It is important to understand that eating the right diet plays a major role in controlling your Candida overgrowth. This is knowledge that is especially true for expecting mothers, and couples who are planning to become pregnant. Why? Scientific research is finding that many premature babies are born from mothers who have cases of Candidiasis. Furthermore, the infection within the mother was likely passed on to the baby while developing within the womb.

In fact, research has discovered that an expecting mother who has Candida overgrowth has a higher chance of putting her child at risk for premature birth, brain damage, or bowel or lung complications.

How is this possible? Systemic fungal infections, such as Candidiasis, that exist in the mother's blood, can easily be passed to her developing baby by entering the amniotic sac. The amniotic sac is where the fetus develops. The fetus is protected by amniotic fluid which is produced by the placenta during the early stages of pregnancy. After the 4th month of gestation, the baby's kidneys begin to work and create amniotic fluid. However, by the 14th week of pregnancy, fluid (blood) from the mother's circulatory system flows into the amniotic sac. If the fluid is contaminated with bacteria, yeast or viruses, it can be passed to the baby through amniotic fluid that has become infected.

Unfortunately, more and more babies are now being born with systemic fungal infection. In other words, yeast is present in the baby's stomach. To make matters worse, studies have found that yeast existing in the amniotic fluid can paralyze the baby's gut wall, which makes the baby constipated at birth. Constipation at this time can be very serious due to the fact that the baby lacks the ability to eliminate inherited toxins from his/her system; toxins that include metals such as mercury.

Systemic fungal infections, such as Candidiasis, are quite common among pregnant women of today. Many believe the reason is because during pregnancy a woman's progesterone naturally increases, as does her blood sugar. These natural changes in a pregnant woman, who already has chronic problems with Candida, or an existing infection, will only encourage Candida growth, resulting in an acute yeast infection. The presence of these infections is what likely triggers premature labor.

How can a mother find out if she has Candida and protect her unborn baby?

Since an expecting mother might not know she has Candida overgrowth and is putting her baby at risk, one of the biggest problems is being able to detect in-utero infections when there are no symptoms.

However, it's now being discovered that by profiling amniotic fluid proteins, health care providers have a better chance of predicting the possibility of premature birth, and can even detect infections in pregnant women that could be potentially dangerous to the fetus. Even though tests are still being developed, researchers strongly believe that detecting and diagnosis intra-amniotic infection or inflammation is vital to the wellbeing of the unborn baby.

Finally, the best thing future parents can do to help ensure the health of their upcoming baby is to make certain their bodies are cleansed of toxins and their gut flora well balanced. This can be achieved by following an anti-Candida diet, which should be started and maintained 6 months prior to becoming pregnant. Both parents should be involved in this anti-Candida program as both parents contribute to the health of the fetus.

Talk to your health care provider to learn more about Candida and pregnancy.