Prevention Over Reaction: A Functional Approach to Gestational Complications

Every mother deserves to feel supported before something goes wrong, not just after.

Yet for too many women, myself included, that's not the reality. We go to our appointments, we follow the standard protocol, and we hope. For most, we wait for a diagnosis, wait for a complication, wait for a solution. And many times, we wait for someone to finally take our concerns seriously. Yet by the time something does go wrong, we're left feeling scared, confused, and wishing someone had told us sooner. Wishing there was something we could have done. 

I know this feeling personally. I lived it.

What I didn't know then, but know now,  is that there is another way. A way that starts long before a diagnosis, that looks at your body as a whole system, and that gives you real tools to understand what's happening and why. That's the foundation of functional and integrative medicine, and it's the lens through which I approach everything I do at Mom2Moms Apothecary.

This month, in honor of Preeclampsia Awareness Month, Maternal Mental Health Month, and Hyperemesis Gravidarum Awareness Month, I want to introduce you to three of the most common gestational complications I work with and show you what it looks like to approach them through prevention instead of reaction.

Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication that involves high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organ systems, most commonly the liver and kidneys. It usually develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but can also show up within the first 6 weeks after birth. It can become serious quickly, potentially progressing into additional complications like eclampsia (seizure), or HELLP syndrome (a severe variant of preeclampsia causing blood clotting issues and liver damage). It affects approximately 1 in 12 pregnancies in the United States and is one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality worldwide. 

Conventional care focuses on monitoring blood pressure and watching for warning signs at prenatal visits. If blood pressure rises or complications develop, treatment may include medication, closer monitoring, or early delivery. Low-dose aspirin is currently the most widely used preventive strategy for people at higher risk, but that approach is still based largely on known medical risk factors. Most protocols are primarily reactive. 

Preeclampsia is particularly complex because it does not have just one cause. In my opinion, due to this, our healthcare system hasn’t focused efforts on prevention and has left women thinking that preeclampsia cannot be prevented, but that’s not the full truth. Research suggests that preeclampsia is influenced by inflammation, oxidative stress, immune changes, metabolic factors, and other underlying imbalances which can be addressed. 

At Mom2Moms Apothecary, I use an integrative and functional lens to help identify factors that are affecting your resilience before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or after. This may include reviewing nutrition status, functional labs, genetics, stress physiology, and wearable data when appropriate to better understand your body and how it will or is responding and where support may be needed.  Current prenatal panels don't routinely check these measures, this is part of the Mom2Moms difference. 

Unfortunately it is not possible to guarantee preeclampsia will not develop, though believe me, I wish I could;  however, my goal is to help build the strongest possible foundation and reduce risk where we can. 

Maternal Mental Health

One in five mothers experiences a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder which is the clinical term for depression, anxiety, OCD, or PTSD that develops during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. You may have heard of postpartum depression, but maternal mental health challenges can start during pregnancy and look very different from one woman to the next.

The conventional approach typically involves screening at your six-week postpartum visit and, if needed, a referral for therapy or medication. Sometimes this is exactly what's needed, but for many women that six-week window is far too late and not enough. A referral without support in the meantime can feel like being handed a map with no directions.

What functional and precision medicine adds to this conversation is the recognition that maternal mental health is deeply connected to your biology. Your hormone shifts, your thyroid function, your nutrient status and even your genetic variants around neurotransmitter processing all play a role in how your brain and nervous system respond to the enormous changes of pregnancy and postpartum.

When I work with mothers on mental health support I'm looking at the whole picture, it’s a combination of symptoms and root causes. What is your body actually missing or struggling to process? Where can we support your nervous system naturally, and when is it appropriate to layer in additional clinical support? How can we address the gut-brain connection? This is not about avoiding medication if you need it. It's about making sure we're addressing the full story, not just the surface. It can be an and/both approach, not an either/or. When medication is appropriate, I work with providers through precision medicine to help choose medications that will be most effective with less side effects. 

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Hyperemesis Gravidarum, HG, is severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that goes far beyond typical morning sickness. Symptoms include vomiting multiple times a day, inability to keep food or fluids down, significant weight loss, and in serious cases hospitalization for dehydration and malnutrition. It affects approximately 1-3% of pregnancies and is one of the most underdiagnosed and undertreated conditions in maternal health.

The conventional approach is typically anti-nausea medication and IV fluids if needed. For severe cases this is absolutely necessary. But many women with HG are told their symptoms are normal or are dismissed when they describe how debilitating it truly is. They are left without real answers about why it's happening or what can be done beyond managing symptoms.

Functionally I look at HG through the lens of gut health, nutrient status, thyroid function, and genetic variants affecting histamine metabolism and B6 processing, all of which have meaningful connections to the severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. I also look at what nutritional support is possible given what a woman can actually tolerate, and how we can protect her body and her baby during a period when eating feels impossible. 

More than anything I want women with HG to know: this is not in your head. This is not weakness or over dramatizing. This is a real physiological condition that deserves real clinical attention and real compassion.

What All Three Have in Common

Preeclampsia, maternal mental health, and hyperemesis gravidarum are three very different conditions but they share something important - they are all conditions where early awareness, personalized assessment, and proactive support can make a profound difference in outcomes for both mother and baby.

They are also all conditions where women are routinely dismissed, undertreated, or left to figure things out on their own.

That is exactly why I do what I do.

Whether you are preparing for pregnancy and want to understand your risks before you conceive, currently pregnant and navigating a diagnosis, or postpartum and trying to heal and make sense of what happened to you, there is so much more available to you than the reactive model of care  most of us were handed.

Most importantly, I want every mom to know this: you do not have to wait for something to go wrong to take control of your health. With the right education, support, and advocacy, you can walk into each important informed, confident, and ready. And you don't have to do any of this alone.

Education. Advocacy. Real support.

This philosophy is what Mom2Moms Apothecary was built on. It starts right here, and I’m so glad you are part of this community with me. 

Want to go deeper? Join the waitlist for The Empowered Mother — a program built to give you the education, tools, and community to navigate your maternal health journey with confidence.

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