10 Countercultural Choices I Made in Pregnancy, Birth, & Postpartum — and Why I’d Make Them Again
- Mar 5
- 15 min read
How did I, the daughter of a former obstetrician, get here?
Let me begin with this: this is what felt right for me and my baby.
I have dear friends and family members who chose differently — some by preference, some by circumstance. I was deeply blessed that my pregnancy and birth unfolded the way I had hoped. I know that is not always the case. This is not written to shame, persuade, or provoke. It is written to document my decision-making process, to share what I learned, and to offer another lens.
I researched extensively. I read books. I listened to expert interviews and long-form podcasts. I cross-referenced studies. I asked hard questions. And what I began to notice was that many practices labeled “routine” are not necessarily required for every woman. Some are incredibly helpful in high-risk scenarios. Some are precautionary. And some, when applied universally, may create a cascade of further interventions that could have been avoided.
My hope is simple: that every parent understands the purpose, risks, and benefits of each test and intervention so they can choose — confidently — what aligns with their values and risk tolerance.
This is what Renaissance motherhood means to me: reclaiming ancient wisdom, engaging modern research, and choosing deliberately rather than defaulting.
1. I Ate Raw Oysters, Fish, Runny Egg Yolks — and Occasionally Drank Wine
Pregnancy nutrition is often framed around restriction. “Don’t eat this. Avoid that.” But I began to realize the deeper conversation should be about nourishment.
One of the most influential books for me was Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols*. It is research-dense, well-cited, and challenges many conventional prenatal nutrition assumptions.
Before pregnancy, Tanner and I already prioritized whole, organic, pasture-raised, and nutrient-dense foods. My goal during pregnancy was simple: more protein, more micronutrients, more hydration.
Then first trimester nausea humbled me.
For weeks, I survived on applesauce, gluten-free pretzels, and chicken nuggets. It was not aesthetic. It was survival. And that season taught me compassion for women doing their best.
Once the nausea lifted, I returned to nutrient density — and that included some foods typically labeled “off limits.”
Seafood & Raw Fish
I grew up eating seafood. I have fond memories of snacking on seaweed and dried squid in my grandmother’s asian grocery store, and I love treating myself to sushi and seafood. Quality matters immensely. I avoided low-grade grocery store sushi and only ate from trusted, high-quality sources.
In countries like Japan, fish consumption during pregnancy is encouraged because omega-3 fats — especially DHA — are critical for fetal brain development. Some health agencies, including the UK’s NHS, note that properly sourced raw fish can be consumed safely during pregnancy.
Omega-3s, iodine, selenium, and B12 are foundational nutrients for thyroid function, neurodevelopment, and postpartum recovery. Iodine deficiency, in particular, is increasing among American women.
For me, the benefit of high-quality seafood outweighed the risk — especially when sourced responsibly.
Raw oysters
While visiting Scotland, I ate fresh oysters at The Oyster Shack on the Isle of Skye — and I don’t regret it for a second.
Oysters are one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet — exceptionally high in zinc, iron, selenium, B12, and omega-3s. Ounce for ounce, they rival even organ meats in micronutrient density. Freshness and sourcing are everything. And they can be eaten cooked or canned as well.
Egg yolks
Soft-boiled eggs were one of my favorite pregnancy snacks and a convenient source of protein.
Egg yolks are rich in choline — a nutrient linked to improved cognitive development and memory outcomes. They also provide DHA, folate, B vitamins, vitamin A, and antioxidants critical for eye and brain development.
Quality was non-negotiable as pasture-raised eggs contain significantly higher levels of fat-soluble vitamins and omega-3s compared to conventional eggs.
Did you know?
You are 8x more likely to get food poisoning from fresh produce than eggs
Egg yolks from pasture-raised chickens have: 30% higher vitamin A content, 2x the vitamin E, 2.5x higher levels of omega-3s, lower omega-6 fats (that cause inflammation), and 3-6x higher vitamin D than conventionally grown eggs.
Wine
Honestly, this one was minimal — a few half-glasses across my pregnancy.
Research clearly shows binge drinking is harmful. Research on low-level consumption is mixed, with some studies showing no measurable cognitive differences in children exposed to light drinking and others urging caution.
For me, an occasional half-glass with dinner felt aligned with my comfort level, with the benefits of relaxing and enjoying a few sips of wine with a nice dinner outweighing the risks.
Every woman must determine her own threshold. Mine was thoughtful moderation.
I highly recommend reading Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols to see the studies referenced and to learn more.
2. We Chose a Freestanding Birth Center Instead of a Hospital
I did not see my OB/GYN during my pregnancy.
Instead, I chose a freestanding birth center staffed by certified midwives. Contrary to stereotypes, it was structured and clinical — just warmer. Appointments were unhurried in rooms with a comfy couch. Conversations were thorough and education was prioritized.
We did have a consult with a maternal fetal medicine doctor for a full diagnostic ultrasound and second opinion as our anatomy scan indicated a velamentous cord insertion (where the umbilical cord attaches to the amniotic sac membranes instead of the placenta). Something my dad told me went commonly unnoticed until birth before today’s hyper-sensitive ultrasound technology. We sought clarity and second opinions when appropriate, as we weren’t trying to completely avoid medicine, but selectively engage when appropriate.
The birth center offered rooms designed to feel like home: a large bed, a deep birthing tub, soft lighting, space to move. For a first pregnancy, it felt like the right balance between home and hospital — with emergency backup nearby.
When labor began, we met our midwife and doula at the center at 3am. Three hours later, we met our daughter — whose gender we didn’t know until she entered this world. It was quiet. It was powerful. It was ours.
(Ida’s full birth story coming soon.)
3. I Declined Routine Gestational Diabetes & GBS Testing
Gestational Diabetes
About 6% of pregnancies are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It is associated with higher risks in certain scenarios.
However, the screening test (the glucose challenge) is not diagnostic — it is a screening tool with notable false positives.
In some countries, like the UK, universal screening is not standard unless risk factors are present.
Once I learned the above statistics, and that the only risk factor I had was being over the age of 26, and my hemoglobin A1c levels in my pregnancy bloodwork was normal, I felt comfortable declining this as an unnecessary test for me. I would instead continue to prioritize diet, movement, and metabolic health.
Group B Strep (GBS)
GBS stands for Group B Strep, or Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus. GBS colonization occurs in 10–35% of pregnant women — with most never experiencing complications.
If a mother tests positive without additional risk factors, the chance of the baby developing early-onset illness is about 0.5% (1 in 200). If negative with no risk factors, risk drops to roughly 0.03%.
Emerging research suggests a relationship between gut microbiome balance and GBS colonization rates. I focused on probiotic-rich foods like kimchi and sauerkraut to support microbial balance.
After weighing the numbers and understanding how risk is managed during labor, I declined the test. Again — informed choice, not blanket rejection.
4. No Routine Labor Interventions
One of my core intentions in labor was creating an environment where I felt safe and undisturbed.
Across birth physiology research, one theme repeats: a woman’s perception of safety directly impacts labor hormones. Sense of comfort and security is foundational to how labor unfolds. Oxytocin — the hormone responsible for uterine contractions — thrives in privacy, calm, and trust. Adrenaline, on the other hand, can slow or stall labor.
For that reason, I declined routine cervical checks, IV placement, and an epidural unless it became medically necessary. I wanted to stay in my body, not in a clinical loop of assessment and interruption.
There is a well-documented phenomenon sometimes referred to as the “cascade of interventions,” where one intervention increases the likelihood of another. While interventions can absolutely be life-saving when needed, applying them universally can alter the natural progression of labor and cause undue stress on mother and baby.
For me, stillness, dim lighting, water, and quiet support allowed my labor to unfold physiologically in its own time, as nature intended.
5. I Gave Birth in Water
Water birth is growing in popularity, but what mattered most to me was mobility.
The commonly used supine (on-your-back) birthing position reduces pelvic diameter and works against gravity, making labor even more challenging than it needs to be. Historically, this position wasn’t adopted because it was best for women — but became common in part because physicians attending royalty preferred mothers on their backs so birth was easier to observe, the shift tracing back to King Louis XIV, who wanted a clear view of his mistresses giving birth because the traditional methods obstructed his view. Whether legend or partial truth, this shift prioritized observation over biomechanics.
In water, I could squat, kneel, sway, lean — following instinct instead of instruction. Being mobile helped me work with my body instead of against it.
Warm water promotes muscle relaxation, reduces perceived pain, and can lower the need for pharmacologic pain relief. Several studies have associated water birth in low-risk pregnancies with high maternal satisfaction and comparable safety outcomes when attended appropriately.
The warmth and buoyancy of the water brought me comfort and relaxation, supporting the steady rhythm of labor. It also provided a more gentle and less stressful transition for my daughter, mimicking the warm, buoyant, fluid-filled environment of the womb.
It was strength without spectacle. Power without panic.
6. Delayed Cord Clamping & Declining Immediate Newborn Procedures
Approximately one-third of a newborn’s blood volume remains in the placenta and cord at birth. Delayed cord clamping — now thankfully being recommended by many major medical organizations — allows that blood to transfer back to baby, increasing iron stores and supporting early development.
While hospital delay may only be 30–60 seconds, we waited until the cord stopped pulsing entirely — roughly 20–30 minutes.
We also declined routine antibiotic eye ointment, which is primarily intended to prevent infection from untreated maternal gonorrhea or chlamydia. With Tanner and I being in a loving and committed marriage, we had no concern for this. I also tested negative in the standard bloodwork, giving us even more confidence in our decision.
Vitamin K deficiency bleeding is rare, with the injection significantly reducing that already small risk. We understood this. We also understood that newborns are born with naturally low vitamin K levels, and that over the first weeks of life, as their gut becomes colonized with beneficial bacteria, they begin producing increasing amounts on their own.
After reviewing the data and our specific risk profile, we declined the injection and felt comfortable supporting our baby’s natural transition, staying attentive to any signs of concern, and trusting in God’s design of the newborn body to develop as it was created to.
7. 30-day Postpartum Confinement
First, I cannot thank my mother enough — without her, this would not have been possible. She lovingly researched and prepared the traditional Chinese soups and nutrient-dense dishes recommended for postpartum healing and nourishment. She kept our home running, folded laundry, tidied the kitchen, and soaked up her grandmother snuggles so I could shower, rest, and simply be with my baby. Her support made true recovery possible.
There’s a saying in many traditional cultures that how a mother spends her first weeks after birth sets the tone for her health for years to come. Whether or not that can be measured perfectly in data, we do know that the postpartum window is a critical time of physical recovery, hormonal recalibration, and emotional adjustment. Emerging research shows that comprehensive postpartum care and social support are associated with improved long-term maternal health outcomes and reduced risk of certain chronic conditions. Knowing my cultural roots and understanding how foundational this season can be, I chose to make recovery a priority instead of an afterthought.
In Chinese culture, this 30-day period is called zuò yuè zi (坐月子), or “sitting the month.” It emphasizes deep rest, staying warm, eating nourishing foods, and avoiding excessive exertion so the body can fully heal. Similar traditions exist around the world — from La Cuarentena in Latin America to Sanhujori in Korea and Jaapa in India — all recognizing that new mothers deserve protection, nourishment, and support.
Modern culture often pressures women to “bounce back” quickly, to resume normal life within days or weeks. But I see postpartum differently. To me, this is part of my Renaissance Motherhood ethos — reclaiming the wisdom of tradition, honoring the sacredness of recovery, and choosing depth over speed. Rest is not laziness. It is an investment — in healing, in longevity, and in the kind of mother I want to be for the long run.
The First Fourty Days by Heng Ou, Amely Greeven, and Marisa Belger is a good practical guide with several nourishing recipes.
8. Prenatal, Postpartum, and Newborn Chiropractic Care
Prenatal, postpartum, and newborn chiropractic care ended up being one of the most supportive pieces of my pregnancy and recovery. Adjustments were (and still are) a total gift for me. Your body changes so dramatically in nine months — ligaments soften, posture shifts, hips widen, and your center of gravity shifts — and then in a matter of hours you’re no longer carrying that weight. That rapid transition can leave everything feeling misaligned and strained.
We brought Ida in for her initial exam and gentle newborn adjustment, and my first postpartum adjustment, just shy of two weeks after delivery. However, I truly wish I had gone in sooner after birth. I was hobbling more than walking, sitting upright for long stretches was uncomfortable, and I avoided leaving the house partly due to the confinement period, but also because it felt overwhelming. Looking back, I would have prioritized an earlier postpartum adjustment to support healing and mobility.
Ida had a tongue tie and struggled to get a good latch in the early days. Breastfeeding with her in those first couple weeks was a huge struggle for me physically and emotionally. Our chiropractor worked gently with her, including addressing tension through her jaw and soft palate, and I saw a noticeable improvement in her latch after each adjustment. With regular visits (and a tongue tie revision) breastfeeding difficulties subsided. We also noticed how regular visits aided her range of motion, helped with her bowel regularity, and were educational for us to learn tips to aid her in her development. For us, it was about supporting her body’s alignment and nervous system as she adapted to life outside the womb.
9. Co-sleeping and Responsive Rhythms
This is one area where we definitely went against the grain of modern Western norms, but for us it felt deeply intuitive. After carrying our daughter for nine months — being her home, her heartbeat, her constant — it didn’t make sense to place our sweet, helpless newborn in a separate room at night. I was all she knew, and proximity felt like the most natural continuation of that bond. She slept beside me, and sometimes on Tanner’s chest — she loved burrowing into his neck, completely at peace. (She still does this today, and I think it’s the sweetest thing.)
There is growing research around attachment and infant regulation that supports close nighttime proximity. Studies on infant mental health show that responsive caregiving — including promptly responding to cries — supports secure attachment and healthy stress regulation. Conversely, prolonged “cry it out” approaches in early infancy have been associated in some research with elevated stress hormones and potential impacts on attachment patterns. Nighttime closeness also increases opportunities for bonding, breastfeeding frequency, and maternal-infant synchrony. Research has shown that when mothers and babies sleep near one another, their breathing patterns, heart rates, and sleep cycles often regulate in tandem — a phenomenon sometimes referred to as biological synchrony.
One of the most common concerns raised about bedsharing is the risk of suffocation. It’s important to acknowledge that unsafe sleep environments, namely parental intoxication and substance use, were the reason for the significantly increased risk. We were intentional about creating a safe sleep space, and substance use was not a factor for us. For additional peace of mind, we used the Owlet monitor to track her oxygen levels overnight.
Practically speaking, co-sleeping made our nights gentler. I could nurse Ida without fully waking, rather than getting up, walking to another room, and jolting my body into alertness. That physical closeness fostered a sense of security for her. While every baby is different, Ida slept in long stretches early on and transitioned through the night with ease. Research suggests that babies who feel securely attached and consistently responded to develop strong sleep regulation over time — and for us, our proximity felt like it laid that foundation.
Alongside co-sleeping, we embraced what I think of as responsive rhythms rather than rigid schedules. I didn’t put Ida on a feeding or sleeping timetable — I responded to her cues. If she was hungry, she nursed. If she was tired, she slept. If she needed closeness, she had it. This felt intuitive to me. We don’t expect adults to function optimally on an externally imposed clock when their bodies are signaling otherwise — so why would we expect that of a newborn whose nervous system is still developing?
I also recognize that this approach was supported by the privilege of being home with her full time. Not every family has that flexibility, and I deeply respect that rhythms look different depending on circumstance. For us, responsiveness felt like the most biologically aligned and relationally secure foundation we could offer in those early months.
Like many of our choices, this wasn’t about defying guidelines for the sake of it. It was about informed decision-making, thoughtful risk assessment, and choosing what aligned with our values, our lifestyle, and our understanding of attachment, physiology, and trust.
10. Seeing a Vaccine-Friendly Pediatrician
Why not end with the most controversial topic of all.
One of the books gifted to me during pregnancy was The Vaccine-Friendly Plan by Paul Thomas, MD. It walks through each childhood vaccine, the schedule (as of its 2016 publication), the research behind them, and offers alternative pacing options. What I appreciated most is that it centers informed consent — presenting data, sharing clinical experience, and ultimately reminding parents that the decision is theirs to make. The book also covers pregnancy, birth, and early childhood health more broadly, which made it feel comprehensive rather than one-dimensional.
For us, this decision came down to autonomy and informed choice. I am not here to tell anyone not to vaccinate, nor to judge parents who choose the standard schedule. I simply believe parents should understand what each vaccine contains, what it protects against, and what the known risks and benefits are. Much of my personal hesitation centered around ingredients like aluminum adjuvants, which are used to stimulate immune response. While regulatory agencies maintain that the amounts used are safe, I found ongoing discussion in scientific literature about cumulative aluminum exposure and infant detoxification capacity worth thoughtfully considering.
For instance:
The FDA guidelines provide that the safe amount of aluminum exposure for infants is 4-5 micrograms per kilogram per day. This means that the hepatitis B vaccination, given as the standard to every newborn in America, contains 15 times this amount (for the average 8 pound baby)! Studies have shown the issues from aluminum exposure, like developmental delays and behavioral, learning, and performance abnormalities.
In the 1980s, only 11 vaccines were recommended, a number that explod to over 70 in 2025! Can you imagine what that means for toxin exposure to our precious tiny humans?
I also began learning about genetic variations like MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase), which are relatively common (almost 40% of Americans have at least one) and can influence how efficiently the body processes and detoxifies certain compounds. Though we have not tested Ida, she presents with a few physical markers sometimes associated with methylation differences, such as a sacral dimple and the "sugar bug" vein. That possibility made us even more cautious about introducing multiple interventions at once or following a condensed schedule.
Because we value medical freedom and partnership, we sought out a pediatrician who respects parental choice and does not administer vaccines in her office. Many conventional practices require adherence to the full CDC schedule, and families who decline may be dismissed from care. It was important to us to work with a provider who supports open dialogue, individualized decision-making, and ongoing evaluation rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
At the heart of this — like every other choice we’ve made — is not fear, but responsibility. We believe informed consent matters. We believe thoughtful research matters. And we believe parents should be empowered to make medical decisions they feel fully at peace with for their children.
A Call for Discernment, Not Division
Motherhood has a way of clarifying what matters.
For me, this season was not about rejecting modern medicine, nor romanticizing the past. It was about discernment. About understanding physiology before interrupting it. About honoring traditions that existed long before hospital protocols. About asking not just “Is this standard?” but “Is this necessary for us?”
We live in a time where questioning can be mistaken for rebellion and compliance mistaken for virtue. I believe neither is inherently noble. What matters is whether a decision was made consciously.
Some of my choices may make you uncomfortable. Some may resonate deeply. That’s okay. The goal was never uniformity — it was responsibility.
If this piece does anything, I hope it reminds you that you are allowed to ask why.
You are allowed to request data.
You are allowed to decline.
You are allowed to proceed.
Informed consent is not anti-science. It is participation in it.
This is what Renaissance Motherhood means to me — not abandoning modern advances, but integrating them with intuition, ancestral wisdom, and courage.
And above all, remembering that the sacred responsibility of raising a child belongs first to the parent.
⸻
Disclaimer: this post reflects my personal experience, informed by the research I chose to engage with and the healthcare providers I chose to partner with. It is not medical advice. Every pregnancy, birth, and baby is different. What felt aligned and appropriate for my low-risk pregnancy may not be safe or advisable in another circumstance. My intention is not to prescribe a path, but to model informed decision-making — to encourage parents to ask questions, review evidence, and take ownership of choices made on behalf of their children.
Comments