Help me understand a midwife's comment about vegetarianism/raw foodism please?

[qfmother]

Hello -

I am a birth doula and was with a new client yesterday at the birth center that she will probably give birth at. She asked the midwife about a high raw food diet during pregnancy. The midwife (whom I have never met before) didn't make a specific comment about raw foodism, but she said that she has problems with clients who are "strict vegetarians." She said that she always has to work hard with them to make sure they are getting enough protein, and she also said that their placentas will many times show signs of lack of nutrition, such as calcification and other things.

I didn't ask the midwife about any of this because this wasn't my interview, but I wondered what the experts here at Raw Food Talk would have to say about it. I have been eating about 95% raw for 2 1/2 months now, have lost 30 pounds so far (I have at least 40 more to go) and am thinking about the possibility of a raw pregnancy if I get pregnant anytime soon.

Thanks so much!
Brenda

[Aleesha Sattva]

raw and being a cooked vegetarian are two completely different things.

with raw foods you get lots of protein and amino acids (which are used by your body to create protein)

[c'estlaviebelle]

I can only give you my personal experience (and thus opinion) so far. I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant now, and my midwife actually encourages a raw diet, especially over a cooked vegetarian one. However, raw foodism is gaining in popularity in socal, so it is not a new idea to her, and she has actually taken raw chef classes before, so she is very well informed.

She did tell me that if I was going to eat cooked vegan, I needed to make sure and combine grains, beans and lentils properly to get the full amino acids. I know there is a proper way to do this, but since I get most of my aminos from raw foods now it hasn't mattered much to me to find out how.

I can tell you from personal experience, I've been back to 90-100% raw on any given day now since week 20 of my pregnancy, and I've noted a remarkable change in my energy level since going back to raw. I've been taking prenatal vitamins since the beginning of the pregnancy and an iron supplement since about week 15, but it wasn't until I went back mostly raw that I really started feeling great. At first I was fatigued and was thinking that pregnancy might be really hard for me, but now I feel great and am really enjoying it! I have been taking a raw vegan protein supplement powder(derived from sprouted brown rice) about every other day in a raw smoothie, and it seems to keep my cravings for cheeses and eggs at bay (I was having a lot of cravings like that in the beginning). So, as long as I get enough RAW protein and aminos in the form of smoothies, fruits and greens, I've felt fantastic, and the baby has been fine. My midwife said baby seems really strong and active actually.

So, I guess my conclusion is that raw is working BETTER for me than ovo-lacto vegetarianism, which is what is normally recommended for pregnant vegetarians. Even when I went back cooked vegan for a few weeks (weeks 18-19) I did feel deficient. It wasn't until I went at least 80% raw each day that my energy level soared again. Keep in mind that the midwife you spoke with probably has limited experience with raw foodists, so lumps them in with cooked vegans without understanding how it is fundamentally different.

[klomasius]

I had a cooked vegan pregnancy, no health issues and my placenta sure didn't show signs of calcification. Tasted delicious too!

It's honestly really hard not to get enough protein on a vegan or vegetarian diet raw or cooked. I wouldn't take this woman's word as gold. Has she also compared the placentas of women who eat mostly junk food? I thought not...

[circle]

someone can be veg, vegan, or even raw vegan and still be unhealthy.

[appifanie]

i have a problem w/ medical types who dismiss entire groups of people and then complain about them and how they're making their lives difficult. (i had a vegan pregnancy and had a horrid doc and met w/ a horrid doc)

[Raene]

Several midwives were freaked out with my being raw too. They were saying "not enough protein=weak placenta" etc etc.

However, another homebirth midwife I know who was skeptical had one of my raw foodist friends as her client. This woman has been raw for 15 yrs. The midwife was so impressed with her pregnancy and birth that she wrote an article about raw foods. And that said, this woman is VERY strict raw...no nutritional yeast, no salt at all, etc. She is older and it was her first pregnancy and she did wonderfully.

I hope to hear more stories like that :)

[Veganforlife]

Check out Jinjee and her raw pregnancies/birth, etc.

http://www.thegardendiet.com/

I vote for Raw!!!

[circle]

any study can be skewed to support whatever claims which are beneficial to whatever company needs to sell whatever product.

there are many ways to conduct experiments and surveys where the outcomes of reactions of a sample can be carefully controlled and manipulated.

the meat/ factory farming industry is a huge conspiracy which makes a few rich individuals even richer. of course there is going to be information out there about how being natural is not good everywhere you look.

with that said, like i said before, there are still a lot of unhealthy vegans and raw vegans out there.

life is a journey where outcomes are never for sure. we are individuals, and everyone's path is just that. we must trust our instincts. that is why we are here.

[yangelutza]

Hello -

I am a birth doula and was with a new client yesterday at the birth center that she will probably give birth at. She asked the midwife about a high raw food diet during pregnancy. The midwife (whom I have never met before) didn't make a specific comment about raw foodism, but she said that she has problems with clients who are "strict vegetarians." She said that she always has to work hard with them to make sure they are getting enough protein, and she also said that their placentas will many times show signs of lack of nutrition, such as calcification and other things.

I didn't ask the midwife about any of this because this wasn't my interview, but I wondered what the experts here at Raw Food Talk would have to say about it. I have been eating about 95% raw for 2 1/2 months now, have lost 30 pounds so far (I have at least 40 more to go) and am thinking about the possibility of a raw pregnancy if I get pregnant anytime soon.

Thanks so much!
Brenda

Strange,... I have 4 kids, 3 born at home, with them I was vegan during gestation(1st born I was S.A.D.& 300+lbs). My midwife in Austin TX, had no complaints about me, or my pregnancies, outside of her stating "I ate better than she did". Keep in mind that she delivered more than one hundred babies.
Perhaps the clients she(the midwife mentioned) had were young, or inexperienced vegetarians.
As for being on a raw diet, remember that you are in control of what you eat, as long as you eat to accommodate your nutritional needs, you should be great! Any diet can be unhealthy if you make bad choices. (*If you run low on iron, remember the blue green algae, such as spirulina,& sun chlorella.)
P.S. I weighed 235 when found out I was pregnant with my 2nd child, and was newly vegan, I weighed 187 on my due date, and 177 after he was born. He almost weighed 9 1/2 pounds.
All of my kids are healthy, and the last 3 have been vegan all of their lives, my eldest since she was 2 1/2, and she's 14 now.
Hope this helps

[qfmother]

Hello Yangelutza -

I'm so impressed by your testimony! I also just posted a question about preparing for raw pregnancy, and no one has answered yet - but your story is just the kind that I need to hear! Would you be willing to share more about your diet while you were pregnant and how you managed to lose 47 pounds during the pregnancy plus growing a 9 1/2 pound baby? I would so love to hear your story.

Also - the midwife I spoke about above probably knows your midwife in Austin, because she mentioned that she has worked mostly in San Marcos and Austin, but is now working in a birthing center in San Antonio which is where I met her. How interesting is that?

Hope to hear from you again -

Blessings,
Brenda

[ViolinCyndee]

I had a cooked vegan pregnancy, no health issues and my placenta sure didn't show signs of calcification. Tasted delicious too!
...

OK maybe I am reading this wrong but:

Your placenta "tasted delicious"?

[klomasius]

OK maybe I am reading this wrong but:

Your placenta "tasted delicious"?

Warning, gross content below!

Haha! Oh yes, marinated with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce (I wasn't raw back then).

We had a huge horror themed dress up party and about 15 people there ate the placenta (little cocktail squares on sticks). Totally fun!

I will state now, I'm not your average parent...

p.s. Go yangelutza!

I wanted my son to remain vegan after his first vegan year of life but his dad took over as primary carer and was veg so I had to give a little on that. slowly weaning him back by stealth though!

Hows this, the first vegan I ever met (This was 5 years after I turned vegan myself) was a lifelong vegan of 26 years of age!

[qfmother]

Since I'm a birth doula, I've heard of this - but never marinated! It's apparently a very good way to control postpartum hemorrhaging and also to prevent postpartum depression. Some people dehydrate their placenta, grind it up, and then capsule it and say it really helps!

Brenda

[ViolinCyndee]

Warning, gross content below!

Haha! Oh yes, marinated with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce (I wasn't raw back then).

We had a huge horror themed dress up party and about 15 people there ate the placenta (little cocktail squares on sticks). Totally fun!

I will state now, I'm not your average parent...

p.s. Go yangelutza!

I wanted my son to remain vegan after his first vegan year of life but his dad took over as primary carer and was veg so I had to give a little on that. slowly weaning him back by stealth though!

Hows this, the first vegan I ever met (This was 5 years after I turned vegan myself) was a lifelong vegan of 26 years of age!

Yes.. gross is the correct adjective there. But not sure if "totally fun" is. Sorry but that freaks me out.. (no offense)