Note: Yesterday, I was texting with a former in home staff who is now an Occupational Therapist for Birth to Three and school-age children. She is overwhelmed with work. Birth to Three cannot keep up with the referrals. Schools are dithering with pencil holding. We've been writing about the denigration of childhood health since our inception in 2007. We've lived it. We see it. We lament it. And we MUST do something about it. Below, is an introduction to Dr. Cindy Schneider MD who offers pregnancy preparation counseling to families. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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The best time to prepare to have a healthy pregnancy is while you're still in your mother's womb. If she could have known what we know now, your lifelong health trajectory could have been altered for the better, and so could that of your children. Through changes in our DNA called epigenetics, some genes are expressed while others are silenced in response to environmental and nutritional variables. Are you prone to heart disease, diabetes, autism, or ADHD? While genetics plays a role in determining these fates, environment may play an even greater role. What your mother ate, drank, smoked, and breathed during her pregnancy with you changed the expression of both her genes and yours, often in a way that can be passed down to future generations. Likewise, lifestyle changes you make today will not only benefit you and your baby, they may even affect your grandchildren.

As an obstetrician, Dr. Schneider helped thousands of women improve their health before, during, and after pregnancy. Her research into genetic vulnerability to environmental toxins and nearly three decades of experience helping individuals with autism allows her insight that few other physicians have. It is her belief that many birth defects and neurodevelopment delays can be prevented with proper prenatal counseling.

Although she no longer practices obstetrics, she takes great joy in working with women to achieve the highest level of health possible before conception and throughout their pregnancies. Our Preparing for Baby program involves a detailed medical history, family history, assessment of risk factors, and laboratory testing. Nutritional and metabolic testing will be recommended and genetic testing may also be indicated.

Is your pregnancy five years or more in the future? It's not too soon to begin to prepare! Too many women wait to make healthy changes in their lives until they discover they're pregnant. For some of their babies, that's too late. If you have the luxury of a few years, you can make an incredible difference in your health. Losing weight, kicking bad habits, and learning to lead a healthier lifestyle take time, but the effort will be well worth it and your risk of many serious pregnancy complications will diminish significantly.