Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (181 page)

Urinary Tract: Chronic, Recurrent UTI or Interstitial Cystitis

See information above about NAET, which works well for interstitial cystitis.

Stress Urinary Incontinence

Kegel Exercises

Weighted vaginal cones (including sets of cones having graduated weights) can be used for Kegel-type exercises to help alleviate urinary stress incontinence.

FPT System and the Kegelcisor
are available from As We Change (800-203-5585;
www.aswechange.com
).

Proanthocyanidins

These powerful antioxidants are found in grape pips and pine bark. Start with 1 mg per pound of body weight per day, divided into three doses. After two weeks, cut back to 40–80 mg per day. I recommend:

Proflavanol and Proflavanol 90,
available from USANA (888-950-9595 or 801-954-7200;
www.usana.com
).

OPC Pine Gold
and
OPC Grape Gold,
manufactured by Primary Source and available from Emerson Ecologics (800-654-4432 or 603-656-9778;
www.emersonecologics.com
).

Many excellent brands of OPCs are also available at pharmacies and natural food stores.

See General Resources above for formulary pharmacies.

Chapter 10: Breasts

For castor oil packs, See
chapter 5
resources.

National Lymphedema Network
(800-541-3259 or 510-208-3200;
www.lymphnet.org
)

A nonprofit information and networking organization to help those with lymph-edema, either primary (the kind one is born with) or secondary (the kind one gets after an operation or injury, notably mastectomy and lymph node dissection). They publish a very helpful newsletter.

Breast Cancer

John Voell and Cynthia Chatfield,
The Cancer Report: The Latest Research in Psychoneuroimmunology
(How Thousands Are Achieving Permanent Recoveries)
(Change Your World Press, 2005).

For more information on this research, visit
www.cancer-report.com
.

The Moss Reports
(800-980-1234 or 814-238-3367;
www.cancerdecisions.com
)

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., a former science writer and assistant director of public affairs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, has spent the last three decades independently evaluating the claims of various cancer treatments (both conventional and alternative). His reports, ordered online and delivered via e-mail, contain information on the most successful and innovative treatments.

Sanoviv Medical Institute
(800-726-6848 or 801-954-7600;
www.sanoviv.com
)

This fully licensed medical facility along the Baja Coast of Mexico (about an hour from San Diego) combines both traditional and complementary medicine practices to treat the whole person, addressing physical, mental, and spiritual health. It offers everything from surgery to spa facilities. Although Sanoviv helps cancer patients, it also treats those with autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, chronic fatigue, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Coenzyme Q
₁₀

I recommend Enzymatic Therapy’s coenzyme Q10. Each softgel capsule contains 100 mg of this important antioxidant. Available from Emerson Ecologics (800-654-4432 or 603-656-9778;
www.emersonecologics.com
).

Chapter 11: Our Fertility

Candace De Puy,
The Healing Choice
(Simon & Schuster, 1997).

I highly recommend this compassionate and enlightened book to all those who are seeking guidance and more in-depth healing information concerning abortion.

Trudy M. Johnson,
CPR: Choice Processing and Resolution
(Outskirts Press, 2009).

Trudy is a licensed marriage and family therapist with twenty years of experience counseling women who are grieving what she calls vpt (voluntary pregnancy terminations). Her website (
www.missingpieces.org
) also offers other resources and support.

Birth Intuitive

Teresa Robertson, R.N., C.N.M., M.S.N.
(303-258-3904;
www.birthintuitive.com
)

Teresa, a certified nurse midwife, has been involved in birth for more than twenty years and currently teaches women to connect with their unborn babies to alleviate pregnancy and birth complications. She offers classes and workshops and is available for phone or in-person consultations. I consider her work the obstetrics of the future, which involves connecting with your baby intuitively before it is born and working in partnership with the baby’s consciousness.

Fertility

Randine A. Lewis,
The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for
Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies
(Little, Brown, 2004).

Julia Indichova,
Inconceivable: A Woman’s Triumph Over Despair and Statistics
(Broadway Books, 2001).

Niravi B. Payne, M.S., and Brenda Lane Richardson,
The Whole Person Fertility
Program: A Revolutionary Mind-Body Process to Help You Conceive
(Three Rivers Press, 1997).

Calm Birth
(541-488-2563;
www.calmbirth.org
)

Calm Birth is a form of childbirth preparation that uses proven mind-body and breathing techniques to help create an atmosphere of calmness that decreases fear, pain, and complications for both pregnancy and childbirth. This very powerful program can also help couples with infertility. In addition to practitioners, Calm Birth also offers a CD called
Calm Birth,
as well as a postnatal program called
Calm Healing
.

Family Passages Mind Body Studio
(604-266-6470;
www.familypassages.ca
)

Yoga therapist and Family Passages co-founder Sue Dumais has designed a yoga program that specifically enhances fertility. Her Vancouver studio is the first in Canada to focus on fertility as well as both prenatal and postnatal health and fitness.

Natural Family Planning

OVULATION METHOD

Fertility Care Centers of America (FCCCA)
(
www.fertilitycare.org
). This international, nonprofit organization promotes the services of the Creighton Model Fertil-ityCare System.

Billings Ovulation Method Association
(651-699-8139;
www.boma-usa.org
)

Ovusoft Fertility Software
(757-722-0991;
www.ovusoft.com
)

I recommend this highly detailed and feature-rich software program that’s made to correspond with the highly successful methods developed by Toni Weschler, M.P.H., author of
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
(HarperCollins, 2002). Ovusoft Fertility Software not only automates Toni’s methodologies but also allows for individual preferences and personally tailored formatting, forecasting, charting, and reporting.

Pregnancy Loss

Lorraine Ash,
Life Touches Life: A Mother’s Story of Stillbirth and Healing
(NewSage, 2004).

The following websites offer a wide range of support options and resources for further information geared to women who have lost a child:

Empty Cradle (
www.emptycradle.org
)
Silent Grief (
www.silentgrief.com
)
Ob/Gyn.net
(
www.obgyn.net/women/loss/loss.htm
)

Chapter 12: Pregnancy and Birthing

Doulas

Marshall Klaus, M.D., John Kennell, M.D., and Phyllis Klaus, C.S.W.,
The Doula
Book: How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier,
and Healthier Birth
(Addison-Wesley, 1993). (Formerly titled
Mothering the
Mother
.)

Professional labor support professionals—or doulas—usually work well within the medical system. To locate one in your area, ask your doctor or midwife, or call the labor and delivery unit of your local hospital. You can also contact the organizations listed below.

DONA International
(formerly known as Doulas of North America) (888-788-3662; 812-482-5077;
www.dona.org
)

Labor Assistant Training and Certification Organization
(formerly known as the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators, or ALACE) (
www.tolabor.com
)

Pregnancy and Childbirth Education

Ina May Gaskin,
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
(Bantam Books, 2003).

Also see Ina May’s website,
www.inamay.com
.

CIMS
(919-863-9482;
www.motherfriendly.org
)

The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS), a United Nations– recognized NGO, is a collaborative effort of numerous individuals, leading researchers, and more than fifty organizations representing over 90,000 members. CIMS promotes a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and substantially reduce costs; CIMS developed the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative in 1996. A consensus document that has been recognized as an important model for improving the health care and well-being of children beginning at birth, the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative has been translated into several languages and is gaining support around the world.

International Childbirth Education Association
(919-863-9487;
www.icea.org
)

The International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) is a professional organization that supports educators and other health care providers who believe in freedom of choice based on knowledge of alternatives in family-centered maternity and newborn care. Their website features a directory of certified doulas.

Orgasmic Birth
(
www.orgasmicbirth.org
)

Orgasmic Birth
is an eighty-five-minute documentary examining the sexual nature of birth. The film, which has been featured on ABC’s
20/20,
features couples talking about their ecstatic and even orgasmic birth experiences, as well as medical and birthing experts (including Dr. Northrup) explaining how that can be possible. (A big key to this is the increased levels of oxytocin, prolactin, and beta-endorphins— what Dr. Northrup calls the molecules of ecstasy—in a birthing mother’s body.) The film’s goal is to educate and inspire expectant parents to consider all their options, so they can make truly informed decisions about the birthing experience they want.

Pilates and Pregnancy

Elizabeth Jones-Boswell, M.Ed.,
Exercise for Pregnancy and Beyond: A Pilates-
Based Approach for Women
(Jones-Boswell, Inc., 2006).

For more information about this program to ease pregnancy’s discomforts through Pilates, contact Elizabeth (509-499-1435;
www.pilatesrehab.org
), a mother of four and a Pilates master teacher.

Yoga and Pregnancy

Shiva Rea’s Prenatal Yoga DVD
(
www.shivarea.com
)

Legendary yoga instructor and mother Shiva Rea has designed a yoga program specifically for pregnancy to increase energy and stamina and develop concentration for labor and delivery. Her pregnancy routine includes safe stretching and strength building, with modifications for each trimester. (Also available: Shiva Rea’s Postnatal Yoga DVD, which shares how new moms can use yoga to restore muscle tone and strength, ease strain from carrying a baby around, and help bond with their babies.)

Belly Dancing and Pregnancy

Maha AlMusa
(
www.bellydanceforbirth.com
)

Al Musa is a belly dance instructor and doula who lives in Australia and has both Lebanese and Palestinian roots. Both her book,
Dance of the Womb: The Essential
Guide to Belly Dance for Pregnancy and Birth
(Maha AlMusa, 2008), and her DVD,
Dance of the Womb: A Gentle Guide to Belly Dance for Pregnancy and
Birth,
give beginners a great introduction to using this ancient art as a tool for empowered birth.

Chapter 13: Motherhood: Bonding with Your Baby

Poppi Pouch Custom-Fit Baby Slings
(
www.poppipouch.com
)

These smart, hand-crafted baby carriers are made to fit to your exact measurements, so they’re comfortable for both mother and infant in any number of different positions. You can also use them for discrete nursing. This product fits babies up to 35 pounds and is machine washable. You can choose from sixteen different fabrics, or send your own material. Poppi Pouches cost $39.95, including shipping. (No credit cards.)

Attachment Parenting

Attachment Parenting International
(
www.attachmentparenting.org
)

This nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating and supporting all parents in raising secure, joyful, and empathetic children in order to strengthen families and create a more compassionate world. The organization’s website covers the basics of healthy attachment, including co-sleeping, wearing your baby, evaluating child care, and so on, and includes a link to a page detailing the API’s Eight Principles of Parenting.

API cofounders Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker are also the authors of
Attached
at the Heart: 8 Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and
Compassionate Children
(
iUniverse.com
, 2009).

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Support International
(800-944-4PPD or 805-967-7636;
www.postpartum.net
)

Postpartum Support International is an education, referral, and advocacy group devoted to increasing awareness about and discussion of postpartum depression. Its website has lots of background information, as well as a bookstore, Internet forums, and chat rooms, links to local support groups across the country, and a self-assessment test.