The first few weeks after giving birth is a special time for all new mothers; a time for mother and baby to bond. It can also be a time when a new mother is more likely to be low in iron, experience fatigue and have emotional highs and lows.  Doula Kylie Pattnaik discusses the benefits if taking placenta capsules during the first postnatal weeks and how they can help with an increased milk supply, reduced fatigue levels and lessened symptoms of the baby blues.

Placenta Encapsulation has become quite well accepted in the USA over recent years but it is still a very new concept to many mothers in the United Kingdom.  When mothers initially consider consuming their placenta, most are somewhat apprehensive. Once they understand that it’s just like taking vitamin capsules then they start to think about it all a little differently.   

Placenta Encapsulation is the process of putting the placenta tissue into capsule form.  The placenta is prepared in alignment with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) methods, being dried, ground and put into capsules.

Placenta has been used in TCM for centuries; being prescribed for low milk supply and fatigue.  Research in this area supports the TCM approach of placenta ingestion during the postpartum.  The findings showed that 86% of mothers in the test group experienced a significant increase in milk supply when they consumed their placenta in early postpartum.  Research has ruled out a number of theories as to why the placenta may cause an increase in milk production but it is yet to determine what it is specifically that seems to promote these health benefits. 

It is also known that the placenta is a rich source of iron and hormones.  As an endocrine organ, the placenta produces hormones during pregnancy, resulting in the placenta containing high levels of them.   From the second trimester, the placenta takes on the production of the hormone CRH as before this time, it is produced in the mother’s pituitary - CRH helps us deal with stress.  When a mother births her placenta, she suddenly loses a significant amount of iron and hormones; the very things that she will need in her early postpartum recovery.  It is theorised that, after giving birth, the brain can take a while to realise that the placenta is no longer there producing the CRH, so the placenta capsules can help to fill the gap until the pituitary gland takes over the production of CRH again.  

Mothers who consume placenta capsules commonly report reduced symptoms of the baby blues, reduced occurrences of postpartum depression, a lift in mood, a boost in energy levels and less blood loss during the early postpartum.

There are many ways to consume a placenta but the capsules make the benefits much more readily available.  Whilst some are happy to have placenta stew, the majority of mothers cannot imagine being able to eat their placenta and find capsule form the most palatable option. 

Kylie trained in Placenta Encapsulation with Placenta Benefits, the longest standing training course for Placenta Encapsulation Specialists.  The Placenta Benefits Encapsulation methods meet the UK Food and Safety Guidelines as well as adhering to Health Protection Authority requirements.  For more information please see her Steps to Wellness profile here

In the third of her series of articles for Steps to Wellness, therapist Nanette Mercer talks about channeling natural healing energy and the barriers that can affect its flow.

A larger than average secondary school girl sits in the canteen with her crispbread and banana, while her slight of build friends tuck into burger and chips with milkshake on the side.  Walking and swimming with her granddad at the weekend and lunchtime netball at school also seem to make little difference, so she throws herself into her academic pursuits and walks away from school with some enviable grades but an ever increasing waistline.

She tries aerobics, walking, running and dieting but in the end gives up and two children, four clothes sizes and nearly twenty years later, finds herself looking in the mirror wondering who the unrecognisable person staring back is.

Weight loss is a complex beast and there are many vehement advocates of one method or another.  It seems to raise such passion in some people with comments of “it’s simple, just eat less” but to someone who has never had a weight problem, it might seem that simple.  For someone who has always lived a healthy lifestyle but remained overweight, however, its soul destroying and I knew I had to get to the bottom of why I was overweight.  Was it really my lifestyle and would anything actually work?

I can’t say I’ve ever yo-yo dieted – my weight has never dropped that far to warrant using that particular metaphor.  My mother had some strange ideas about diets when I was a child and would serve up things like bland brown rice and peas when she thought my weight was getting out of hand.  Despite my shaky culinary start as a youngster, I knew I had a healthy enough lifestyle as an adult and a good knowledge of good quality ingredients and how to cook.  I had to find not only a strategy that would work but also the confidence that I could actually shed the weight I needed to lose.

So, twelve weeks down the line and what has worked?  I am one of thousands of members who follow a well known eating plan on-line.  The organisation recently introduced a new eating strategy based on carbohydrate, protein, fat and fibre, encouraging the consumption of more nutrient rich foods with a point system that penalises empty carbohydrates and junk food.  The other major change has been the addition of a weekly allowance of points on top of a daily allowance.  This means that the occasional pub lunch or a couple of glasses of wine on a Friday night no longer has to scupper an otherwise healthy week.  I guess this does as much for the soul as it does for the body.

I realise that this plan may not work for everyone and I cannot claim to be a nutritional expert but I do have nearly fifteen years of vegetarian home cooking behind me and a love of good quality fresh food – perhaps this is why it worked for me.

And to my absolute delight, weight loss has lead to energy gain.  Fellow parents at the local toddler group were treated to the sight of me bouncing around with my two year old earlier this week, something that I would not have contemplated two months ago - so the next obvious step is upping the exercise.

I have always had a feeling that it is much about what you put in your head as what you put in your mouth and I have a suspicion I might just be right. Amanda's weight loss journey is her own and the above is intended to be motivational and entertaining rather than authoratative.  To follow the ups and downs of her two year journey to her new self, look out for her updates in future editions of the email newsletter.

As the summer holidays approach, exciting opportunities to spend time with the kids and have fun start dawning.  What are your plans, or maybe the question should be, what would be a good plan to have?  When the New Year arrives some of us make resolutions on dieting, keeping fit and breaking bad habits but with the summer holiday you have up to six weeks to break habits and introduce more positive wholesome things into your daily routine, as well as making use of the extra time for family fitness.

 As the summer holidays are a great opportunity for the family to spend quality time together it is up to us as parents (not missing those single Dads) to decide how that time is best spent.  We are habitual in nature and unfortunately bad habits can become the norm and unconsciously accepted.  If this is the case for us, how much easier can it become so with our children who look to us as their model to follow?

Let’s first consider our daily activities such as shopping, washing and cooking - they go on no matter what, so how can we involve the children in this as well as making it fun and adding some fitness to it all: music.  We all have our tastes and so do our children but do you know their taste and do they like to dance?  Personally I love it - with the music on, daily chores fly by, dancing from cooking to the dishes.  Go on, turn the music up, see the kids smile and find the beat in their feet.  Ask them to hang the washing so you can all get out for fun.  Before you go, how about a healthy packed lunch for the day out? Rather than creating something they must eat, place a variety of healthy foods on the table for them to choose from.

Where do you go?  Have you any local parks or walks nearby – how about investing in a local map and finding footpaths across fields you have never walked before?  Fitness should be fun - just as food should be to your liking, find ways to incorporate fitness in to your fun.  If the park is a walk away, walk; if you need to travel then park the car a bit away from the park.  A walk can help in burning body fat and keep you fit and if the children are with you then they are benefiting too.  Keeping fit and healthy should be a family thing; with a little forethought you can blend exercise into family activities.  Of course, the best time to start is when they are young with physical play, chase and climbing to enhance their strength and agility.  When they see you so energetic and happy they want a part of that too but should things not be this way at this time, introduce this fit life at the start of school holidays and by the time they are ready for school they will be in the fitness grove!

Read part two of this article series here.

Holistic therapy for me is about understanding and caring for yourself on all levels; not just viewing health as a physical functional state but as a multi-dimensional concept.  The somewhat overused yet seldom lived phrase 'care for your mind, body and soul' when put into practice, really encompasses the modern day trinity of health, happiness and well being. 

What are my top ten tips to a holistic lifestyle?  Well, yes I could give you a well versed list of natural remedies, herbal teas, lotions, potions and superfoods.  Of course, these are all important and have their part to play, in the mind, body and soul trinity but these only really maintain outwardly what you have achieved inwardly first:

Tip 1 

Always remember that you are responsible for you and no one else is responsible for your happiness.  Don't allow your expectations of others to affect your own wellbeing.

Tip 2

You choose your life experience; is your cup half full or half empty?  It's up to you to decide if you want to take a positive or negative approach to all aspects of your life.  Do you really hate vegetables?  Is exercise really too much effort?

Tip 3

Good mental, physical and emotional health is a fundamental human right and is absolutely free!  It's not achieved through comfort eating, shopping, substance abuse or gambling for example, or only something you deserve if you're a vogue top model or a millionaire.  Take a walk in the rain now and then; let your hair go frizzy or your mascara run.  Happiness is beautiful.

Tip 4

Set yourself manageable targets in life: remember how it feels to be a small child learning to walk or talk.  Allow yourself to take small steps and reward each achievement with a well done.  Be your own best friend - you don't need to lose ten stone in a week or never touch another beer again but a couple of pounds lost through mindful eating and living a happy energetic life is real, sustainable and healthy.

Tip 5

Laughter heals the soul!  Everyone should know how to laugh until your sides hurt - if you've forgotten how then ask a small child.  It's amazing how a colander on your head can keep a toddler laughing for hours.  Life can be very funny and funny can be very therapeutic.

Tip 6

Feed your body, feed your mind and feed your soul: in other words, eat a well balanced, healthy diet which will provide you with energy in abundance.  Keep learning new things - an active mind is a healthy mind.  Try and do at least one nice thing for yourself and another person everyday.

Tip 7

Sleep well.  Get a really good bed, take time to try it out and make sure its really comfortable.  Wind down at least an hour before bed with no tea or coffee or other stimulants after 6pm.  An active day is rewarded by a restful night and visa versa, so early to bed and early to rise: let dawn and dusk be your guide.

Tip 8

Make time for your relationships.  When you lay there on your deathbed in many years to come, you won't be wishing you had spent more time at work or watching television, it will be your friends and family you will not want to leave. Enjoy them now, don't waste precious time bickering over nothing but savour every moment of the love you share.

Tip 9

Experience your planet.  Life's routine can create a sterile bubble around your experience and your world can quickly become small and restricted.  Try to take yourself out of the bubble now and then: experience nature, walk in the woods, swim in the sea, play in the snow, or try a dawn chorus meditation on a beautiful morn - simple yet breathtaking.

Tip 10

Finally, try to be mindful of everything you do, eat and say. You already know how to be beautiful, happy and healthy - you may have forgotten along the way but you can find your path back to perfection.  Saying that no one is perfect is, in my opinion, all wrong.  Everyone is perfect; you were born perfect, just ask your mother.  When she first looked into your little face and held your little hands, you were nothing less than a miracle and you still are - a perfect little miracle with life experiences that have brought you to where you are today.  It is your life choices going forward that shall determine where you will find yourself tomorrow. 

Wishing you all great health and much love.

Nanette Mercer, Holistic Therapist

Enjoyed reading this?  For part one of my article on health from the inside published last month, click here

And to find out more about what I do and contact details, please see my Steps to Wellness profile here.

What is Naturopathy and how beneficial is it?  Amanda Fearn looks at the guiding principles behind the therapy and interviews Louisa Roscoe a practitioner with an interesting and varied professional background.

Balance underpins so much of human existence.  The seasons, lifecycles and tides have been hugely influential on our cultural history, primarily because understanding and working with the ebbs and flows of life has been intrinsic to our survival.  When it comes to healthcare, Naturopathy is based on this notion of balance and all Naturopaths are trained in more than one discipline to deliver this.

According to Hippocrates, “Health is the expression of a harmonious balance between various components of man's nature, the environment and ways of life” and according to the UK General Council and Register of Naturopaths (www.naturopathy.org.uk), there are three underpinning principles to naturopathy:

First is the healing power of nature - a belief in the body to heal itself.

Second is the interaction and connection between the structural, biochemical and mental/emotional workings of all living things and in principle that a dysfunction in one area can cause disruption in another.

Third is that each body is unique - treatment has to be tailor made to the individual, often using more than one approach in order to bring about health.

I interviewed Louisa Roscoe, naturopathic practitioner and writer for a national health interest magazine.  She started by explaining that naturopaths are guided by a philosophy that emphasizes the healing power of nature and naturopathic practitioners use a variety of traditional and modern therapies.  They view their role as supporting the body's inherent ability to maintain and restore health and prefer to use treatment approaches they consider to be the most natural and least invasive. Naturopaths are always qualified in nutrition and at least another recognised modality or natural therapy so you may have a naturopath that is an osteopath and nutritionist or a naturopath that is a nutritionist and a herbalist.  “I am qualified in a number of therapies and am able to use this combination for best effect”, she went on “like holistic massage with nutrition and homeopathic medicine; or herbal medicine with nutrition.  Each treatment needs to be bespoke as each person is unique”.

One thing that came up again and again was Louisa’s passion for what she does.  “I feel privileged and very lucky to work closely with people”, she comments, “I care a lot about each individual’s wellbeing and I spend a lot of time with them in consultation and working out their individual treatment plan”.

Like most alternative therapies, Naturopathy has had its share of bad press, so I was interested to find out what Louisa thinks of the sceptics.  “My Naturopathy is grounded in traditional healing wisdom and sound science. Clients will benefit from an integrated therapy approach to meet the unique needs of each individual.”  She continued, “I have a Health Science degree including Biochemistry, Phytochemistry, Pathology, Symptomatology and  also Pharmacology.  In addition to these health sciences I have a wide range of natural therapy modalities such as Herbal Medicine, Nutrition, Homeopathy, Flower Essences, Therapeutic Massage and Iridology.”  Louisa’s practice is therefore grounded in different types of wisdom and research, not necessarily as discrete from each other as some would have us believe.

It is true that Naturopathy is very well respected in the UK, with high quality colleges and universities in London, Bristol, Europe, USA and Australia.  It takes many years of study to become a Naturopath and Louisa studied full time for four years to gain her qualifications.

What is most interesting are her comments about her time spent in India and in clinical practice there:  “In India all homeopaths are qualified orthodox doctors; who then trained in homeopathic medicine.  So in Indian health clinics often they have two types of medicine on offer: orthodox treatments and Homeopathy.  Homeopathy is cheaper; so many people opt for this.  I have seen it working on a day to day basis and for all kinds of pathology that we would simply not see in the west.  The kind of success I saw simply cannot be measured”.

To conclude, I asked her what she most likes about her profession: “I like people, my role as a Naturopath is very fulfilling. I love sharing knowledge and love to see people feeling empowered by making healthy choices for themselves to feel healthier and happier”.

It is no wonder, therefore, that most alternative and complementary therapists are qualified in more than one discipline.  It could be argued that to be truly useful, complementary therapies should also be complementary to other therapies and not just traditional medicine.  In order for a treatment to be truly holistic, it needs to address the delicate balances that keep a human being functioning properly and support it in its own healing processes; and this may take more than one approach.

For more information please see Louisa Roscoes Steps to Wellness profile here.