Naturopathic medicine focuses on getting to the root of health problems rather than just treating symptoms. A naturopathic doctor treats conditions using holistic treatments such as acupuncture, nutritional medicine and allergy testing. A naturopathic physician will take your health history and ask questions about your lifestyle, recommending a customized treatment plan. In treating patients a naturopath can also educate them on intravenous therapy, chelation therapy, supplements and pregnancy health.

The average woman, we hope that they get most of their nutrition through a really healthy diet. But there are some people that may need extra vitamins and nutrients to ensure that they have a really healthy pregnancy.

Vegetarians and vegans, there’s a few things that we want to make sure that they’re doing properly with their diet. One is to ensure adequate protein intake, because protein is a very important nutrient. The other things that come to mind would be iron and also B12 because those are – well, iron’s found in plant food.

It’s easier to absorb it through animal product. And B12 is primarily found in animal products. So those are some things we look at.

Also anyone who is on a low-dairy or no-dairy diet, calcium comes to mind. So while again you can get it through a vegetarian diet or a vegan diet, you just have to be more careful and perhaps calculate that you’re getting enough of those essential nutrients.

The people who may need extra folic acid above and beyond the recommended typical one milligram of folic acid are people who are overweight or obese. Women who are over 35, we generally recommend a little bit of extra. And also anyone who has a family history of having any kind of neural tube defect or anyone who’s had a previous pregnancy with a neural tube defect.

Vitamin D’s big in the media these days and in pregnancy we know that it’s really important and especially in a couple populations of people who are more at risk for being vitamin D deficient. We know that people who live in northern latitudes, that’s one risk factor.

But also people with darker skin and people who are obese, they tend to be more deficient in this essential vitamin so may want to either get their vitamin D levels tested or consider just supplementing with a little bit of extra.

If you’re looking for more information about whether herbs and supplements might be helpful for you and your pregnancy, please talk to your local naturopathic doctor and see if they might be right for you.

Local Practitioners: Naturopathic Doctor