Courtney Swan, your host, and today's episode is all about birth and advocacy for birth. If you are a man listening right now and you plan on having a child at some point, I highly recommend listening to this. Or also if you're a woman that is in partnership with another woman, and maybe you're not going

to be giving birth, but you plan to, your partner is going to give birth, then I highly recommend all of you guys to listen to this because this pertains to everyone involved, not just the woman giving birth. Today's guest is Emily Stanwyck. She is a traditional birth doula, and she's also a birth coach and consultant, as well as a birth fit coach. As someone who personally is very excited about having kids someday, I was so excited to have this conversation because I was blown away by a lot of what she said. I really learned a lot in this episode.

There were many things that I did not know that I was very excited to learn about because for me, information is empowering, you know, and it's good to know these things so that we can be educated on everything, on what to expect so that we can really make the best decisions for ourselves and our babies. Whenever I have a conversation that can be a little touchy, I like to always remind you, the listener, that all of this comes from a place of love. My intent is never, ever, ever to shame anyone. All I want to do with this podcast is to provide information that I believe will truly help you to make the best decision for

yourself. And a lot of this information that we talked about today is really not talked about a lot in the open. And so I like to shed light on this so that you can take in all the information. And you know what, at the end of the day, you take what works best for you and what you think that you can incorporate into your life, and then just leave the rest. And if you're listening and you've already had children or you've already had one child and maybe you did something that is contradictory to what she says today in this episode, that's okay. We live and we learn, you know, it doesn't mean anything about you or the process of the journey that you went through at that time. We are all just doing our best. And I believe in continually growing and doing my best with the information that I have.

And then as I learn more information, then I'm able to make better decisions. So again, I just want to remind you that this is not meant to shame anyone in the way that they do things and the way that they have done things in the past. I just really want to provide information so that you can be armed with the facts. I know for me, when the time comes for me to go into labor, when I decide to finally have kids, I'm so happy that I'm armed with all this information because I really didn't know a lot of what she was saying. So we talk about what a doula is, what her purpose is, why she really advocates for out of hospital births, why it's so important that women have an advocate in the delivery room or at home, why she didn't eat her placenta postpartum,

which is actually a pretty popular thing that happens now, but she talks to her experience. She also tells us how to navigate and be prepared for a hospital birth. Uh, what to make sure that you say, if you ask for an epidural, this one was huge. I'd never heard this before. We talk a lot about C-sections, how to avoid them. If you can, if you want to also why you want to, we get into all of that, how to talk to your male partner. If you want to have a doula so that they don't feel threatened by the doula and they can understand really what the purpose is of having a doula when you're giving birth and so much more. I feel like just I don't want to talk about this anymore. Let's just dive into the episode.

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you what I really do. My joke answer is that I'm a stay at home mom, but I make it make money. That's amazing. Yeah, that's what I did, girl. Um, but no, I long answer. I started my career in fitness 10 years ago in the world of CrossFit at CrossFit LA, which is in Santa Monica. And I was an intern. So I just learned the ropes of the gym life. I graduated college with a real estate degree and was like, wait, this is not for me. I'm, I'm an athlete. I want to go into fitness. And then I met a friend of mine who now lives here in Texas. She's like my best friend, Lindsay. She started a company called BirthFit in 2011. And I started listening to her say like, oh, I'm going to go train some pregnant women. Bye.

And I'd be like, wait, what? I want to train pregnant women. I've always been fascinated with pregnancy and babies. Ever since I was a little girl, I would come home from school and watch a baby story on TLC. Do you remember that show? Wait. Yeah, I do.

Barely. I haven't thought about that in so long. Wow. I know. It was like a birth show on TLC that I would watch and I was obsessed with it, but it was all hospital births. And I, I always told myself if I was ever going to be a doctor, I would be an OB because I love babies and I love pregnancy just since I was a little girl. And then when Lindsay said she was training pregnant women, I was like,

wait, what do you mean you train pregnant women? Like that's a thing. And so then I started listening to her and being coached by her. And I started a personal training, pregnant and postpartum women. And I loved it. And, um, that was in, I officially started that in about 2014, 13. And then in 20, early 2014, she was like, you should be a doula. And I was like, what's a doula? And she's like, it is kind of like a birth coach. You go to births and it's non-medical and you support women through prenatal. Like you do birth education and just support and build a relationship, a sense of trust with them. And then you attend their births and you advocate for them and you coach them and you support their birth plan. I was like, holy shit, that is me. I don't have to go to medical school, but I can go to births. Whoa. How do you do that? Like, I want to do that. Um, so I took a seminar. It was just, yeah, a weekend long seminar in Sherman Oaks at this place called Beanie Birth. And I, I, I know they're still doing it there. Um, and it's funny cause it was a weekend long seminar and I got like my certificate and I was like, now I can just do this. I don't really feel qualified, but I know this is a non-medical role,

but it's kind of just, you throw yourself in there. And I started with friends. So I started with moms I knew at the gym and I charged no money. I just wanted experience. I did it for free. Or I said, pay me what you want, a couple hundred bucks, whatever. And that was my first exposure to the hospital system as an adult with opinions. Right. And so Lindsay was always like, I would be texting her at every birth I'd go to and ask questions like, wait, this is happening. Oh my God. They're saying it's an emergency C-session. She's like, oh man. Like, and it was, I started picking up on her knowing of the medical system and starting to make my own, form my own thoughts and opinions around birth

in America. Fast forward a little bit. I attend more births. I, I, but I primarily was a trainer. I had a full-time job at Deuce gym in Venice. And I got all my doula clients from the gym. It was awesome. And I would train these women through their pregnancy at the gym.

They would be taking group CrossFit classes. Obviously, we'd heavily modify because of a belly. And then I would often be their doulas. It was the most amazing relationship ever. I loved it. And I really want to build that here where I have women who I personal train or am friends with before I'm their doula, because you just have such a greater trust in your relationship when you're at a birth. Um, so I guess a better description of a doula

is a birth educator and my doula described it as a shepherd to guide you through the birth process. I am not telling you to do anything outside of like encouragement and maybe switching positions in labor. But I am like, if you lock eyes with me and you're in labor, my eyes say you are safe. You can do this and you're going to be fine. And it's just that sense of trust, especially in the hospital when nurses are in and out and you don't know who they are. It's like that constant person who's not your partner. You know, like the partner is very emotionally attached to the baby, to the mom. They're overwhelmed. They're emotional. They're excited. And I'm just that constant calm in the room.

Um, and the doula arrives well before the midwives get there. If you're having a home or birth center birth, and then the doula arrives at your house and kind of decides like when you're going to go to the hospital or helps decide. Um, so I do a lot of birth education. I teach birth education online as well, like for people who don't live near me. Um, and now I'm also like an online, uh, COVID person. So there's that too. We are going to, we are going to dive into. And really that online persona came about when the pandemic started and I started to realize that maternity was taking a really, really, really, really big hit with this pandemic and throughout hospital policies and helping women explore out of hospital options if that's what they want and just kind of being a resource for that. Okay. So no, this is amazing. And I have a couple of questions about this. One

is coming from a girlfriend of mine and then also one popped up while you were talking. So, okay. First of all, I want to say, I am like, I'm fully on board for this. Like when I give birth, I'm going to want a doula. So like, you've already convinced me. However, when I heard you say, um, that you just got like a weekend certificate, I'm thinking from my dad's perspective, right? So if my dad hears that, and he's like, you want to get a doula. And this woman is saying that she got a certificate, you know, over one weekend, what makes her qualified? And this kind of goes into my other question, which is, um, how do you convince your male partner that you need a doula? Because I feel like a lot of men are kind of threatened by that idea. And I want to know what you would, what you would say to them. Okay. Love that. Um, qualifications.

Great question. I don't want to work with someone who wants my qualifications. I feel that girl. Yes. I want to work with someone who wants me to stand for them. And so basically I got a weekend seminar, took a weekend seminar. I got a little piece of paper saying you're a doula via beanie birth. Now, literally it doesn't mean shit, honestly, but I'm being perfectly honest. Um, so if someone is concerned about that, I would say, here's my paper, here's my piece of paper I got, but like, let's talk, let's build a relationship. That is what the doula is. It is a relationship based. The foundation is trust and safety. So that is, that is an intangible, right?

Yeah. So highly medicalized people who, who are like, I'm going to go to the hospital and I have an OB, I'm going to get an epidural and it's going to be great. And then I'm going to leave and I don't really care how it goes. They might not want a doula and that's cool. You know, it's very much a, yeah. And it's like, I get it. Honestly, I do get it. If you're going to, if it's your third baby and you know, you're going to have an epidural and you've had two vaginal births before that, like maybe you don't want to do it.

Cause you're like, I'm going to be in and out in like three hours. I get it. But if you want, if you have a desired birth plan, a doula is incredibly helpful in advocating for that. So my qualifications are how I am, like my personality. Am I like, I am a very direct and assertive person, but I'm also very loving and kind. I'm a mom of two kids. I have female friends, but you know, I was in a highly masculine environment at the gym for years. Like I know how to stand up and speak my mind. Like, do you want someone in your corner like me? And it's funny because I'll say like, sometimes I go to births and I feel like I don't do anything, but I'm really just there, that calming presence. And they both look at me once their babies were

like, thank you so much for being here. I'm like, Oh my God. But like, I don't feel like I did anything, you know? And it's, it's so amazing. Um, there are national certified, there are national like umbrella companies. So there's something called Donut International. It's like doula something, something, something. So you can be donut certified or something else certified, and that would be a legitimate qualification if you care. But I am not donut certified because I don't care. Yeah. Well, and I think this is not recognized enough, I believe, that you get experience when you start doing it. You know, you have to quite literally be thrown in the fire.

And you've been doing this for long enough now that that's, in my opinion, how you get the most and the best experience by actually doing it. Yes, exactly. But I just wanted to address that because I know that there are people that will probably hear that and think that. And so I want to have a conversation about it. And I really like to explain to my clients, like, I know you will get value out of this, but if you don't believe that, then don't hire me. Cause I don't want you to be disappointed or think that you wasted money. Like I, I am so not offended when someone's like, we just don't want to spend our money on that. wasted money. Like, I, I am so not offended when someone's like, we just don't want to spend our money on that. And I'm like, okay, like, great. That's cool.

Hope it goes well, you know, like that's fine. Um, but most people who I talk to, like, they really get the value. Um, and to answer your second question about how do you convince your partner? Firstly, I want to be really, I love having this conversation because I get asked this all the time. You shouldn't have to convince your partner of anything because they're the dad too. Like they're heavily involved. Even though they're not the woman who's giving birth, like they, I want all men, I'm just going to say men, you can have a lesbian couple, but, um, I want all partners to really feel like they are involved. And I think many dads might feel like the doula is going to take their position in the birth. Like the doula is going to

do all the hands-on and be the like, and say like, get out of here. Like we don't need you. It's like not like that at all. So rather than convince your husband, really educate them on the role of a doula. Meet with a doula. Just have a free consultation. Talk to friends who've used doulas and talk to their husbands. Like why was the doula important? Like my husband will be like, I'm the dad doula. Like I will tell every dad to get a doula. And what I will say is the doula is there to create that sense of calm and safety and trust. But it is, I would say as important for the dad to have that support too. So it's super important for a mom to be supported, to feel safe, to have trust in the doula, but for the dad to just have me and look, look me in the eye and be like, this shit's normal,

right? This is insane, but this is normal, right? I'm like, this is completely normal. Don't worry. Cause it can, it is, it's so wonderful. Like it's more emotional for me to watch the men react in the labor and delivery room because they're just like, they're consumed. They're overwhelmed with emotion. And so for them to just have me, the doula to lean on is so valuable. And I can also like, when I get to your house, when you call me, maybe you've been in labor all night, I'll get to your house in the morning. And maybe you both have been up all night. And I can tell mom is still in early labor. I'll be like, Hey, go eat, go take a shower, go take a nap. We're good for a couple hours. Go take care of yourself. And he's like, Oh my God, thank God. You know, I'm so tired. I need to sleep before we go to

the hospital or before this baby gets here, if we're having a home birth, like go sleep. So it's really like playing tag, you know, you're kind of tag teaming mom, like, okay, you go eat now, you go rest. I'm good. And then maybe two hours later, I'm like, I need to go eat. You stay with her. And it's really like a team effort in creating that space. So that's amazing. Well, I also heard you say something on a podcast that I was like, oh my God, this is so fire. And it reminded me of like why I would want to do that.

You said birth should be a very female centered experience. It should be empowering for the mom. And it made me realize like, yeah, you know, when you're in birth and you have obviously the dad there and then your doctor is most likely male but may not be. And so like having that doula there really like brings kind of that like female energy and empowerment back into birth. And I was like, fuck, yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, you know, unfortunately, you know, with my lens of perception when it comes to the medicalized world, and I am not shaming or judging anyone for choosing a hospital birth. 99% of women in America give birth in a hospital. 99.

It is not a female-centered experience. The goal of a hospital birth is live baby, live mom. That's it. There is no empowerment. There is no mental health component. There is no nutrition component. There is no movement component. It is live baby, live mom. That's the goal. And so that doesn't really sound awesome. That sounds like, that sounds like minimum, right? Like, and so clinical, just like in and out. All right. Like, yeah, like obviously we want that result, but there's a lot more. We have totally taken the love, the joy, the empowerment and the spirituality and the femininity out of the hospital setting. So that is where a doula is really important. Yeah.

Well, and we just take out the, the like magical and preciousness of the moment, you know, birth is the most magical thing that can happen on this planet. And when we take away all of that, we make it super clinical and just do the bare minimum. Like you said, it really takes away from this whole experience. So you keep mentioning this and I want to dive into this more. Um, well, I kind of, it's like a two part question. So why would you advocate for an out of hospital birth and what are the things that you're seeing? I mean, I'm I'm going to say this. You haven't said this, but I think I know what you're going to say.

The corruption in hospitals. Yeah. Yeah. I advocate for out-of-hospital births because the data is there and the data I'm talking about is positive birth outcomes. The rate of intervention, the cesarean rate, the literal positive experience, there is way less emotional trauma in out of hospital settings. And I believe every woman can give birth out of the hospital. So if you study the history of birth in America, we have only been birthing in hospitals for about, for a little over a hundred years. Early 1900s is when the majority, like over 50% of births were in hospital. And then by like the fifties, it was like 95%. And by like the seventies,

it was like 99%. Um, we all know that hospitals are a business, right? And what is the, what is the bottom line for businesses is profit, right? Okay, well, we have insurance companies, we have drug companies, we have clocking in, clocking out, you know, shifts and procedures. And I'm not kidding, 5,000 questions. When you're in labor, you get into the hospital,

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Well, and it's very based on protocol. Sorry, because they want to save their asses with insurance and everything. Yes. Yes. And we do a very terrible job about really empowering women to believe in themselves. One of my favorite quotes is by this epic midwife named Ina May Gaskin. She has a few books that are really good. And her quote is, we are the only mammals who can doubt our ability to birth.

I know that's really true because we can't talk to animals, but animals just give birth out in the wild. You know, they don't have doctors. They just give birth. We are the only mammals who are, have the ability to doubt our ability to birth. So when you, when you think about that, like what happened in society that made it so we fear birth? Yeah. I mean, it's one of the most natural things. Yeah. Now my husband will say, Emily, you can't just tell every woman that like, no hospital birth is horrible. I'm like, I don't. He's like, many women died before hospitals. Like

Western medicine is good. I'm like, and he is a huge home birth advocate. He just likes to play devil's advocate with me. I'm like, of course, like I am grateful. Western medicine exists. Yes, we do need C-sections sometimes. Yes, epidurals are incredibly helpful sometimes. Yes, Pitocin is helpful sometimes, but we have an insane use of intervention in America.

So the WHO recommends for first world countries to have a C-section rate of about 5%. America right now is almost 35%. Oh, my God. Why is that? I also want to talk about C-sections very briefly for women that if they end up having to have a C-section, the importance of swabbing the baby's mouth with the mom's vaginal bacteria. Yes. Um, okay. So why do we have so many C-sections? Yeah. All right. Um, that is a wonderful question. So firstly, I will say with intervention often comes more intervention. So I think I read something that was like, um, when you get an epidural, you have like a 235% chance of having a C more of having a C-section than if you didn't have an epidural. I've never heard that. Wow. It's crazy, right? I got that from a birth account I follow.

So we call it in the birth world or in the doula world, a cascade of intervention. So as a doula, even if you're going to have a hospital birth, I always recommend labor at home as long as possible. Women get so excited. Oh my God, I'm in labor. Let's go to the hospital. No, stay home, stay home. Especially if it's your first baby, stay home. Because once you go to the hospital, they're going to be like, all right, you could go home. You're still in early labor. You could go home, but we can admit you now, like there's space for you. And we'll just see how it goes from here. No one's going to be like, oh, I'll just go home. Everyone's going to be like, no, I'm in labor. I want to

have my baby. You know, I'll stay. Well, then you're on a clock and you're on the hospital's clock. And if you don't have that baby within X number of hours, whether that's 24, 48, um, they're going to push you to get Pitocin to start your contractions or to make your contractions stronger. They're going to push you to get an epidural because you're so tired. You've been up all night. Epidural will let you sleep for a little bit. And then if baby doesn't come out, well, both of those interventions, pitocin and epidural, can lead to fetal distress.

And it's often that that happens where the epidural slows down your body's response to labor. Obviously, it numbs you from the waist down. Pitocin then contracts your uterus. So your body's numb, but pitocin contracts your uterus. So there's a lot of drugs in your body. Most medical doctors will say they won't pass the placenta. This doesn't affect the baby.

Baby might be a little sleepy looking when they come out, but don't worry. It's no big deal. Well, that begs many questions. Well, why is baby's heart rate going down a little bit when the Pitocin kicks in? Well, they're under a lot of stress. Not only the stress of the weight of your body pushing them out, but the stress of the drugs. So cascade of interventions. Then fetal distress is like, oh, emergency.

Let's go to the OR. So if you want to have a hospital birth, birth at home as long as possible so that when you get to the hospital, you're like past six centimeters. Even if you want an epidural, you can still get it. But you're progressing and your body progressed on its own for a long time before you added those interventions. That's the best case scenario for not having a C-section. Okay. Another reason. Yeah. Another reason why C-sections are so high is because birth is a business. Doctors get paid a shit ton of money for C-sections.

I mean, they bill the insurance companies a lot of money for C-sections. Also, doctors can go home for dinner when they know when baby's going to come out. They can go home and be with their family. So, oh, you've been in labor for 36 hours. Like, are you sure you want to do this? Like, are you sure you want to keep going? Like, we could get this baby out in 20 minutes. Are you sure you want to do this like are you sure you want to keep going like we could get this baby out in 20 minutes are you sure in the in a most vulnerable state when you don't have a doula and mom and dad are exhausted you might be like yeah let's just do it let's just get this baby out that happens all the time are you sure let's just come on. You don't, you want to meet your baby? Yeah, it's crazy.

So then that happens. I do want to say something for any women that listening that have gotten a C-section, want to get a C-section are going to, um, there's no like judgment or shame or anything around it. I just love having these conversations so that women are fully educated and they can really advocate for themselves in ways that, um, they know and believe to be the best for themselves and for their, their own babies and their bodies, you know, and, and I, everything that, you know, and that, that's always where I come from is like, I never want anyone to feel shamed or feel like judged if they want to choose this one thing. I fully support what anyone chooses and decides to do. I just am so empowered

when I hear information like this, because I didn't know that. And I have already decided that like, I really hope that I don't have to get a C-section. And I say that meaning like my plan is that I'm not going to have a C-section. Thank God we have them because God forbid I end up in some sort of medical emergency and I need one. Of course I'm going to get it. However, knowing this information, if I can avoid it, I'm really going to want, um, you know, my partner, my doula to advocate for me to not get one because, um, we do know, like I said, just from my background of nutrition, one of the first questions that I ask every single client is, uh, were you a C-section baby or were you born vaginally? Because we know it's huge on the immune system, on the baby's immune system, because when the baby goes through the birth canal,

it gets the mom's bacteria from the vaginal bacteria. And this is part of our immune systems. This is when your immune system starts populating. And women also need to know this because I brought this up earlier, which is why it's so important that if you do get a C-section ask, I don't, do you know what the term is, but you ask basically for them to swab the baby's mouth. I think it's called, I think it's just called the vaginal swap. Oh, okay, cool. Um, I don't really think there's a technical term because I think doctors think

that's fucking weird. They're like, we're not even going to name it. We're just like, okay. But this is so important that women know to advocate for this or have someone to advocate for them because this is what starts the baby's immune system that in breastfeeding. Yeah. Yeah. I want to add one more thing before I go into that to, to just like seal the question you asked about why I advocate for home births. Remember how I said we have a C-section rate of about 35%. Yeah. Every midwife I've asked every single one, what's your C-section rate? They say, uh, around 5%. Amazing. Yes. So that is another reason why I advocate for it. They have incredible C-section rates, like actually legitimate reason to have a C-section happens most often out of hospital, like a real emergency. So yeah, that's good to know.

Yeah. That's really good to know. Yeah. The vaginal swabbing is so important and there, I got like trolled hard by this OB who was like medical, everything, like take all the antibiotics in pregnancy take all this in pregnancy yeah and I made a post I made a post about GBS which we can get into or not um about what we know oh group B strep is a vaginal bacteria um that you test for at around 35 weeks in pregnancy um this actually is good information, but I'll just share the, the, what I was going to say was this woman, I, I, in my post, I was like, we know that the vaginal microbiome is so important to establish baby's gut flora and this establishes their immune system. And this woman was like, no, it doesn't. And I'm like,

okay. Okay. Well, we have scientific evidence of it, but anyways. Yeah. Yeah. So for anyone who has had a C-section, like again, no shame, like sometimes they're incredibly legitimate. I would never shame any woman who was in that position where she felt like, Oh my God, let's just do it. Let's just get a C-section. I can empathize so much with that. I get it. Right. Um, we, we don't have really supportive hospitals when it comes to the actual birth desired birth plan. So there's no shame or judgment at all. Um, so if you've had a C-section do your absolute best to breastfeed, because that is another way to establish their gut flora and establish their immune system. It is so incredibly valuable and important for their bodies. If you are unable to breastfeed, go on Facebook and search for the group called Human Milk for Human Babies and then your city or state. And it's amazing. You can get so much donor breast milk

for free. And all these, like I donated a lot of breast milk in the beginning of my pregnancy and, um, people will drive three hours. Like it's, it's amazing. So before going to formula, especially if you've had a C-section get donor milk and And women will write, I have, you know, 300 ounces. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I'm on, I sometimes take Tylenol, otherwise no medications. And, you know, I eat a clean diet, blah, blah, blah. So women will list. Yeah, it's amazing. So there are options if you feel like the experience you had, whether that's a C-section or inability to breastfeed, to set up your baby for optimal health. Because we know the microbiome, the gut-brain connection is so freaking important. And you can really, I mean, epigenetics is real, right?

We know that if your lifestyle is healthy and optimal like you're gonna transfer that to your baby in the womb like there will be they will be set up for success so don't think that like you're doing anything wrong or oh my god i ruined my baby's life it's like but yeah but ask more questions find more resources There's so much free stuff on Facebook, on the internet to help your baby get set up for success. Um, because we don't all get to have a vaginal birth and then perfect breastfeeding. So exactly. We have a plan for our lives and most of the time it never goes as planned, you know, and then life has a plan for us and we have to do the best that we can with the information that we have, you know, and, and pediatricians are part

of the system, unfortunately, unless you find like a holistic alternative. So pediatricians are like, baby needs to eat, baby needs to eat, baby needs to grow, baby needs to grow formula, formula, formula, formula. I know you want to breastfeed. I know you want to breastfeed. I'm going to support you as much as you can, but like, let's just start supplementing. Let's just start supplementing. Baby needs to grow. And it's just so stressful. So really, again, having a doula can give you that confidence that transfers into that postpartum period when you hear these things from your doctors and instead of just being like oh my god i'm so stressed out my baby's not getting nutrients to be like i hear you i appreciate your your concern obviously i know my baby needs to eat and gain

weight but like we can do something before just going straight for him. Like we can't. So just having that confidence in your ability to demand better is huge. Yeah. And well, and again, this is why having someone to advocate for you is so important because, you know, I had a conversation, um, with another woman recently on my podcast where she was just talking about how we don't really like, I don't think women really even understand how like under supported we are with all of this, you know? And it's kind of this, like, like we feel like we're kind of getting support, but if you really look at the way that the medical system treats like birth and then postpartum afterwards, there is little to no support for mom, like whatsoever. And we go through this insane, like, I mean, basically almost like traumatic life experience.

It's an amazing experience, but it can come with a lot of trauma. It is very traumatic. Yeah. And then we kind of basically just leave it up to, you know, a doctor to say like, they don't really give you a lot of support around breastfeeding. There's no sort of like education. There's no, um, like looking into like, okay, wait, why doesn't the baby latch? Is there something going on with, um, I forgot what it is with the, the tongue tie. Exactly. Yeah. There's no sort of conversation around this. And, and then women get, you know, defensive. And of course, like all we care about is we want our baby to be healthy. We want it to grow. We want to provide the most support. We want to feel like

we're doing the best we can as a mom. And then you just have a doctor being like, Oh, it's fine. Just like start, you know, formula or whatever. And I don't want to say that like doctors don't have your best interest at heart. I, that's not what I'm saying. There's really amazing, wonderful doctors out there, but they're, you know, but they're also, like you said, it's a business. And I know that again, most doctors really are there to serve. Yeah. Most doctors are stressed out and have a lot of clients and are overwhelmed. Like you, you find those pediatricians who do concierge service and they charge like a thousand dollars a month. This is like an LA thing. It's wild. They exist all over, but they're not that expensive. I believe maybe on the coasts.

Um, our pediatrician in LA had a concierge service and it was really cheap. Um, but you're like, Oh my God, that doctor is so expensive. Well, they want to give you attention because, and you know, it's just, it's just money. It's about, yeah, it is. It's not about money, but it is. So you have to ask questions and look at the medical system. Like talk about nutrition. Perfect. Right. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, um, any chronic inflammation, any chronic illness, any bacterial infection, viral infection, yes, they can all be supported with drugs. But the fact that America does not start with diet and lifestyle is, I mean, you and I both know it's freaking crazy, right? It's crazy.

It's absolutely our number one biggest problem. It's our biggest problem. It's our biggest problem. So if you, if you are in awareness of that for everything else, chronic illness, chronic disease, inflammation, lifestyle factors, whatever, but you don't question maternity, you need to. Yeah. Because it's all the same system. So if your doctor, if your GP, your general practitioner, I don't have one of those. I haven't been to a doctor in a long time. I do functional medicine, right? Same.

If your GP is like, oh, you have inflammation or you have a rash. My mom had a really big, really itchy, horrible rash. And I love my mom to death. And I'm like, oh, mom like let's let's check out your gut like this is a gut issue like I I don't have to have a nutritionist degree or qualification to know that that's a gut issue yeah most likely she's like oh well I just got a steroid and it helps so much so and I said well this happened last year this is like a recurring thing this is not like this is not seasonal this is thing. And like, so if you know your GP is prescribing steroids and antibiotics

and pills right off the bat, but you think your OB has your best interest in mind to give you a natural birth, like they don't. Yeah, they don't. And some do, do some do I will say that because again I don't want to bash obese I don't want to I don't want anyone to listen to this and be like this kook thinks obese are terrible but like it's part of the same system I love obese like I have this one OB who I follow named Dr. Fit and Fabulous I am obsessed with her and she really advocates for female centered birth. And that is what we need. Um, OBs really care. Like that's not what at all, what we're trying to say. But the problem is, is like, this is what I was saying earlier is that there are a lot of protocols that doctors have to go through or they will lose their license. They will lose,

um, you know, they'll get sued. They're worried about, you know, the hospital and the insurance companies, like they have all these things that they have to go through based on protocol. And I mean, we learned this during COVID, we could go down a whole rabbit hole, but it's like a lot of doctors are now feeling as though their hands are kind of tied behind their backs because they are being forced to go through these protocols that are now based on saving the hospital's asses, the insurance asses over the patient, you know? And so sometimes they may have to do things that they don't believe is necessarily in the best interest of the patient because it has to do with protocol because it's going to result in live baby, live mom guaranteed. Yes. Yeah. And that's amazing. So that is ultimately the goal, like you know, but it's,

but bare minimum. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Oh man. Okay. So I have a question for you that I saw this on your Instagram recently and I was like, like mind blown. You said that vegan placenta, when you give birth to, or when you experience a birth of someone, a woman who's vegan, uh, the placenta looks a lot like that of a smoker. And I want to talk about this because there is so much conversation around going vegan and, um, you know, especially when you're pregnant and all this stuff. And, yeah, I want to hear your thoughts on this. No comment, but lots of comments.

Okay. I've heard this from multiple midwives. I got a lot of hate on that post. But I knew I was going to. I'm sure you did because lots of vegans are like, I had a perfect pregnancy and my midwife said my placenta was beautiful. And I'm like, okay, obviously it was a hyperbolic statement, but it was something that a midwife recently said to me. She's like, every time I have delivered a vegan placenta, it looks like a smoker's placenta.

And I was like, I've actually heard another midwife say that. Now, if you are in L.A. or in New York or whatever, wherever the health conscious world is, I'm going to say L.A. by and large. Like that is where the health obsessed people are. Um, vegans in Los Angeles by and large are probably healthier than most vegans in the rest of the country because we are obsessed with our micro greens and our micronutrients and our minerals. Like it's just part of the conversation when you're in the health and wellness world in LA. Like we come here in Texas and New Braunfels and it's like, Oh, like my, my brother-in-law was like, what are you putting in your water? And I'm like, Oh, trace minerals. And he's like, huh? And I'm like, Oh yeah. Like people just don't really like, it's just not here yet. You know? So if you are vegan, you have to

overdose on the nutrients. You have to, because then you will, you are not serving yourself or your baby. And that's just fact. Animal products are the most nutrient dense bioavailable foods here on earth. We cannot mimic them perfectly at all. Taking isolated supplements that show up in meat and animal fat and organ meats are not as good as food. They're just not. They're better than nothing. They're better than being a vegan and eating pizza, or I guess you don't even eat pizza, bread and whatever. Yeah, french fries. Yeah, french fries. The placenta is the organ that supplies your baby with everything, with food, with oxygen, with all the micronutrients,

with the stem cells, everything. So I'm very comfortable saying like being a vegan in pregnancy is not going to lead to optimal health. It's just not. Again, unless you understand the overdosing you need to do when it comes to your micronutrients. Another issue with veganism in pregnancy is it is so freaking hard to get protein, like adequate protein when you are a vegan. That is like a shit ton of chickpeas that you have to eat, you know? Yeah. And it's a very high carbohydrate load. And then you have to worry about gestational diabetes. Yes. You need to be constantly testing your blood sugar in pregnancy. Um, if you're a vegan and I recommend women test

their blood sugar in pregnancy often, like I love testing my blood sugar just to see where I'm at. Um, I actually haven't done it in a while, but I should do that soon. Um, so the pregnancy recommendation for grams and protein is higher than the regular recommended daily dose of protein. So I try to tell women, all women to at least minimum 100 grams of protein a day. I have a hard time doing that. And I'm a meat eater. Like that's a lot of protein. Like I have to really focus on getting

like at least three times a day, I'm eating 30 grams of protein. Like that's a lot unless you're just like eating a shit ton of food all day. Um, so to be vegan and get that amount of protein and protein is the building blocks. We know this of muscle tissue of everything of your organs, like it is the building blocks. So if you're not getting adequate protein and pregnancy, what do you think your baby's getting? Oh, skin and bones. Obviously it's fine. You know, many vegan women give health birth to healthy babies, but again, it's not optimizing their ability to thrive in the womb and thrive immediately postpartum. Then let's think about veganism in breastfeeding. Well, if you're not getting, you have to eat like

500 more calories a day when you're breastfeeding than when you were, when you were pregnant and you're already supposed to be eating about 200 more calories a day when you're pregnant. So like 700 more calories a day from when you were pre-pregnancy. How are you going to do that when you have a newborn baby and you're like not up and about cooking? You're just like, what are you, what are you eating? So then you think about your breast milk. Well, it's no wonder women have a hard time breastfeeding because we have a terrible environment, a terrible postpartum world for pregnancy for women in America. And we have a terrible job for supporting women in breastfeeding. And then we got to think about our food on top of that. Like, oh my gosh. Right. So meat and animal products are going to lead to optimal health.

I know many women from LA who are vegan or vegetarian. And when they were pregnant, they were like, I am craving a burger. Like I've never craved red meat more in my life. And I'm like, please listen to that. They're like, oh, don't worry. I am. And I'm like, thank God, you know, like, thank God, like, listen to what your body is saying. Like that intuition is so important when it comes to your food. And it's vital for your baby's ability to thrive. Yeah, that's so I'm so glad we're talking about this. And I feel like I say this often in the podcast. Again, anyone who's listening that's vegan, I don't want anyone to feel shamed. No, but I really do. I feel so passionately about this conversation because of everything that you just said, you know, like all of this comes from a place of love and care of like, I just want everyone to, cause I know like I'm not a mom yet,

but I can only imagine like as a mom, you want to truly provide the best for your baby. And, you know, and, and I really believe that it's very hard to allow your baby to thrive and especially to go through pregnancy when you're on a vegan diet, because you were just simply not getting all the nutrients that you need. And if you are, you are working over time trying to get all those nutrients in. Like you need to be eating while you're sleeping. Yeah. It's just a fact, you know, and it's a sad reality of it. I would love to share my postpartum experience this time around versus my first just to paint a picture of what this could look and feel like.

So this might be a longer story, but it's really interesting. So when I was 32 weeks pregnant with my first, who's three now, I went to Mexico and it was cool. It was fun. We had a great time. And I come to find out about six weeks postpartum that I had a parasite. And the only thing that I can connect that to is me going to Mexico, eating some crappy seafood, and who knows. Maybe from the water. Yeah, who knows.

My doctor was palpating my belly. She's like, you have so much bloating. And I was like, actually, this kind of hurts. She's like, you really need to clean up your diet. Like really like be gluten free. Like, let's just, I don't want to put you on any herbs right now because you're breastfeeding. So like, let's just sit and like try hard. Well, I, uh, I was very, I had high anxiety after my first, I had a lot of postpartum anxiety and I totally forgot. Like I totally forgot about that doctor's appointment. So six weeks postpartum in the thick of it, forgot I had this parasite kind of forget about the food recommendations.

Cause my mind is calories, calories, calories, calories. I am not thinking about quality. And for someone who's been in the wellness world for like eight years at that point to just be like peanut butter and jelly, like all the calories and not focus on quality doesn't surprise me because I was in the thick of it. But like looking back, I'm like, how did you not like make this connection? Okay. So I had a lot of extra weight on me. I had a lot of baby weight on for like five months. I still looked pregnant. And of course, part of that was probably the bloating from the parasite. But I didn't lose any weight around my face, arms. Like I was just thicker. And I was like,

whatever. Like, this is me. I guess this is my postpartum journey. It is what it is, right? I, my body crashes at about six months postpartum. I go into full hypothyroid. I lose about 25 pounds in one month. And I am in extreme pain every time I eat food, food makes pain. And I was like, Oh shit, something's wrong. I was not focusing on my nutrition at all. So then I go to my doctor when it's bad. Like I should have gone way earlier. And she was like, okay, we need to do a full like detox. I get like slippery elm bark. I get all the herbs. I, and it was all incredibly helpful. And I felt immediate relief, but I was like, my, my breast milk gone. And I, I had to heal for an entire year. I'm on thyroid medication and it's just a shit show. And I felt horrible. And I, my head brain fog, like it was gnarly. Finally,

I feel so good. I'm like healed. It's been a year. I feel amazing. And we start to try and conceive again. I get pregnant right away. So I'm like, great. I am, I am actually healthy. Now I know this, I got pregnant on the first try. This is awesome. So I'm learning more. I'm prioritizing my animal food. I'm prioritizing, um, you know, I actually didn't do as good a job with the protein cause I was in quarantine and like, I was just, my routine was gone. So I didn't have my normal like lunch routine or anything like that, but whatever. Throughout my pregnancy, I learned more, my routine was gone. So I didn't have my normal like lunch routine or anything like that, but whatever. Throughout my pregnancy, I learned more and more and more about optimal health.

I follow Weston a price protocols. I learn about the sacred foods. I learn about all the micronutrients in me that I'm like, how am I just learning about this? Like right now. Um, and I tell my husband after I give birth to this baby, I want to eat steak every day. Like that is my only postpartum plan, like steak every day for the minimum for the first six weeks. And he was like, OK, that's easy.

Done. Love this. Love this for us. Yeah, I know. And it's like I like to tell people this story because I'm like, it doesn't have to be expensive. You can do this on a budget. Number one. Yeah. People think eating an animal based diet to be expensive. You can do this on a budget. Number one. Um, yeah. People think eating an animal based diet is so expensive and it can be, but you can do it on a budget for real. Um, but I was like, I want steak. Trader Joe's has grass fed meat. Yes. Yes. And honestly, meat from any grocery store is better than no meat, red meat, red meat. Um, so I had steak every day for my first postpartum period. And I had the most incredible healing period ever. I had no anxiety. I healed like vaginally incredibly fast. Like I just had the most

insane experience and it was just prioritizing animal food. Obviously I didn't have a parasite, so that helped. But at the same time, I'm like, I had no anxiety. Like that was huge for me. Like the postpartum anxiety was gone. And I really attribute that to like this animal based way of eating. And I share this with all women. I'm like, literally go ham on me. Like just eat it all. You will feel amazing. Don't even worry about calories.

Like you will feel so good. So yeah, huge learning from my two experiences. I mean, that's really cool. And I think that's such a powerful story for people to hear. I mean, you've convinced me. I'm like after my first baby steak every day, every day. That's my new hashtag. Yeah. Well, it'll be probably more like ground beef for me. It'll be burgers every day. I'm not a huge, I really actually don't like steak, but that's not the point. Exactly. Exactly. So I have a couple of questions around like postpartum stuff for women. Um, since you brought that up, what is the deal with eating the placenta afterwards? And, um, I don't know the protocol at

all for this, but I've heard people talk about cord blood. Okay. Oh, I have a controversial thought about cord blood. Um, okay. Let's hear it. Yeah. So let's talk about placenta first. Part of the reason why I wanted to do steak every day is because my husband did not want me to eat my placenta. Um, for two reasons. He, well, I was GBS positive. Um, I did not do antibiotics. So if you are GBS positive and you take antibiotics, you pretty much cannot refuse antibiotics. If you are in a hospital situation, I refused antibiotics being out of hospital. We don't know much about GBS in the placenta, but I think you're probably safe. It's not in the placenta, but he was like, we don't know. Um, if you're on antibiotics, do not encapsulate your placenta. Don't do it. Don't eat it. Okay. So just want to say that. Um, my husband

went to culinary school back in the day. So I eat like a queen. Um, and he was like, he was like, I don't know. I don't like trust this person. No offense. I'm sure you found a good person to encapsulate your placenta. Cause I was interested second time around. He's like, they only cook it to 150 degrees. Like that's not enough for organ meat. Typically. Like I know people eat meat raw, but like, I don't really feel super comfortable with it, with this, with my knowledge of food preparation. I don't know how they're going to handle it. He's like, I don't want you to do this. And I was like, you know what?

I respect that because we have a really like great relationship when it comes to communication about me and pregnancy and the baby. He's like, I know you're the one carrying the child, but I want to have a say in like what you're putting into your body. And I'm like, I totally respect that because he he's in the nutrition world, too. And. I was like, OK, then I won't steak every day. So that was my reasoning for having steak every day. Most women use this placenta for iron because you lose a lot of blood in birth.

So you want to rebuild your iron source in a more natural, non-isolated supplement way. Some women swear by their placenta that it helps them with that postpartum anxiety and it helps them with postpartum depression or it helped their milk supply. These are all anecdotal. This is all anecdotal evidence, and I am not minimizing it at all. I have so many friends who have encapsulated their placenta and loved it, swear by it, and I'm like, I am not going to yuck your yum. If you want to do it, do it. However, it's not necessary if you are eating an iron-rich, high-protein, animal-based diet

postpartum. You'll get more out of the food you eat because the placenta pills are so tiny, you know, you don't actually know how much nutrients is in each little pill. Um, so I say, I've never heard this. This is amazing. Okay. So I say, if you're interested in encapsulating your placenta, learn how to do it yourself, get a dehydrator. No, you're the person handling it, or you can freeze it, chop it up and put it into smoothies or eat it raw frozen. Um, that's what I would do. If I were to do eat my placenta, I would do it myself and handle it myself. But I was like, I don't want to do that. Um, yeah, not, not my jam. Um, yeah, it is really beautiful when you look at the placenta and I love looking at it. Like this was my baby's home for 10 months. This is where they grew. This is where they live. It's really beautiful. But I'm like, and we can throw it

away now. Oh, that was my, that's what I did. We paid our respects. Yes. Took a picture. That's really, that's interesting. So what's the deal then with cord blood? Yes. Um, okay. Controversial thought. My controversial thought on cord blood that I started talking to a friend about, she was like, this is a money-making biz, banking your cord blood. Why would you take stem cells away from your baby immediately postpartum? Why wouldn't you give them all of those stem cells

to set them up for optimal health right off the bat? It's like, well, we might need those stem cells down the line if they get super sick. Well, what if giving them those right now saved them from getting super sick? Right? Interesting. Wait, so what do people do with cord blood? I don't know much about this at all. So basically they will cut the cord before it's done pulsing. And they,

I don't know if they use like a syringe. I'm imagining they use a syringe or, or they save it somehow and they bank it. They bank the cord. Yeah. So they must drain the blood out. That's what they do. They drain the blood out and they save the cord blood. And there's lots of stem cells in the cord blood that can be beneficial for your baby if they get leukemia or something down the line um and you know to which i say my other controversial controversial thought is uh we know how much lifestyle factors play a role in chronic disease and cancer. So if you give your baby those stem cells right off the bat and live a life where you are not going to induce inflammation in your child, their chances of getting cancer are much less. And you have to really be one of

those parents who's aware of everything you're putting into your child, all the shots, all the medicine, all the sunscreen, all the everything. And it's like, yeah, people might think you're insane and crazy OCD. Oh, you don't put sunscreen on your child. I'm like, no, hell no. Um, right. Um, yeah, it blocks the synthesization of vitamin D. Yeah. Like if we can get into that, but anyway, um, when it comes to your baby leaving their body on the cord until it's done, pulsing is what we would, um, categorize as delayed cord clamping. You don't need to keep the cord on for like six hours. You can just wait until it's done pulsing, which is

anywhere between 10 minutes or roughly around there and then cut it. So it's totally drained. And like a crazy ass myth is that, well, if you leave the cord attached, the placenta is going to suck all your blood out of the baby. It's like, um, what if that happened? Like literally humans would be extinct. Just think about that for a second. That doesn't happen. Yeah. So delayed cord clamping is much better in my opinion than banking their cord blood.

Why would you take that away from your baby on the first day of life? Give it to them. You know, that is very smart. Yeah. Yeah. But if you want to, maybe if you have a history of breast cancer or something and you want to save a little bit, go for it, but it's expensive. Is it? Okay. This is also interesting. I've, I had never heard any of this, which is why I wanted to ask because I'm sure if I have the question, many people listening probably do too. So I want to get slightly controversial here, um, for women that are, so I know you're already an advocate for an out of hospital birth. Let's say someone, um, is pretty, they, they want to do an,, they want to do a hospital birth and they're not vaccinated. What are some tips that you have about that as far as like how to navigate this hospital delivery?

Should women look into birthing centers instead maybe? Yeah, let's talk about that. great question. Um, so at this point in time in the pandemic, um, you're either vaccinated or not like most unvaccinated people are not going to just like bend the knee at this point, unless like their job is on the line or like something severe is on the line, which I totally get. Um, if you are unvaccinated and pregnant and planning a hospital birth, here's my advice. Well, first I would ask the question, why? And most women answer, because what if something goes wrong? I want to be safe and in the hospital. And I say, well, what makes you think home birth or birth center birth is less safe? I don't know. Okay, great. Let's talk about that. Let me share the data on the

safety of out-of-hospital births. That is where I start because we live in a society where out-of-hospital birth people are heroes. Why would you do that? Why would you put your baby and yourself at risk? Aren't you scared? That's insane. Isn't it painful? It's like all this fear, fear, fear-based pressure. That's just the world we live in, right? Hospital is safe. Well, I think hospitals where people go to die when they're sick, I don't feel safe in a hospital. So when I learned that home birth or out of hospital birth was an option, I was like, thank God I do not want to go to the hospital. That is just me. So my very, very first conversation with someone who thinks, I just want to be in a hospital because I feel safe. Let's talk about that. Because if you're, if all you care about is live birth, live mom, sure, it's safe, but it's not really,

we have a horrible mortality rate in America, fetal demise and maternal demise. Um, it's like not rising. Yeah. It's rising. It's like not first world status. Um, under midwifery care, we have incredible, um, statistics on maternal and fetal demise. And yes, it goes up and it goes down. And people only like to look at when it goes up, right? Of course. If they are still wanting to do a hospital birth or they need to do a hospital birth because they're high risk. Um, then I would say, understand the hospital's COVID policies front and back and be so prepared to say no over and over and over and over again. Know your rights. Understand that baby being taken away from you without your consent is not legal.

Okay. Now, baby being taken out of your arms to be checked by the pediatricians immediately after they're born, if they're having trouble breathing, obviously that's fine. They're in the same room as you. When they're taken out of your room without your consent, no, know that. That's why having a doula is so important. So if you are a high risk situation, or maybe you have to schedule a C-section for some reason, maybe you have placenta previa where your placenta is covering your cervix, or there's another reason where you need to schedule a C-section because those are very real um know your rights and know the hospital policy front and back have a doula if doulas are allowed um make sure your husband is like on coffee so he is alert and stays with the baby i always tell dads yeah when i do my birth education

if for some reason baby needs pediatric attention or NICU attention, you go with baby and do not let that baby leave your sight until they physically remove you. Amazing. Have to have one parent with baby. So just know the policies. Go in ready to surrender to birth and make it the beautiful experience you want. But in the back of your mind, you know, your rights, um, because it's your baby. It's not the hospital's baby. And it's so important to remind parents that because when your baby is first born, it is a

surreal out of body experience. You're like, this is my, like, this is my baby. It's here, but I don't feel like a mom yet. Cause two seconds ago, I was not a mom. Like I didn't have a baby on the outside and now I, it's just crazy. So if someone, if a doctor says, Oh, we got to check this baby out, you're going to be like, okay, what's wrong? And of course you would, you want everything to be safe, but don't let that baby leave your sight or your husband's sight ever. That's so important. Yes. And the reason why I asked this question is because I think that there are a lot of the population that are unvaccinated because they're pregnant. Women don't want to put an experimental shot in their bodies while they're

growing a baby. And so I think that there's a lot of women that may be concerned about this. So yeah, I thought I would just ask the question because not enough people are talking about it. Yeah. I would say like, for those who are curious about midwives, what made me feel really good about my midwives is that they said, we are experts in normal pregnancy and normal newborns, experts. So I trust that. I trust midwives who are like, anything that's outside of normal, we seek care. That's where we seek medical care. And I was like, great. Like, I'm good with that. Like, I don't want you to be inexperienced at something and like, just think, oh, well, she's unvaccinated. We shouldn't go to the hospital. No, like, let's go. Um, and, uh, you know, midwives understand maternal and fetal resuscitation.

They carry oxygen with them. They carry Pitocin with them in case there's a postpartum hemorrhage, postpartum hemorrhage, they carry medical equipment with them. It's not like, you know, someone with her magic wand that just makes a baby come out and everything's perfect. You know, it's like, it is a very legitimate practice, which made me feel really safe, right? Yeah. For women who are maybe far away, live far away from a hospital and a home birth worries them, a birth center is a great option. So you can search for birth centers who are near hospitals. It just kind of sucks when you have to get in the car for 45 minutes. Like one of my friends, she's due really soon. Her birth center is 45 minutes away, but it's her second baby and she had an unmedicated birth with her first

and she had an amazing, it's actually a birth center that's attached to a hospital. So like those are things too. So just be willing to explore alternative options that work within your comfort zone. You know, when it comes to COVID too, it's like extra awareness. That's all it is. Extra awareness. Yeah. So I'm trying to think if there's any other questions, is there anything that we haven't covered? Do you think it's really important that people hear? Cause I kind of feel like I went over everything. I think, and this really coincides with what you do in the nutrition world. Like you're optimizing your health, your baby's health and their, your positive outcome or your potential positive outcome and your potential to thrive with baby and in your postpartum period begins

in preconception. It begins before you are pregnant. So if you're not thinking about your health until you're pregnant, not saying you're going to like fuck everything up, but start thinking well before you try to conceive. A year is ideal to get your nutrition dialed, to make sure your gut health is dialed, to make sure your thyroid is good, to make sure your cycle is on track. Get off birth control a year or more before you start to try and conceive because it depletes everything in your body if you're on birth control. You know, really take charge of your fertility and your pregnancy because that is where we give our power away is that we're like not thinking about it. We're not aware of our health in the most, you know, optimizing our health.

And then all of a sudden we're in a high risk situation because I didn't know that eating like bread every day made me, you know, at risk for gestational diabetes. Well, you should know this, you know? So optimizing your chances of fertility, and this goes for men too. Sperm health is incredibly important, incredibly important. And if your husband is not, or your partner has not checked their sperm count or their motility, you know, until you're six months in trying to conceive, like you're just setting yourself up for emotional distress. So know where your sperm's at before you start trying to conceive like a year, if you can

to six months, so you can optimize sperm, um, like content, I guess. Um, and optimize your ovulation, optimize your whole being so that you don't end up with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility or high risk situation in pregnancy. It's so valuable to just take charge of this ahead of the game. Yeah. Well, this isn't talked about enough, but, um, a lot of the declining fertility issues that we have are there being correlated with our poor diets and our poor lifestyles, you know, and we're seeing fertility on the rise right now. And a lot of people are talking about this right now, like the infertility, sorry. Yes. Um, and Zach Bush, Dr. Zach Bush, I love him. He's been talking about this a lot recently and it all comes down to our modern lifestyle and our diets. And we're being exposed to so many toxic chemicals

that are literally disrupting our hormones or endocrine or endocrine systems. Yeah. And we need to be aware of this. I love that you brought that up that we need to be more like mindful of it before we even start conceiving. And also a lot of people don't talk about that with men's sperm health. That's a lot of the issue normally. Like I read this recently that we put so much of the blame on the woman, like if a couple is having a hard time conceiving. And of course, obviously like there can be issues going on with the woman, but we so often point the finger at the woman first. And often it has to do with the men's sperm count or the healthiness of the sperm. It's interesting. Yeah. So a big factor, well, not a big factor, a factor in that is also marijuana use. So I just want to say if like, if you're listening to this and you smoke weed because

it helps you with whatever, like that's great. I'm all for it, but know that it can affect sperm content and sperm motility, um, and sperm count. So try and smoke less if you're trying to conceive. Um, I will say like my husband is 16 years older than I am. So he was 44 when we started to try and conceive. Um, and a year before we started trying, like I got off birth control and he started doing regular blood tests, checking sperm count, checking motility, and making sure his body was in optimal health. And like, I loved that. And he did it on his own. I didn't have to ask him, but it was important to him because he's like, I'm older and I want to know and like, make sure, but like you could be 29 and have the body, you know, the function,

the cellular function of someone who's in their fifties. If you don't, if you're unaware of what you're putting in your body. So yeah, it's huge. Yeah. It's huge. Okay. I have one more question for you before I actually have two that I should have asked this earlier, but I forgot. So I'm really curious what your thoughts are on epidurals because I think I read somewhere there's, is there fentanyl in it or there's some sort of fentanyl connection here? What's that about? Yeah. I just learned this. Like how the hell did I not know this? Um, when you get an epidural, it's a spinal tap and it is like a nerve block. Okay. So firstly that's gnarly. And I will, I've heard from multiple anesthesiologists or people who know anesthesiologists who say, I hate doing epidurals because it's kind of a shot in the dark. So you kind of know what

nerve you're want to block, but like, you don't know exactly where it is because it's in the spine and it's just, it's not like there's a lot of nerves going through your spine, obviously. So it's like, they're generally pretty accurate. But like pain at the site of injection is very common. And most women don't know what to do about it. So if you have that, go get adjusted by a chiropractor. So that worries me a little bit. Like I don't like that.

I don't like to feel numb. This is my personal opinion on epidurals. I've never had one. Needles freak me out. As a whole, they are generally, if we're living in the world of live mom, live baby, they're generally safe. Okay. If that's the outcome you care about, they're generally safe. And oftentimes when a woman has been in unmedicated labor for a very long time, like over 24 hours, epidurals will literally help you. They will make sure the pain goes away and then you can sleep and rest. And that often does lead to the

vaginal delivery you want, right? Many, many times women try their hardest to go natural delivery at a hospital. It's very uncommon that that happens. And the epidural really helps them achieve that even though it's not unmedicated. But almost all, and if I'm wrong, someone correct me, but I'm pretty sure almost all epidurals are laced with fentanyl unless you ask for no fentanyl. Someone commented on that post that I made about it. And she's actually a friend of mine from high school who is an anesthesiologist. She's like, yes, this is true, but like, you can ask us to not do fentanyl. I was like, why don't we know that that's like a thing though? Like, why aren't we told in your OB visits like

here's here are the risks here are the benefits of the epidural by the way like we put fentanyl in your IV when you're administered the epidural so the fentanyl is not part of the spinal tap it's a separate thing in the IV and I'm just like I still do not know why. I don't know why. I mean, it's painkiller, but that crosses the placenta. Yeah, that's insane. Okay. Yeah. Insane. So if you're listening to this, you can ask for an epidural without fentanyl.

There's also something called a walking epidural, which I really like. It does not numb your entire lower half. It just is localized to your pelvis. I don't think many hospitals are still picking up on this walking epidural, and I don't know why. But ask your doctors if they have walking epidurals because you can move when you have that. So that's awesome. If you want some pain management via drugs. What was the second question? Oh, I haven't asked it yet. Yeah, no, no, no. It's my last question that I ask everyone. But thank you. I'm so glad I asked that because I didn't know that. And I think this is really valuable information for women to have

when they go in asking for an epidural. Okay, okay. So my last question for you is I ask everyone on the show, this, what are your health non-negotiables? So no matter how busy you are, these are things that you prioritize for yourself or your life and things that keep you healthy on a day-to-day basis. Oh, that's amazing. Um, working out. So I work out about three times a week. I do CrossFit. Um, do CrossFit. I took a CrossFit break, but I'm back and I love it. But I love strength training. I think every woman should strength train. So I love lifting weights. That is a non-negotiable for me. A couple times a week, three times-ish. I eat meat. That is a non-negotiable for me. Like I love eating meat so much. I love steak. I call

myself the ribeye queen. Um, um, but I feel amazing when I eat meat and that is a total non-negotiable for me. Um, and the third one is sleep. I love to sleep and I need sleep and, and my sleep, you know, is affected by a lot. And I'm noticing a lot more as I get a little bit older, I'm only 32, but like, I can't drink alcohol. Like I used to, like, I can't have more than two drinks. Otherwise I'm screwed. And I really try to only drink once a week. if that. So it's really, really managing the like, the fun stuff that I do so that I feel good most of the time. And then getting out in the sun. So something that like brings me joy and makes me really happy is swimming. I love to swim growing up in LA, you know, we're always in the pool and always at the beach. So we have a pool in our neighborhood, going swimming all the time.

We're going to the river here. I try to minimize the chlorine exposure, but I love swimming. So getting out in the sun and swimming is a non-negotiable for me when it's warm. I love that. Yeah, getting out in the sun is one of mine as well. Vitamin D, it's so important, especially more than ever right now. And life is better when you're tan. Let's be honest. Yeah, it's so important, especially more than ever right now. And life is better when you're tan. Let's be honest.

Yeah, that's so true. If you can't tone it, tan it is what my friend says. You can take the girl out of California, but I will be tanning forever. Exactly. Well, this has been so amazing, super eye-opening for me. Yeah, I feel very excited for when the time comes for me to have a kid knowing all this information and feeling way more informed. So for everyone listening, where can they find you? So I am on Instagram at Emily Stanwyck, S-T-A-N-W-Y-C-K. I also have a Patreon page, but that's like kind of slowly growing. That's all on my Instagram bio. And then I am almost done with my website, which is where all my like offerings will be. But I'm mostly on Instagram.

So you can find me there. Amazing. Cool. Thank you so much. This has been great. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast.

If you liked this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a resident media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Chris McCone. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie, spelled with a J. Love you guys so much. See you next week.

The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first. Thank you.