Last night I had a consultation with a client who is in her mid 50's. She doesn't officially have PCOS, but she has many of the symptoms, and I believe if she were younger, trying to have children, she might have the diagnosis. What is really interesting about this case is that this woman was born 2 months prematurely and spent several weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit before being able to go home. This was long before this was commonplace.
A very high percentage of my clients were born prematurely. This is a huge risk factor because it is during the last trimester of pregnancy that the brain and nervous system does the majority of its development. When the baby's nervous system is forced to grow and develop in an unfamiliar and unnatural…and stressful…environment, it just can't thrive like a nervous system that is at home in the womb.
Secondly, inside momma, there is at least a little bit of exposure to nutrients that are needed for this development. Outside the womb, we can do our best, but we can never completely replicate nature. In the case of my client, her intensive care stay happened long before we even knew much of this, and before omega-3 fatty acids were added to the feedings of babies in intensive care units. So my client, essentially, has been playing catch up at least since the day she was born.
A recent study confirmed what I just described, and what I've been teaching for several years. In a study comparing 28 babies categorized as"small for gestational age", 28 babies whose weight was statistically normal, and 56 normal-weight babies. An additional comparison was made between 60 premature babies, 20 of which were"small for gestational age" and 40 whose weight was normal.
Preterm babies seemed to have higher levels of building blocks of essential fatty acids, but the important omegas that they needed were not there, indicating that something about preterm birth may impair the conversion process. Term, normal weight babies had higher levels of DHA (one of those essential omegas), and higher ratios of endpoint to building block compounds. This suggested that the term babies were better able to convert building blocks into active omega-3's.
Term but small babies had higher levels of eicosapentaenoic acid, which is an intermediate in the conversion, meaning perhaps that lower weight babies also have important metabolic differences.
So, it seems, there are two important goals: (1) keep that baby in utero as long as possible, and (2) don't get so caught up in your pregnancy weight gain that you restrict your baby's development. Goal #1, interestingly, has been shown to be more achievable in mothers who consume adequate omega-3s! Goal #2 is a little more challenging, especially if you are being managed for gestational diabetes and your weight is being more closely monitored. That's when quality or what you do eat becomes important. It's going to be hard to get enough omega-3's, optimize your baby's weight gain, and keep your insulin function under control, if your focus is not on nutritionally dense foods that give you a bang for your buck.
That's why inCYST works so hard to train its professionals. They love to do this work, and they would love to help you figure it out!
Agostoni C, Marangoni F, Stival G, Gatelli I, Pinto F, Risé P, Giovannini M, Galli C, Riva E. Whole Blood Fatty Acid Composition Differs in Term Vs Mildly Preterm Infants: Small Vs Matched Appropriate For Gestational Age. Pediatr Res. 2008 Apr 3.