Boosting Your Whole Family's Immune System Throughout the Coronavirus and Flu Season

With all the media attention it's receiving at the moment and understandable anxiety it's causing, there's probably no need to explain in more detail what the respiratory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is, however we have been inundated with questions from mums and mums-to-be about what it might mean for them during pregnancy or while breastfeeding and other ways they can practically help their whole family, aside from being caught up in the toilet paper stockpiling frenzy!

Coronavirus During Pregnancy

According to UNICEF, at the moment there is not enough evidence to determine whether COVID-19 is transmitted from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, or the potential impact this may have on the baby, however this is something that is currently being investigated more. If you are pregnant at the moment, it is advised that you should  continue to follow appropriate precautions to protect yourself from exposure to the virus, and if you experience symptoms like fever, cough or difficulty breathing, it's always best to seek medical care early.

Is it Safe to Breastfeed If I am Infected with the Coronavirus?

As always the benefits of breastfeeding to both mums and bubs usually will outweigh the small role that breastmilk may play in the transmission of respiratory viruses. So, if you can continue to breastfeed by all means you should, but while taking all the necessary precautions to transmit it.

If you were to become infected with the Coronavirus shortly before giving birth and then begin breastfeeding your body will have produced specific secretory IgA antibodies and many other critical immune factors that can help protect your baby and enhance their own immune responses. These immunologic factors will help your baby's body respond more effectively to exposure and infection. Following good hygiene practices will also help reduce transfer of the virus.

If someone who is breastfeeding becomes ill, it is important not to interrupt nursing. The baby has already been exposed to the virus and will benefit most from continued breastfeeding.

As in the case of pregnant mums to be, if you are a breastfeeding mum in affected and at-risk areas and have symptoms of fever, cough or difficulty breathing, you should definitely seek medical care early, and follow instructions from a health care provider as they're best qualified and placed to advise an action plan for you.

If you are symptomatic, but still well enough to breastfeed, you can continue to do so, but it's important to wear a mask when near your baby (including during feeding), washing hands before and after any contact with them (including feeding), and cleaning/disinfecting contaminated surfaces. This is all standard protocol too in all cases where anyone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 interacts with others, including children.

If you are too unwell to breastfeeding, but still able to pump and express milk, it can be given to your baby via spoon, syringe or cup, while still following the same infection prevention methods.

Easy Ways to Boost Your Family's Immunity Throughout the Coronavirus & Flu Season

Coronavirus or not, there's never a more important time as during pregnancy to ensure your immune system is working well and being given a boost by ensuring your nutritional intake is top notch. That being said, pregnancy is often a time when it's the hardest to eat well thanks to morning sickness or food aversions and often while breastfeeding or while busy being a mum to your kids (however old they may be), it's REALLY easy to not get enough of the essential immune boosting foods into our diet.

When formulating our Yummy Mummy Food Company range of snacks and beverages, it was really important to us, to ensure they were not only fully loaded with ingredients long reputed to help decrease morning sickness and also increase breastmilk supply, but also that every single product was also jam-packed with healthy & immune boosting ingredients that could benefit whole families at the same time.

Some of these key immune boosting ingredients are:

Ginger

Ginger is a strong antioxidant that has been researched and is known to help boost the immune system naturally. It contains a cocktail of vitamins and minerals including magnesium, iron, zinc, and calcium that all work together to help fight cold viruses and even chills and fever. 
Ginger has also been long reputed to help assist healing, especially after childbirth, while at the same time is also an unsung hero as a natural galactagogue (milk boosting) breastfeeding ingredient that many cultures have used for centuries.
However, most of us probably already know of ginger's reputation for it's amazing stomach settling properties and it's ability to help nausea especially that caused by morning sickness during pregnancy.
It was a no-brainer to use this multi-boosting super-food along with our other 100% organic ingredients in our Golden Latte makes for a beneficial and highly nourishing drink that whole families can enjoy either hot or cold equally!

Turmeric

Turmeric has become quite well known lately for it's anti-inflammatory benefits and many arthritis or other inflammatory condition sufferers enjoy some relief by consuming it regularly. However, it is also such a powerful healing ingredient because of it's antioxidant properties which work alongside the anti-inflammatory ability to provide a power boost to immune systems at the same time!
Couple this with the other organic ingredients in our Golden Latte and you have an easy and delicious way to have your whole family enjoying these amazing herbs and spices.

Coconut

Coconut products contain antioxidants that have been shown to help reduce the risk of disease and strengthen the  immune system overall thanks to their antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, caprylic acid, and capric acid properties, which have antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties.

A really easy way to increase your family's consumption of coconut products is to make our Golden Latte or Healthy Hot Chocolate up using coconut milk or half coconut milk/half almond milk (or your preferred milk of choice).

For an added boost of coconut goodness we've also included Organic Coconut Milk Powder in our Healthy Hot Chocolate too, as it's not just a reputed galactagogue (milk boosting) ingredient but it also boasts so many other benefits for mums and families as a whole too, such as being dairy free, a rich source of iron, contains good fats necessary for new mums to aid healing, gives energy and help provide quality breastmilk to growing babies.

And the other way to sneak the goodness of coconut oil into your whole family's diets is by adding it to our Boost Balls when you make them up! Easy as....

Raw Cacao

Raw cacao is a powerful antioxidant that boosts the immune system because it contains numerous vitamins & minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, B-complex vitamins and iron. Raw cacao is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cocoa beans, which keep the living enzymes alive in the cocoa and removes the fat (cacao butter). 
Raw cacao is also a natural mood enhancer that gives boosts of long lasting energy and also helps promote healthy brain function and overall feelings of wellbeing.
You'll find this amazing ingredient in both our Healthy Hot Chocolate and Boost Balls for all these healthful reasons! 

Maca

We included maca in our Healthy Hot Chocolate mix because it is a well known adaptogen ingredient, which means it enables the body to enhance its power of resistance and adapt to external conditions. Adaptogen's work with (not against) the body's natural rhythms to help rebuild weak immune systems, re-mineralize poorly nourished bodies, and increase energy and endurance.
Enjoying a cup or two of our Healthy Hot Chocolate a day either hot or cold is another easy way to ensure everyone in your household is reaping the benefits of this amazing ingredient in lots of ways. You can also add it to smoothies or shakes and no one is any the wiser too!

Fennel

Fennel seeds like those included in our Lactation Tea are extremely rich in vitamin C, which is reputed to be a strong antioxidant as well. Fennel is also high in antimicrobial properties which automatically help boost the immune system too overall.
While we originally designed our Lactation Tea to include fennel because of it's long history of helping breastfeeding mothers with their supply, during taste testing, we were overwhelmingly told that it’s so nice that it’s been a fantastic tea option for ANY tea drinker!
It's a perfectly safe option for those not breastfeeding or even kids who are loving it as a relaxing, pre-bedtime sleep tea. With all these added immune boosting ingredients, what's not to love about this tea that's equally nice served hot or cold as an iced tea too.

We're understandably proud of the research that's gone into creating our entire Yummy Mummy Food Company range and are armed and ready with plenty so you can stock up and help keep your family well throughout this Coronavirus and flu season at www.yummymummyfood.com.au.