As I’m sure all newly-pregnant mothers are prone to do, I did a lot of research during my first pregnancy. As I’ve come along on my natural living journey, as well as though a second pregnancy, there are several things that I would consider must-haves for a natural pregnancy.
I have divided this post into sections such as books, supplements, essential oils, etc. Feel free to tell me in the comments if you have anything you’d add that you found helpful in your own pregnancy!
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. The books and products listed in this post are simply the things that I have used during my pregnancies under the guide of my midwife. Please consult with your doctor or midwife for your own personal use of these products.
Books
Mama Natural’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Genevieve Howland
This book was one of my first entrances into the world of natural pregnancy and childbirth. Genevieve put together a comprehensive week-by-week guide for moms that aren’t sure where to start. This book is packed with information and further resources, and since it’s broken down my week, you can read it a little at a time without feeling so overwhelmed by all the information Genevieve offers!
If you want a one-stop guide to all things natural pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum, check out this book!
Natural Pregnancy by Aviva Romm
I didn’t read this book when I was pregnant with my first child, but I got it this time and I can see why Aviva Romm has become one of the leading voices in the natural birth world.
This book, though not quite as reader-friendly as the Mama Natural book, is packed with tons of helpful information!
Natural Health after Birth by Aviva Romm
While this is technically a postpartum book, I found it very helpful to read while I was pregnant to help me plan for the postpartum period.
Planning ahead while you’re pregnant can help your postpartum go so much smoother! I’m hopefully going to get up my postpartum must-haves post soon, and this book with definitely be on it.
Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel
I read this book when I was pregnant with my son since I would be delivering him in a hospital setting. Natural Hospital Birth is a great guide to knowing:
- what the hospital doctors, nurses, or midwives will say
- whether or not you need to actually be worried, and
- how to handle certain situations where you might be pressured into getting an intervention like pitocin or an epidural
Since I delivered at a birth center this second time around, I didn’t really need the information this book offered so much this time, but if your only option is a hospital, I highly recommend this book.
Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols
Why don’t all doctors and midwives recommend this book to their clients?
Lily Nichols is a RDN with a passion for helping pregnant and postpartum mamas get the nutrition their bodies actually need without the high-carb diet that conventional pregnancy nutrition books prescribe. This book helps you stay off the blood sugar ”rollercoaster” and feed your and your baby’s bodies well by giving them nutrient-dense foods. I love her gummy snack recipe and her liver pate recipe (see below).
Lily also has a book called “Real Food for Gestational Diabetes”, so if you are dealing with that, you have to check out that book as well.
Gentle Babies by Debra Raybern
If you’re interested in using essential oils but aren’t sure what is safe to use during pregnancy, this book is for you!
You can look up essential oil suggestions for a variety of different ailments. They even include guidelines for nursing moms, babies, and children, so you can have peace of mind that you’re using essential oils that are safe for everyone.
Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
I wasn’t sure what to think of this book when I first read it, but Ina May Gaskin does make some good points in this book.
Though, Gaskin can get a bit too ”new age-y” for my tastes, one part I really liked about her book is that she focuses on working with your body, not against it. If you can allow your body to relax during contractions instead of tensing up, they won’t hurt as much.
I saw this in the differences between my two labors. I tensed up during contractions in my first labor, but the second time, I focused on relaxing through contractions, and it worked! It actually worked a bit too well, in fact, because my daughter was born in the car halfway to the birth center! My husband told me I was too relaxed, haha.
Supplements I Took During Pregnancy
Smarty Pants Organic Prenatal Gummies
As you’ll notice with the rest of these supplement suggestions, I can’t swallow pills, so I have took look for non-pill supplements to take during pregnancy.
This time around, I took the Smarty Pants brand prenatal gummies. I have also used the Garden of Life prenatal gummies in the past and would recommend them as well.
Mega Foods Blood Builder iron supplement
Okay, so these aren’t technically a chewable (more on that in a bit), but this time around I was looking for an iron vitamin with a higher dosage so I wouldn’t have to take as many as I have to when I’m using a iron gummy.
So, how does one turn a non-chewable iron vitamin into a chewable? Well, by just chewing it.
I did actually try to swallow these (you can get them in “minis” as well so they’re smaller), but I still couldn’t do it. Once, when I was attempting to swallow them, I accidentally bit into one and realized, “hey, I can chew these”.
To those of you who can’t stand any sort of iron-y taste, let alone chewing a straight iron pill, I get it. I didn’t chew them just by themselves. Since I was already making my own kombucha, I was able to keep making a steady stream of blueberry ginger kombucha to use when I was taking the iron supplement.
My midwife still cannot comprehend how I can handle the taste of eating an iron vitamin without swallowing it whole. I blame this partially on the fact that I grew up on a far where we have well water that is very high in iron, but honestly I didn’t find it much worse than the taste of liver pate or cod liver oil (more on those in a bit).
Natural Calm magnesium supplement
I tried a magnesium lotion for leg cramps during my first pregnancy, but it wasn’t until this time around that I discovered the wonderful affects of taking magnesium to overcome constipation during pregnancy.
Natural calm has lots of different flavors of magnesium that you can take just mixed into water, but I just mixed it in with my kombucha when I took my iron vitamins. I’ve tried both the lemon and the orange flavors. I recommend both, but I think the orange is my favorite!
Nordic Naturals Vitamin C gummies
There are lots of Vitamin C gummies out there, but I like that this one doesn’t use any artificial flavorings or colorings.
Michael’s Naturopathic Vitamin D3 with K2 chewables
These, along with the Vitamin C gummies that I just mentioned, have been post of my vitamin regimen even before I was pregnant.
I like that they have a higher dose of vitamin D then lots of vitamin D (chewable or non-chewable). That way, I don’t have to take so many to get to the Dose my Midwife recommended for me (Again, consult with your own midwife or doctor for the vitamins or amounts you should take). Plus, they taste really good!
Carlson Cod Liver Oil (lemon-flavored)
While I will admit that cod liver oil doesn’t taste as good as the other vitamins, I personally don’t think it tastes bad at all. Especially the lemon flavor. It is similar to having some lemon on the fish you were eating.
Cod liver oil is an excellent source of Vitamins A and D and omega-3’s, which are good for baby’s development.
Essential Oils for Pregnancy
Essential oils can be great to help support your body during pregnancy. While there are a few oils you should stay away from during pregnancy, I found that lots of the ones I used regularly were safe to continue using.
I buy my essential oils from Young Living as I have had good luck with the quality of their products, but there are other companies that make high quality, therapeutic grade essential oils as well that are safe to consume or use while pregnant.
Peppermint
Whether it’s a headache or stiff or sore muscles, peppermint is great for any type of tension.
Lemon
If you suffer from an upset stomach or heartburn during pregnancy, lemon can help cut that acidic feeling that often comes with that last trimester of pregnancy.
Lavender
The quintessential calming oil, lavender can be great for when pregnancy or life circumstances have you feeling on edge.
Ginger
If you’ve ever been through the first trimester of pregnancy before, you’ve probably had something with ginger in it, such as lozenges, gums, or even suckers. There’s a reason these use ginger. It’s great to help calm your stomach, and it smells great as well!
Young Living also has an article about pregnancy and essential oils if you want to know more!
Pregnancy Foods and Beverages
Herbal Teas
When I was pregnant with my son, I drank red raspberry leaf tea to help prepare my body for labor.
This time, I continued to drink red raspberry leaf tea, but I also mixed in dried nettle leaf and dried alfalfa leaf (at the recommendation of my midwife) to boost to the nutrient content and help support my body even more!
I mixed 50% tried red raspberry leaf with 25% dried nettle leaf and 25% dried alfalfa leaf. I bought the red raspberry leaf during my first pregnancy from Frontier Coop (and still had a lot left over), and the other two I bought this time around from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Dates
Some studies have shown that eating 6 dates a day during the last month of pregnancy can help prevent your water breaking prematurely (before labor has started).
My second pregnancy was definitely a shorter labor and birth. I think some of the length of my first labor had to do with my waters not breaking (and being difficult to break when the midwife did so) for so long. Things definitely picked up once she broke my water.
Whether they help or not, dates make an awesome sweet treat that’s not loaded with tons of added sugars.
Earth Mama Heartburn Tea
I wish I would’ve had this tea during my first pregnancy. It is such a soothing blend and definitely lessons at pregnancy heartburn.
After eliminating dairy for constipation reasons (TMI, I know), I also noticed that my heartburn went away completely. That might not be the case for that to people, but it was for me!
Liver Pate
I love using Lily Nichols’ recipe for liver pate. In addition to the iron supplement I mentioned above, this was one way I was able to incorporate iron-rich foods into my diet.
Not a liver lover? Lily suggests freezing the pate in 3 to 4 ounce servings and adding it in with your ground meats when you cook them. I like adding it to dishes that have some flavor besides the meat, and no one knows they’re getting extra nutrition!
My favorite dishes to add liver pate to are stir fry, tacos/nachos, and Sloppy Joes.
Crockpot or freezer meals
While I did save most of my freezer meals for after I had the baby, crockpot or freezer meals are awesome anytime, especially when you are either in the middle of morning sickness or that third trimester exhaustion.
Having simple meals you can either throw in the crockpot and leave to cook all day, or ones that you can just pop in the oven, makes getting food on the table a breeze when you don’t really feel like cooking.
Here are some links to some postpartum freezer meal round-up posts:
- Real Food Postpartum Recovery Meals
- Easy & Nourishing Make-Ahead (and Freeze) Recipes for the Postpartum Mother
- 39 Nourishing Postpartum Freezer Meals To Prepare While You’re Pregnant {slow cooker, too!}
I obviously haven’t tried all of these recipes (there are tons!), but these posts are all from bloggers whose recipes I have used before, so I’m assuming these recipes will be great as well!
Miscellaneous Pregnancy Must-Haves
EveryMother exercise program
My midwife recommended this to me when I asked her what I could do to help with the pelvic floor pressure during this pregnancy.
I didn’t get to it every day, but I think I was able to do the workouts (they’re pretty short, which helps) more days that not, even with a toddler.
If you have pelvis floor pressure or want to preemptively work to minimize diastasis recti, this program is for you! The workouts are designed for pregnant women, and you can tailor the intensity to your fitness level.
Pregnancy Belly Support Band
Another thing that helped me with pelvic floor pressure was to wear a support band on my bump. I just got a cheap one from Walmart and it helped some, but there are others available that probably give a little more support than mine did!
Earth Mama Perineal Balm
Body Pillow
I don’t know how people sleep while pregnant without some sort of pillows to prop themselves up with. I’ve always been a stomach sleeper, so pillows are a must for me to get any rest while pregnant.
I actually use the body pillow my mom used when she was pregnant with me and my brother (which is amazingly still in good condition), but the one links above looks pretty similar!
Those are some of the things that I have loved during my two pregnancies! This post ended up being longer than I thought it would be because I just had so many things to include!
