Two miscarriages left Pamela and her husband, Jim, devastated. At thirty-four years of age, Pamela feared that she would never be able to have children. Her ob/gyn doctor checked her for some of the causes of miscarriage. All the tests came back with normal results.

Pamela and Jim consulted with me to see if I had any ideas about helping her get pregnant. I explained that she was probably low in progesterone, a hormone that helps to maintain the pregnancy—even though her test results showed that she was within the normal range.

Over the years, I have used progesterone suppositories successfully to raise the progesterone levels in several patients in their thirties who had had miscarriages, but then were able to have successful pregnancies with the added progesterone.

I offered to prescribe bio-identical progesterone suppositories for Pamela when she was ready to attempt getting pregnant again. (Bio-identical hormones, like progesterone, must not be mistaken for Progestin, a synthetic version that has many potential side effects.)

When I took a complete history, as I do with all new patients, I discovered that Pamela came from a family lineage with multiple medical conditions, including allergies, eczema, chronic fatigue, autoimmune disease, bipolar illness, and cancer. Many of these conditions are related to toxins in the environment. Thinking as an environmental doctor, I made a proposal to my patient:

“Pamela, would you be willing to postpone your attempts to get pregnant for six months to a year so we can work on detoxification? Lowering your body burden of chemicals will increase the odds of having a healthy baby.”

Every patient in my medical practice who intends to get pregnant hears me make this same suggestion.

Pamela and Jim glanced at each other briefly. I explained to them that all of us are loaded with toxic chemicals that have the potential to get transferred to the baby in utero, and then through the breast milk.

Fat biopsies done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that 100% of the people (and animals) tested throughout the world have a wide assortment of toxic chemicals and heavy metals stored in their fat cells and organs—between 400-800 chemicals, including dioxins, PCBs, pesticides, flame-retardants, phthalates, styrene, xylene and benzene.

The “toxic load,” also known as the “total body burden,” occurs when toxic chemicals accumulate inside the body and exceed the capacity of the liver and other organs of detoxification to reduce or neutralize the toxins.

The bioaccumulation of these toxic chemicals affects our physical and mental health, potentially impacting the brain and nervous system, as well as the immune system. The fetus is especially vulnerable to these chemical exposures.

The rate of autism among children has skyrocketed, along with birth defects, learning disorders, behavior problems, anxiety disorders, depression, allergies, eczema, and childhood cancers like leukemia and brain tumors. Sadly, we can no longer take for granted that we will have a healthy baby.

“How do I go about unloading my body of toxins?” Pamela asked with a look of concern on her face.

I decided that the infra-red sauna would be a good place to start her detoxification program—something not too overwhelming for Pamela to incorporate into her life. I discussed with her all the many benefits of dry sauna and then gave her guidelines on how to implement the sauna protocol. (Refer to the blog posts about Cancer Treatment—an Alternative Approach. In Part II of the three-part series, you will find the information about infra-red saunas and guidelines you can follow.)

https://www.musingsmemoirandmedicine.com/2016/03/cancer-treatment-part-ii/

Pamela found an infra-red sauna at a women’s gym near her house. She went two to three times a week, gradually increasing the time she spent in the sauna. After a few weeks of following the sauna protocol, she reported that she really liked the way she felt “clean on the inside.”

Once she had the sauna routine down, we discussed her diet. As usual with my patients, the diet poses the most challenging part of the program. I recommended that she follow a diet similar to the one I had recommended to Loretta in Part I of the three-part cancer series.

https://www.musingsmemoirandmedicine.com/2016/03/cancer-treatment-a-different-approach

In short, the diet stresses the importance of vegetables, plenty of healthy fats, and proteins mostly from plants like nuts, seeds and beans. I encouraged her to eat eggs from pastured chickens, small amounts of meat from 100% grass-fed animals and cage-free chickens. I talked about the importance of eating organically raised food as much as possible—even if it meant paying more money.

I asked her to avoid alcohol, recreational drugs, cigarettes, all seafood, genetically modified foods, and foods contaminated with pesticides. We discussed the importance of limiting sugars and simple carbohydrates and all foods that she suspected she might be allergic to, like gluten and soy. Since the food industry has added up to 3,000 chemicals to our foods, it’s especially important to avoid processed foods and focus on fresh produce.

With regard to medications, I asked her to try to avoid pharmaceutical drugs if possible. I urged her to contact me if she was prescribed a medication so that I could make sure it would not harm the fetus. I gave her a handout with guidelines about what to do if she started to get a viral infection.

https://www.musingsmemoirandmedicine.com/2015/10/flu-prevention-and-treatment/

The blood tests I ordered for Pamela checked for anemia, and thyroid, liver, and kidney function, vitamin D levels, B-12 and folic acid levels, and mineral levels. Her results showed slightly low thyroid levels, low B-12, several mineral deficiencies, and low vitamin D. All the abnormal values were easily corrected with food-based supplements.

I reviewed the supplements that she took and made some recommendations:

• Omega 3 fish oils are very important for proper brain formation in the developing fetus. I recommended one of the brands known to be clean, with a dose of 2000 mg of total fish oils a day with a meal.

• B-12 in the form of methylcobalamin, under the tongue, since Pamela had been a vegetarian for many years. B-12 is important for brain development.

• B-complex for brain development. Pamela did not feel well when she took the B vitamins, so I suggested she switch to nutritional yeast which she tolerated well.

• Methyl folate, a form of folic acid that the fetus needs for the formation of the brain and nervous system.

• Vitamin D 5,000 IU, with vitamin K, taken with a meal.

• MegaFood Balanced minerals for the trace minerals needed to build the baby’s structure.

• Magnesium glycinate, 400 mg a day, a very important mineral that most of us are deficient in.

• Bioavailable curcumin to quell inflammation and for the health of the mitochondria in each cell of the body.

• Probiotics to help maintain the health of the gastro-intestinal tract where most of the immune system lies.

Next, it was time to look at her home and reduce as many toxic chemicals as possible. Her house was loaded with substances that increase the body burden of toxins. She had mothballs in her closet, Raid insect spray on her shelf in the pantry, air freshener and body products full of phthalates and other toxic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the bathroom, fabric softener and benzene-based stain remover and Tide detergent in the laundry room, an unventilated gas stove in the kitchen, and the herbicide Roundup on the lawn to kill the broad-leafed weeds.

I referred her to a seasoned patient of mine for coaching on how to implement all the suggestions I made and replace the toxic products with ones that were harmless. The goal was to make her home into a real sanctuary.

Pamela mentioned that she was planning to remodel her small office and turn it into the baby’s room. I urged her to convert the room into the baby’s room, but without the remodeling. She and her newborn baby would be exposed to many toxic chemicals from the remodeling, especially formaldehyde and solvents, along with a multitude of chemicals from new carpeting. She asked that if she followed the recommendation for non-toxic remodeling in the book I co-authored, Prescription for a Healthy House, could she then go ahead with the remodeling, using non toxic products? I suggested that she wait until her hoped-for child was older.

The health coach who worked with Pamela called me to say that she noticed a slightly moldy smell in her house. The mold inspectors did indeed find mold beneath Pamela’s kitchen sink and in the master bathroom.

I convinced Pamela of the importance of removing the mold. The mycotoxins that certain mold spores release are chemicals that can be extremely toxic. A professional mold remediation company hermetically sealed off the water-damaged area and then removed the mold-infested drywall and wood. At my recommendation, Pamela evacuated the house until the remediation was completed.

Pamela installed a whole-house water filter in her home after hearing about the chemical and heavy metal contaminants frequently found in drinking water. An article in USA Today reported that the average city water contains more than 500 chemicals. Another report said that measurable levels of the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup made by Monsanto, were found in 70% of drinking water in American households.

I recommended that Pamela get an air filter with a charcoal and HEPA filter for her bedroom. Occasionally she gets a whiff of diesel fumes from trucks passing on the street not far from her house. The charcoal in the filter binds fumes. And dust and pollens, ubiquitous in this part of the country, are trapped by the HEPA part of the filter.

Pamela, obviously a thoughtful person, asked me to repeat what I had said about toxins coming out of the breast milk into the baby’s body and wondered if she should avoid breastfeeding altogether. My short answer was “No. Breast feeding is important.” I reminded her that the detoxification program before her pregnancy would reduce the amount of toxins released into the breast milk.

A study of breastfeeding mothers who had meticulously eaten strictly organic food for at least two or three years before getting pregnant, revealed that they still had measureable levels in their breast milk of glyphosate, the number one herbicide in the world, recently classified by the World Health Organization as a probable carcinogen. The levels of glyphosate in the American mother’s milk were ten times higher than the levels found in breast milk from Europe.

http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/glyphosate_testing_results

In spite of these disturbing results, the American Academy of Pediatrics still urges mothers to breastfeed. They feel that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the harm. In addition, formula is no match for mother’s milk.

With this information, Pamela was even more motivated to follow the detoxification program before trying to get pregnant again. She was determined to have clean breast milk for her baby.

The last item on Pamela’s list of questions was the most controversial. She asked about getting the flu vaccine. I shared with her the information about the pros and cons, similar to what I wrote about in my blog post:

https://www.musingsmemoirandmedicine.com/2015/10/flu-vaccine/

Pamela knew that I was not going to tell her what to do with regard to the flu vaccine. On her own, she decided to forego the vaccine and instead follow the flu prevention guidelines to the letter.

Recently I mentored a fourth-year medical student. His last rotation before graduating was ob/gyn. He said it was now standard procedure to vaccinate women in their first trimester of pregnancy. I was incredulous at hearing this disturbing news. I went on the CDC website and this is what I read:

“You should get some vaccines, like DTaP (to protect against whooping cough), during your pregnancy. Other vaccines, like the flu shot, can be given before or during pregnancy, depending on whether or not it’s flu season when you’re pregnant.”

The first trimester is when the brain and nervous system are forming, a time of vulnerability. The preservatives in the vaccines are neurotoxic and can cause inflammation to the brain and interfere with its development.

In the DTaP vaccine the CDC recommends for pregnant women, the preservatives are aluminum phosphate, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and 2-Phenoxyethanol, all of which are known neurotoxins. The multi-dose flu vaccine contains thimerosal (mercury) as well as the other preservatives. To read for yourself, here is the link to vaccine insert information:

http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/Influenza/Influenza-Vaccine-Package-Inserts.aspx

If I were a parent in California, I think I would join with other concerned parents and go to court to protest the state’s enforced vaccination program.

It is a falsehood to say all vaccines are safe. For some people, the vaccines have had a devastating impact, derailing their lives and the lives of their families. The government has paid three billion dollars over the years to families who have children who were permanently damaged by vaccines. Therefore the government obviously knows that the vaccines are not safe for everyone.

Giving vaccines routinely in the first trimester of pregnancy is a horrifying thought for me. We already have a skyrocketing population of children whose brains have been seriously impacted by toxic exposures that they are unable to clear from their bodies.

In spite of this disturbing information, I’d like to leave you on a hopeful note. Pamela followed the detoxification program for a year and said she felt fabulous. She stopped actively detoxifying at the point she decided to try and get pregnant again.

Pamela had a baby boy, delivered at full term with no complications. Breastfeeding went smoothly. The last time I saw Danny, he was ten years old and full of energy. He was doing exceptionally well in school with a ravenous hunger for learning. He loved to socialize and had many friends on his soccer team. He had no allergies, no eczema, no behavior problems, no mood disorder, no learning disabilities, and has never needed antibiotics.

If you have a friend or family member who is thinking about getting pregnant, please consider passing on this information if you think it would be appropriate.