Functional Maternity

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What People are Saying

"Functional Maternity beautifully explains the many physiological changes that occur during pregnancy and the vital role of nutrition and lifestyle in supporting the body's ability to adapt to them. This is an excellent read for prenatal practitioners or anyone seeking a higher-level understanding of functional medicine as it relates to maternity care."
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- Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE, author of Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes

Functional Maternity
Using functional medicine and nutrition to improve pregnancy and childbirth outcomes

As practitioners, we must initiate the change we need to see in the way we approach maternal and prenatal care. 

As women, we need to educate and advocate for ourselves.

In Functional Maternity, I am giving you the tools to begin making changes in the lives of your patients, yourself, and generations to come.

​Nutrition is the most under-addressed and underutilized tool in the prevention and treatment of all diseases, but none more than the care of maternity. 

Could the key to lowering our ever-growing negative maternity statistics be found in understanding the beautiful, functional workings of the female body and how nutrition affects the outcomes of these functions?

Praise for Functional Maternity

"The potential of functional medicine to inform maternity care shines though in this text – written in a clear informative style, it provides a valuable guide for health care practitioners and those interested in optimizing their nutritional health during a pregnancy and beyond. As an acupuncturist involved in integrative maternity care, collaboration between health practitioners is a foundation of practice. Dietary self-care is also a regarded as an essential foundation for health within Chinese medicine. This text with its evidenced based approach takes this concept further, providing an important bridge into the realities and possibilities of what functional medicine has to offer as part of maternity acupuncture and obstetrical care."

Debra Betts PhD, L.Ac, TCM Practitioner, Adjunct research fellow (NICM) University Western Sydney, Author of "Essential Guide to Acupuncture in Pregnancy & Childbirth"
"Infinitely readable, relatable and chock full of pertinent information.  Much attention has been paid to good nutrition during pregnancy as pertains to the health of the baby.  This book investigates the importance of good nutrition for the health and wellbeing of the pregnant person - from preconception through the postpartum period.  A wonderful resource for anyone planning and preparing for a well-informed, healthy pregnancy, as well as the birth professionals who serve them!"

April Freier, CH, HBCE, HBFE, Certified Birth Doula, HBI Master Trainer
"This book is a collection of heart-warming stories linked with biochemistry and the added personal touch that makes the information palatable and memorable. The goal of helping other women in their journey through motherhood was not lost, even when handling dense topics like metabolic pathways. I look forward to referencing this book when looking for nutritional treatments for maternal health issues. All mothers may benefit from practitioners reading this book."

Dr. Jo Nell Shaw DC, ND, CACCP
"This is the book I didn't even know I'd been waiting for my entire life!  If only I'd had access to it during my own pregnancies. It has already become an indispensable resource in my doula business and is something I'll be recommending all my clients read."

Kate Finley, Birth and Postpartum Doula

About the Author

​Sarah Thompson, L.Ac., CFMP, Doula, is the founder of Sacred Vessel Acupuncture & Functional Medicine and the creator of www.functionalmaternity.com. She is a certified functional medicine practitioner, licensed acupuncturist, board-certified herbalist, birth doula, and educator with a passion for pregnancy care. She is also known as a leader in the practice and education of maternity functional medicine. Sarah brings together evidence-based research in prenatal and maternity nutrition with the ideas of functional medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Sarah’s clinical experience spans nearly 20 years.

​When she isn’t writing, lecturing, mentoring, or seeing patients in her private practice, she can be found on her small Colorado farm with her husband, two daughters, chickens, miniature cows, dogs, cats, and gardens.