Support protocol 1: Preconception & pregnancy
Learn how to start avoiding the risk factors for newborn jaundice before your baby is even born
Reduce the risk factors for newborn jaundice, before your baby is even born!
Avoid folic acid. Instead, eat real-food folates and folate cofactors (DHA, the full B-vitamin spectrum, choline, magnesium, serine, and zinc). Foods: cultured dairy, eggs, liver and other organ meats, oysters and other shellfish, red meat, poultry, pork, seaweeds, salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring/kippers and other small, low-mercury seafood. Read:
Dim (or cut out) artificial light at night. Use candles, firelight, the moon, starlight… or very dim incandescents or blue-excluded LEDs if necessary. Avoiding artificial light at night is vital for supporting circadian melatonin rhythms. Melatonin is an endogenous antioxidant that works with bilirubin to balance oxidative stress. Once baby is born, nighttime breastmilk is a baby’s only source of melatonin because they don’t synthesize it on their own for at least the first month of life. Read:
Observe the solar quarters of the day outside in unfiltered sunlight. Aim for 30-60 minutes at sunrise, noon, and sunset. If you can’t get outside, at least sit by an open window or door. Read:
Practice earthing for 1 minute, up to 3 hours or more daily, in a natural environment away from the strong electric grid. This is vital for energizing the electron transport chain. It’s convenient to do this with the solar quarters. (Once your baby is born, if you hold your baby skin-to-skin, the Earth’s electrons with flow through you and into your baby, just like they do with your baby in the womb). Read:
Reduce exposure to electricity and artificial light at all times of day. Prefer wired things over wireless, incandescent over LED/Fluorescent, and unplug stuff when not in use. This reduces disruption to your bioelectric and circadian systems via excess calcium channel activation inside of cells. Read:
Limit carbohydrates after sunset. Eating in general, but most especially eating carbohydrates, disturbs nighttime circadian rhythms. This, of course!, does not apply to nursing babies who need to nurse around the clock and who specifically need nighttime breastmilk which is their sole source of healing melatonin. The way to achieve this is to eat a high-protein diet, beginning with a large breakfast. Read:
Engage in joyful movement and sound. Walk, sway, dance, stretch, hum, sing, laugh, play instruments. These increase heat and electricity the electron transport chain can use to make water and ATP. They also reduce emotional stress which reduces the emotional burden on your metabolism, freeing up energy for repair and growth. This is true every day, including on the day of labor! Read: