Page 49 - Special Issue: Healthy Baby

mineral supplements, standardized herbal tinc- Nature obeyed.” These words take on enhanced All women
tures and all herbs in capsules. (Supplements can meaning for women facing decisions about how
be synthesized or, if made from foods grown with to have healthy children and achieve long-term want to
pesticides, include concentrations of pesticides.) reproductive health. enjoy good
Step 5-B: Use drugs. Over-the-counter Menstrual cycle by menstrual cycle, Fertility health,
and prescription drugs as well as all hormonal Awareness provides women and men a way to
medications (including progesterone creams) are work in concert with nature and their bodies— loving
included in this step. whether they aim to conceive or to prevent preg- relationships
Step 6: Break and enter. Besides surgery, nancy. Further, Fertility Awareness does no harm and,
Weed includes psychotropic drugs, “fear-inspir- to a woman’s hormonal system or her nutrient
ing language,” shots, diagnostic tests such as stores. The method does take time and effort to if they
laparoscopy and surgery in step 6. “If all other learn—just like cooking nutrient-dense meals. choose,
steps fail and you are a woman with severe men- And, like knowing how to cook, it is a basic life healthy
strual cramps,” she says, “a hysterectomy is a skill worth passing on to the next generation.
reasonable choice.” offspring.
Weed further explains, “When you do noth- The
ing, collect information, engage the energy, and RESOURCES medical
nourish and tonify (steps 0-3), then functioning Singer, Katie, The Garden of Fertility: A Guide
and joy increase: you build health. True healing to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent or model
takes place in these early steps. Whether your Achieve Pregnancy—Naturally—and to Gauge proposes
problem is chronic or acute, steps 0-3 (along with Reproductive Health, Avery/Penguin, 2004. drugs that
realistic expectations of the time healing takes) Includes chapters on breastfeeding, food and
are worthy of your attention. reproductive health, night-lighting, and healing disrupt
“Although the impulse in our culture is to childbearing losses. KatieSinger.com includes natural
jump to step 4 or 5, each step up increases the fertility charts that can be downloaded for free processes
possibility of severe side effects. While healing and a Fertility Awareness teacher’s study guide.
can and does take place with the aid of drugs and as a way to
surgery, once you get to step 5, you can damage Singer, Katie, Honoring Our Cycles: A Natu- achieving
or destroy health. Drugs might get rid of men- ral Family Planning Workbook for Knowing these goals.
strual cramps, but they don’t address the cause Which Days You Can and Can’t Get Pregnant,
or nourish your body. Drugs mask symptoms. NewTrends Publishing, 2006. Written in simple
Even common over-the-counter drugs like aspirin language, the book includes fertility charts and
can injure health. In the Wise Woman Tradition, information on nutrition and is a companion to
symptoms are not enemies to be destroyed but Nourishing Traditions.
cherished messengers who encourage us to take
good care of ourselves.” Singer, Katie, An Electronic Silent Spring, Steiner
Books, 2004. electronicsilentspring.com/primers/
LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS fertility/. Precautions for pregnant women and
All women want to enjoy good health, loving families about use of electronics.
relationships and, if they choose, healthy
offspring. The medical model proposes drugs The Fertility Awareness Center. FertAware.com
that disrupt natural processes as a way to achieve (347) 435-0212 Provides consultations and Fer-
these goals. Others in the Western world under- tility Awareness instruction.
stood that fulfillment can only be achieved by
working with natural processes, not suppress- The Couple To Couple League. CCLI.org. (800)

ing them. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) put it 745-8252. Offers classes and literature about nat-
this way: “Nature is not to be governed except ural family planning with a Catholic orientation.
through obeying her.” Similarly, Weston A. Price
(1870-1948) told those who wish a long and Gladstar, Rosemary, Herbal Healing for Women,
meaningful life: “Life in all its fullness is Mother Fireside, 1993. Describes how to prepare herbs

Wise Traditions 47