Intestinal worms


Intestinal worms are not as common in industrialised countries as they are in developing countries, but they can be experienced by pregnant women, particularly if they have other children in childcare or at school. In developing countries, the concerns for pregnant women who have intestinal worms for several months during pregnancy is that they can contribute to the woman experiencing malnutrition, anaemia, and a lowered immune system. In industrialised countries the concerns tend to be more to do with them being annoying to have and easily passed on to others.

There are three main types of medications used to treat intestinal worms. Their medical names are:


Pyrantel embonate (or Combantrin, Early bird). This medication has been researched in animals, but not in humans. It is not really known whether it is capable of causing birth defects if used during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Mebendazole (Vermox). This medication has been recently used in a study of 5,000 pregnant women in Sri Lanka. Use of the treatment showed a very slight increase in birth defects when used during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but it helped achieve healthier pregnancies for women who took it after 12 weeks of pregnancy (in regards to nutrition and babies born with higher birth weights).

There is another medication called albendazole (Zental, Albenza or Eskazole). This is NOT to be taken when trying to conceive or during pregnancy.

If you discover you have intestinal worms when you are trying to conceive, perhaps treat them and wait a month before resuming your attempts to become pregnant. If you are less than 12 weeks pregnant, you may want to consider waiting a few weeks before treating them. In the meantime, eat plenty of nutritious foods and wash your hands thoroughly after going to the toilet and before handling foods, to decrease the chances of passing them on to others.

A natural approach to treating them is:


Chewing a handful of raw rice for breakfast (eating nothing else). Eat other meals during the day as normal.
Between meals, eat one clove garlic and one small handful of pumpkin seeds (crush garlic or mix it with other food or miso to help you swallow).
About 2 hours or more after the last meal of the day, drink 1 cup of nettle tea.

Continue this for 10 days, stopping for 7 days, then resuming for a final 10 days to remove parasites that have hatched from eggs after the initial treatment regime.