Castro - Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth, and Your Babys First Year

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CONTENTS

It is advisable to seek the guidance of a physician before implementing the approach to health suggested in this book. It is essential that any reader who has any reason to suspect that she or her baby suffers from illness check with her doctor before attempting to treat it with this method. Neither this nor any other book should be used as a substitute for professional prenatal care, or medical care or treatment.

For Robert

I am very grateful for the teaching I have received from all the babies in my life both my own baby and those of my friends as well as the hundreds of baby patients I have been fortunate enough to treat over these past ten years in my capacity as a homeopath. This, and the feedback I have had from their mothers, has enabled me to explore and consolidate my beliefs around pregnancy, birth and parenthood. In the initial stages of writing this book I talked to many parents with a view to quoting their anecdotes. Sadly, I havent been able to do this as the book became unwieldily long but I wove in their spirit as I wrote, using their comments and suggestions. Id like to thank each one who shared their pregnancy, birth and parenting stories with me: they were funny in parts, sad in others, always interesting, informative and touching. Many thanks to Carol Boyce, Clare Palmer, Collette Barnard, David Orme, Frances Monte, Hazel Orme, Jane Howard, Jenner Roth, Maggie McKenzie, Maggi Sikking Jackson, Rachel Packer, Terry Cooper and Tony Dowmunt.

Thanks also to those who did spadework for me typing and research including Frances Monte, Claudia Benson, Helen Tye, Sue Clarke and Sue Mellis; to Jane Harter and Sue Morrison for reading through the manuscript and giving me their invaluable feedback; to Barbara Levy and Felicity Rubinstein for believing in me; to Hazel Orme for her patience and her unlimited, unconditional support; to all at Macmillan for helping to make this book what it is. I wish this baby a long and useful life.

Having a baby has been the most rewarding challenge of my life so far! My child has taught me much about myself about the mother and the child in me, about my strengths and my weaknesses, and as he grows and changes so I learn more.

I became happily pregnant in 1978, and I loved it. I loved the feeling of a life taking shape inside me, of his swimmings and turnings. I loved the shape my body took, my big, soft roundness. I felt cocooned.

And I was convinced that Daniel would just fit into my life, that it would carry on much as it had done, with a baby in it, sleeping in a corner in his basket. I wish I had known that almost every aspect of my life would change to some degree.

I apparently had a urinary-tract infection when I was three months pregnant I felt perfectly well and had not one symptom but I was scared into taking antibiotics by my doctor. Having grown up with naturopathic and homeopathic medicine I had rarely been to a doctor in my life, and found it perplexing to be treated as if I were ill. I felt lousy after the antibiotics for quite some time. I wish I had been better prepared when I went for my first pre-natal visit.

I was irrationally scared that my baby would be stillborn. My doctor said that I shouldnt worry the figures of stillbirths were very low. I wish that I had known I needed to take my fears seriously, that they related to feelings, still unresolved, from an abortion I had had the year before.

Daniel was born two days before Christmas. I had a hospital birth because I wanted to know that pain relief was on hand in case I needed it. When I expressed my fears about my ability to cope with the pain I was told not to worry, that women the world over dropped their babies behind bushes and carried on working. I wish I had known that the birth would hurt. Not that the horror stories were true but that it might be incredibly hard work and not a little painful.

My labour was long, hindered by my fear and anxiety and because I wasnt allowed to eat. I finally accepted an epidural and relaxed into a deep sleep. My body then did its job well, freed from tension. I pushed Daniel out in a haze of exhaustion by this point I had forgotten that I was going to have a baby. I dont know who was more surprised, him, me or his father. I felt an unexpected, primitive welling up of love of a new kind for me, a powerful response to this new life, newly in my life: motherlove. Birth was a miracle for me.

Motherhood was a huge shock, an explosion of mixed emotions. I had so much to adapt to, seemingly so quickly, that I found myself frequently chasing my own tail as I struggled to understand what to do next! I wish I had known it would be such hard work.

I remember a nurse handing me my baby a few hours after the birth and telling me that he was ready for his first feed and then walking away. I remember just feeding him, but awkwardly and with some difficulty, and the bad habits we developed then stayed with us long enough to cause my nipples to crack and bleed. I wish I had known that breastfeeding and mothering are both learnt skills! I got help from a La Leche League counsellor and then settled down to enjoy breastfeeding. I loved the closeness and the convenience.

I remember changing him for the first time and marvelling at his little body. I remember his baby smell and exquisitely soft skin. I also remember picking him up and holding his delicious, tiny, naked body when he was two days old. His eyes opened wide in surprise as this cute little fountain of wee spurted all over us! I remember laughing! My baby brought much unexpected fun and laughter into my life.

Daniel thrived until he contracted whooping cough at a year old. Homeopathic treatment helped him through it and over it and I used it also for his accidents and injuries, for everyday coughs and colds and for those of his friends. Motherhood led me further into homeopathy because I needed help for my baby. The effectiveness of that treatment led me to take professional training and to specialise in working with mothers and babies. I wanted to work with a system of medicine that I could teach others to use, albeit in a limited way.

Homeopathy is a wonderful system of medicine for women in their childbearing years when anxiety about the side effects of orthodox medicines often leads them to suffer rather than seek medical help for minor aches and pains. Worse still, in an attempt to give their children the best care possible mothers find themselves giving one course of antibiotics after another for relatively minor complaints. Many parents are questioning this and are looking for more natural ways to look after themselves and their children when they fall ill.

This book is a natural extension of my wish to empower patients to help themselves. It is not intended to replace your doctor but rather to encourage you to think twice before giving, say, antibiotics for a teething cough or Calpol for a fever. I hope that you will take a little time to become familiar with the process of working out a good remedy the results will be rewarding. My aim is that you use orthodox medicines only when absolutely necessary so that your children grow up strong, vital, healthy and able to withstand ordinary, everyday stress. Finally, I wish you well in your exploration of this effective route to creating health.