What are our births like? Tutta Larsen, 2020
Toxicosis: why do I need this?
It prevents us from eating, sleeping, breathing, and generally living during that blissful period when we are pregnant. Toxicosis is a very unpleasant condition that affects a happy mother and ruins her entire first trimester of pregnancy. But there is still extremely severe toxicosis in the third trimester - yes, it is much rarer, but also more dangerous for the health of mother and child.
The symptoms of toxicosis are very similar to a severe hangover. Nausea, vomiting, cloudy head, inability to tolerate the most common smells - everyone who has suffered toxicosis has repeatedly asked the question: why am I doing this? Maybe I somehow behaved incorrectly BEFORE pregnancy? Maybe I was in vain, as in that joke, “drank, smoked and did what the hell”?!
Attention, question!
Is it possible to prepare for pregnancy in such a way as to avoid toxicosis? And if it does occur, is it possible to somehow get rid of it?
FIRST OPINION
Vladimir Sursyakov, obstetrician-gynecologist, candidate of medical sciences, specialist at the Center for Family Planning and Reproduction:
“Early toxicosis in pregnant women is a common occurrence. It is impossible to prevent it"
Vladimir, I would like to receive from you a small educational program on the topic of toxicosis. What is it expressed in? When should we expect it?
Toxicosis appears in the early stages, around the 5th week. Many women find out about their pregnancy precisely because toxicosis has begun - nausea sets in in the morning, the world of smells and tastes is turned upside down. Typically, this condition stops after 12 weeks. In very rare cases, it persists until the end of pregnancy. Toxicosis is characterized by an extremely uncomfortable state: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, salivation, sensitivity to odors. But there is no need to be afraid. You are not the only one. According to statistics, toxicosis in one form or another is observed in 60% of women.
Toxicosis is similar to a very bad hangover, so many mothers have the following thoughts: maybe before pregnancy I behaved incorrectly - ate incorrectly, smoked, drank?
The “sins” you listed do not affect the appearance of toxicosis. This term itself came from the theory that the fetus itself supposedly has a toxic effect on the mother, but this has long been refuted. In fact, there is no connection here, just as there is no connection between toxicosis and smoking, alcohol or other habits of a woman.
If toxicosis does begin, is it possible to somehow minimize its manifestations?
It is impossible to completely get rid of toxicosis, but you can try to reduce its manifestations. It all comes down to walking more, eating healthy foods, and enjoying your pregnancy. It is also useful to have frequent meals - 5-6 times a day and use refreshing drinks based on lemon, lemon balm and mint to reduce the feeling of nausea. To reduce salivation, it is useful to rinse your mouth with decoctions of oak bark, chamomile and sage. But, alas, there is no clear solution to the problem, universal for all women.
Isn't this dangerous for the child's health?
No, except for the situation with repeated vomiting. If the patient is vomiting, then this is a large loss of fluid. Vitamins and protein are removed from the body, which negatively affects the fetus.
Does it happen that a woman’s first pregnancy goes through toxicosis, and the second without it?
The term “toxicosis” comes from the theory that the fetus allegedly has a toxic effect on the mother, but it has long been refuted. In fact, there is no connection here, just as there is no connection between toxicosis and smoking, alcohol or other habits of a woman.
As a rule, if you experienced nausea and vomiting during your first pregnancy, then expect the same thing in your next pregnancy. But sometimes it happens that a new pregnancy proceeds differently. It's like the fact that the same mother will have all the children different.
If a woman begins to develop toxicosis, what should she do? Resign yourself and endure? Tell your doctor and demand treatment? Run to the pharmacy and self-medicate?
Of course, you need to inform your doctor about this, who will prescribe therapy based on your symptoms. This may be standard treatment - changing the diet and volume of food. In more severe cases, hospital treatment and the introduction of serious medications are necessary. It is better not to self-medicate, so as not to bring the situation to a critical one.
My personal experience:
Luke, Martha, Vanya. Early toxicosis of pregnant women did not bypass me either. I practically did not experience its most unpleasant manifestations - nausea and vomiting. But all three of my pregnancies were complicated by a heightened sense of smell. It was real torture. I couldn’t stand the smells of people who were nearby, the aromas of food, perfumes. Sitting in a traffic jam behind the wheel of my car, I could accurately determine down to the number what kind of gasoline the cars around me were filling up with. And if, God forbid, someone smoked in a car three cars before me, I could smell it with my sensitive nose. Very unpleasant experience!
Another oddity, and I am inclined to attribute it to toxicosis - I really wanted beer! Sometimes I allowed myself non-alcoholic drinks. Which did not relieve me of remorse. And after an interview with nutritionist Anastasia Moskovkina, I completely stopped being interested in it.
SECOND OPINION
Anastasia Moskovkina, nutritionist, specialist at the Gemokod clinic:
“Toxicosis is an exceptional phenomenon. It can be prevented"
Anastasia, it is believed that early toxicosis in pregnant women is normal. What is your opinion on this matter?
From my point of view, there is nothing normal about toxicosis. This phenomenon is exceptional, and it should not happen if a woman eats right and leads a healthy lifestyle.
Why does toxicosis happen? Did the woman do something wrong before pregnancy?
Scientists have not yet proven any of the theories of toxicosis. But I, as a practitioner with a huge sample of patients, have several suspicions about why it occurs and how it can be avoided. First of all, according to my observations, early toxicosis occurs if a woman does not eat properly: she eats a lot, or eats the wrong thing, for example, she prefers a lot of salty and sweet foods. If the expectant mother wants the pregnancy to be easy, she needs to prepare for it in advance. What does it mean to prepare? First, understand exactly what foods your body needs. Secondly, eat food in small portions and when you want, without skipping meals. And thirdly, you don’t need to push food into yourself. If the body does not want it and rejects food, it means that it does not need it at the moment.
Most women worry: if I don’t eat enough, how will my baby feel?
I dare to assure you that everything will be fine with the child. There was a Polish midwife, Stanislava Leszczynska, who ended up in Auschwitz and delivered babies there for several years. Imagine the terrible conditions people were in! So, from the notes of this midwife it is known that women who were forced to starve severely did not have a single pathological pregnancy, not a single case of toxicosis, not a single sick child was born. So, if your child is malnourished, don’t worry about it. If you don’t feel like eating, don’t eat, but rather drink water. At least a sip per hour. And calm down, because the phenomenon of toxicosis often also coexists with psychological instability, with mental variability. It is known: what we think too much about is what we get. Where thoughts go, so do actions.
Why is toxicosis so similar to a hangover?
A hangover is a condition associated with a deficiency of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. If there is not enough of this enzyme, and there are too many organic substances - aldehydes - breakdown products of ethyl alcohol, then the person gets true poisoning, a hangover. Toxicosis is not poisoning or a hangover, but it is similar in situation: the body does not perceive something. And I am one of those doctors who regard every symptom as a signal. The body is signaling something, which means we need to catch this signal and give the body what it wants. Or remove what he doesn't want. In case of toxicosis, it is better not to give, but to remove excess.
Your advice: how to prepare for pregnancy, what to do to avoid toxicosis?
The first stage: you need to figure out what your body needs. Listen to him. Don't immediately run to the pharmacy and grab any vitamins or nutritional supplements. You can take a basic general blood test - for iron, for microelements, for food intolerance - and see what the body lacks, what it urgently needs.
You can take a basic general blood test - for iron, for microelements, for food intolerance - and see what the body lacks, what it urgently needs.
The second stage: stop eating fast food, unnatural food - the kind that “comes out” of the gates of factories and factories. Eat what grows, blooms, runs. Train yourself to cook food, and cook it competently - not to overcook, for example, but to boil, stew, bake.
Often with toxicosis, taste inversion is observed. What was not accepted before is absorbed, instead of sweet you want to switch to salty, and vice versa. Try everything and find “your” products during pregnancy.
As soon as you start eating right, toxicosis will subside. It may not be 100%, but 90% is quite possible.
Third stage: you need to learn to drink water. Not - “oh, I forgot to drink water, then I’ll immediately swallow three liters.” You should drink before each meal, a few sips, a glass maximum. And listen to your feelings. If you like acidified water, try acidifying it. If you like sweets, try sweetening it.
Can alcohol, cigarettes, nocturnal lifestyle and other similar factors subsequently cause toxicosis?
Absolutely all the factors that you listed - alcohol, cigarettes, changes in biological rhythms - affect not only the occurrence of toxicosis, but the entire course of pregnancy and your future life with the already born child. You will really pay the price for a chaotic lifestyle. That's why I say that you need to take care of your health before starting pregnancy. And then later you will rest.
There is a theory that during pregnancy there is a large consumption of B vitamins, and if you consume these vitamins, there will be no toxicosis. This is why, supposedly, many pregnant women crave beer, it relieves nausea. After all, beer contains a lot of vitamin B.
My personal experience of observing a large number of pregnant women suggests that there is no connection between a lack of B vitamins and toxicosis. By the way, B vitamins are found not only in beer. These are, first of all, cereals and unpolished rice. But for some reason pregnant women don’t want rice, but are drawn to beer! Alas! Alcohol during pregnancy is contraindicated in any doses. This has long been proven; in this matter I do not advise following your feelings against the rules.
B vitamins are not only found in beer. These are, first of all, cereals and unpolished rice. But for some reason pregnant women don’t want rice, but are drawn to beer! Alas! Alcohol during pregnancy is contraindicated in any doses.
Adviсe:
Every pregnancy is unique. How you can cope with toxicosis and the illness it causes depends not only on you. Many factors come together at this point, and I’m not sure that even following all the expert recommendations will save you from toxicosis. In addition to what they said, I would like to give some advice. I formulated them primarily for myself, combining the experience of my own pregnancies.
1) Accept that you are feeling unwell.
Now you will not have time to do everything planned for the day.
Calculate the most acute hours of toxicosis and plan your day so that you can spend these hours as comfortably as possible, away from the main irritants. For example, if you notice that severe attacks of nausea occur in the evenings, there is no need to schedule a business dinner at this time. Try to plan your day so that your plans do not conflict with your illness.
2) Get as much sleep as possible
. Don't fight sleep. If you feel like your body is shutting down at 8 pm, drop everything and go to bed! Agree with your household that now they prepare their own breakfast, and you fill up this morning hour with sleep.
3) Take it easy on mood swings, which are now happening more often
. Be prepared for them. Remember: the less tired and exhausted you are, the easier it will be to control them.
4) Eat right
. Even if you are disgusted by 99% of products, you still have a whole percentage in your arsenal, and that’s a lot. Listen to yourself, look for what helps you. Sour, salty, sweet. And keep it always at hand. Especially when you wake up in the morning. Morning sickness is usually relieved by eating, as paradoxical as it may sound.
5) Rejoice!
You feel sick for a reason, it’s not a stupid hangover. Your torment will be of use. In the end, toxicosis is for two to three months, but the happiness of motherhood is forever! Congratulations to you!
“A priceless gift and personal territory”
S.R.
At that time, did you already have an ideal family?
T.L.
Yes, Valera (Tutta’s husband Valery Koloskov) was already there, and we knew that we wanted to give birth naturally, together and with our midwife. And we went to courses at the CTA, where, despite the fact that I had two births behind me, I learned a lot of new things. In Moscow in those years there were enough women who did not want to give birth in maternity hospitals, but wanted to do it naturally, without any stimulation. To give birth by nature - in warmth, in silence, in the dark, as the famous obstetrician-gynecologist, the main ideologist of natural parenting, Michel Oden wrote. Three “T”s a woman needs during childbirth! There was no such opportunity in maternity hospitals, and therefore many decided to give birth at home, which often ended tragically. Alas, we do not have an official institute of home birth in our country. What did CTA do? There they concluded an agreement with the city’s Ministry of Health, and today special wards for “soft births” have opened in many maternity hospitals in Moscow and some maternity hospitals in the Moscow region. The “Soft Childbirth” program was created, according to which a woman in a state maternity hospital could give birth, practically at home. So, for the third time in my life, I gave birth to my daughter Martha. Not in the delivery room, but in a room with a large bed, a large bathroom, and all sorts of aids for childbirth: a rubber ball, a special chair. Everything so that the body takes a free position, decides on its own what position to take in order to relieve pain, relieve tension and give birth. My midwife and husband were with me, and the doctor would come if needed. And no medical devices like IVs! No punctures of the blisters, no oxytocin, no pain relief - nothing!...And, you know, if we are talking about such a physiological process as childbirth, I assure you, you don’t even need an enema, this is also obstetric aggression, violence. This is not a requirement for successful labor. If a woman wants, she can do an enema - please! And if not, it’s her right. If a woman does not want her pubic area shaved, no one here has the right to force her to do so. All this is interference in a woman’s intimate life, in her personal space. INVALUABLE personal space! All this is a total humiliation of women, which unfortunately still reigns today, coming from the USSR, when the expectant mother was regarded as some kind of cow who had come to calve. “No one cares how you feel at this moment, we know better how to get this child of yours out of you!” Nevermind! Pregnancy is not a disease that needs to be cured. Pregnancy is one of the greatest events in a woman's life. This is a gift, this is a holiday, this is fireworks! This is a miracle that she has every right to live the way she wants. And this is not about medicine at all, this is a sacred action. When I gave birth this way, I realized what childbirth could be like. I heard the child moving inside me and knew what I had to do to help him. We worked in pairs, Marfa and I collaborated. It was a partnership birth between mother and child!
T.L.
Well, without pain? It was painful in some places, difficult in others. Childbirth, of course, is hard work, but all these painful sensations in no way overshadow the cosmic scale of what is happening. At some point, I felt like some kind of universal mother, I merged with billions of women, including the Mother of God, do not consider it blasphemy. Suddenly you realize that you are the queen of the universe, you are the mother! This is complete euphoria! Nature has done everything to ensure that we carry and give birth to a child without any auxiliary substances. We have everything of our own: anesthetics, stimulants, and tranquilizers. We have lost the habit of trusting our body and our nature, but a woman at the time of childbirth is a crazy factory of hormones and all other substances. Of course, there is a midwife and a doctor nearby to help if something goes wrong. But I don’t need to decide for my body how to do it! After natural childbirth, everything also happens not quite as is customary in maternity hospitals. They didn’t immediately take Marfa to wash her, they let the umbilical cord pulsate and left her on me. And we took the placenta with us and buried it in the garden, because it seemed important to us.
