Transcript:

This episode was inspired by a mama who sent me the following message on instagram “Can you educate more about newborns needing a gut rebalance due to antibiotics given to the mother at or shortly before or after birth? This happened to me as I ended up in the hospital for 3 days postpartum with severe mastitis and a fever and my baby ended up having such irregular poops for months. This is how I found you. But I imagine this happens often, especially in hospital birth settings.”

Thank you, Morgan, for suggesting this because it is definitely a topic that needs to be talked about more. Especially if you are in your mother-bearing years. The connection between antibiotics during pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and other mental health issues is profound but none of our healthcare providers are talking about this! Even further, our antibiotic use directly impacts our children. 

Before we dive deep into this, I just want to say, I am here for you. I love connecting with you and creating content that serves you so if you have questions or episode suggestions please DM me on instagram @oneorganics. Connecting with my community is what keeps me coming back so please don’t be shy. 

Okay - now. I know this is a heated topic. There are some instances where we are told we need antibiotics. This is okay. This is not an anti-antibiotic episode. But there is a lot you need to know. Today we are going to talk about what to do to restore your body post antibiotics and ways you can avoid needing them in the first place. 

So, what you need to know is that your microbiome is crucial for your mental, emotional and physical health. When you take antibiotics, they kill the bacterial infection and they also kill the good bacteria in your body. It takes TWO years for your good gut bacteria to repopulate after just one round of antibiotics. 

Really quick, as you are listening, if you have needed antibiotics or your child is showing symptoms of imbalance due to antibiotic use during pregnancy, postpartum or even in their childhood - don’t worry! Healing is absolutely possible. And please please do not burden yourself with guilt. We can’t blame ourselves for what we don’t know but we can empower ourselves with knowledge so we are prepared moving forward and that is exactly why you are here. So let that guilt and worry go, except your journey and focus your energy on healing.

Now if you have taken antibiotics in any stage of your life and have not intentionally rebalanced your gut, your gut is imbalanced. If it was during pregnancy, birth or while breastfeeding you can be certain that both you and your child's gut microbiome is imbalanced. A lot of women and children will show symptoms of imbalance such as eczema, colic, acne, sour smelling poop, constipation, diarrhea, depression or anxiety, developmental or speech delays - there are so many symptoms. But a lot of times, we don’t even recognize that we even have symptoms. Especially postpartum because we are all told that mood swings and sleep deprivation is normal. That feeling blue and down, unmotivated or emotional - it’s just part of it. And to an extent yes, but again, if you needed antibiotics - your microbiome is imbalanced. 

There are many hormones that are produced in your gut so if there is an imbalance, your body is not able to function optimally. It is not producing optimal amounts of hormones, your immune system is compromised and your brain is foggy. But as mamas, our culture and even we ourselves, tend to brush ourselves under the rug. We don’t even recognize our own symptoms. We see our children struggling with rashes or digestive issues and we seek healing for them. But we never even pause to consider our own wellbeing. I am here to remind you that your health is just as important, if not moreso. When you focus on healing yourself you heal everyone around you. YOU have to come first. Or at the very least alongside your child. 

So lets talk about how you can intentionally heal your gut after needing antibiotics and then what you can do to avoid needing them in the future. 

Whether you recognize symptoms of imbalance or not, if you have taken antibiotics, I would absolutely rebalance your gut. You can do this with my Women’s or Children’s Gut Rebalance Kit. If you are breastfeeding and your infant is under 4 months of age, your rebalance will be enough to heal the both of you. If your child is over four months old, you will want to get the Women’s Kit for you and the Children’s Kit for your child. And to answer a very frequently asked question, the Women’s Kit is just as effective for men - so your partner can absolutely rebalance with it. I just mostly serve women and children so I speak directly to you. 

I will attach a link to these kits in the show notes for you so you can begin replenishing your gut. 

Again, even if you aren’t showing symptoms, don’t wait for them. Be ahead of symptoms and if you have needed antibiotics, rebalance your gut. Period. 

Now for avoiding antibiotics in the future . . .

Stocking your medicine cabinet now before something comes up is so important. A few things I will never not have in my home are Cleanse alkaline silver for everything from immunity to earaches and infections to pink eye, UTI’s and mastitis. And Relieve healing gel for all topical things like burns, rashes, insect bites, and vaginal yeast infections. Even Group B Strep in pregnancy. So many women have shared testimonials that they tested positive, they incorporated Cleanse and Relieve and retested and were negative. Making it so they didn’t need antibiotics during labor. 

In addition to stocking your medicine cabinet, commiting to a microbiome friendly lifestyle. 70% of your immune system resides in your gut so if your gut is imbalanced your likelihood of needing antibiotics is greater. Imbalance is also the root cause of inflammation in the body and every health professional agrees that inflammation is the root to every disease. Your microbiome matters so much and it’s a full circle. Heal the gut, reduce your need for antibiotics. 

I hope this episode inspired you to heal your gut if you have needed antibiotics and empowered you to preventatively nurture your microbiome to help reduce the need for antibiotics in the future. But at the end of the day, if you end up needing antibiotics - it’s okay. Just make sure to intentionally rebalance following. And the sooner you rebalance the sooner your good gut bacteria will replenish.