Before You Say Yes: Holistic Health Decisions for Your Family

We are making more health decisions than ever before, but fewer people feel confident making them.

Somewhere along the way, we were taught to step back, trust the system, and assume someone else knows our body better than we do. But what if the real issue is not a lack of options, but a lack of full information?

Before you say yes to any recommendation, it is worth asking a simple question: Do I fully understand the long-term impact of this decision?

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Life is all about decisions. Good, bad, ugly, we make them. Unfortunately, those decisions are not made easier by the world around us. The media, our friends and family, Instagram, our doctors, all influence the decisions we make.

When it comes to our health, many times we try to take the back seat in decision-making, claiming we do not know our bodies as well as health professionals. Because of that, we often do not question when decisions are strongly suggested for us, especially when that decision is presented as the best or only option, with little to no discussion about the aftermath of making it.

For example, here are three decisions we make for ourselves or our young families that do actually have risks that typically are not discussed before we agree.

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Birth Control

Yes, this is a very touchy subject for some people. Our human instinct is to desire sex, but our modern world has offered a way to engage in it without having to “worry” about the natural outcome of what sex is designed to create, a child.

I understand that having a child is a lot of work, stress, and responsibility, so many unmarried and married couples choose for the wife to take birth control because it feels like the easiest solution to a big decision. However, when we look at birth control from a medical standpoint, there is not a single option available that does not come with potential long-term risks for what is often a temporary solution.

Some of the risks associated with birth control include cancer, blood clots, depression, toxicity buildup, infection, perforation of the uterus (with IUDs), and more. Not to mention, we may not fully understand the impact on our bodies and hormones when we do not menstruate regularly. It may feel convenient to avoid that cycle, but at what cost?

And we have not even touched on the use of birth control for acne or prescribing it to young girls whose bodies are not yet fully developed.

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Ultrasounds

First comes love, then comes baby, and with baby often comes ultrasounds.

Everyone does them. There are now even places you can go just to view your baby outside of your doctor’s office. It feels special, and sometimes it truly is medically necessary. But our world is beginning to monetize a medical procedure that was originally intended to be used as a tool when needed, not as a routine experience or keepsake.

The Weston A. Price Foundation published an article that encourages parents to step back and reconsider the excessive use of ultrasounds. While ultrasounds do not use ionizing radiation like X-rays, they do use non-ionizing radiation, which has been shown in some research to have the potential to affect cellular activity, especially during such a fragile stage of development.

It is absolutely possible to have a healthy pregnancy without multiple ultrasounds. I have personally done it twice without any, and the third time we only had one at 41 weeks when it became more of a medical necessity.

You do not have to take an extreme approach, but I do encourage you to reconsider having three, four, or even more ultrasounds simply out of routine or convenience. It is the repeated exposure over time that raises more concern.

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Tympanostomy Tubes (Ear Tubes)

So many babies and young children are now receiving ear tubes to help manage recurring ear infections.

But your child was not born defective for not having those tubes already in place. The reality is, the medical system often focuses on managing symptoms rather than addressing the root cause.

Did you know the CDC actually encourages delaying the use of antibiotics in many ear infection cases because they often resolve on their own? Frequent antibiotic use, especially in the first year of life, can significantly impact a child’s gut health and development long term.

What many parents do not realize is that there are often structural issues that prevent the eustachian tube from draining properly. When a baby is born, the top bone in the neck sits extremely close to the eustachian tube, about 1 millimeter away. Birth is physically demanding, and there is a very high likelihood that some degree of misalignment can occur.

If that area is not functioning properly, it can contribute to drainage issues and recurring infections.

Getting your child adjusted early can help support proper function before issues begin. Additionally, myofunctional therapy and working with an airway-focused dentist can help address structural concerns in a way that supports long-term health rather than creating dependency on intervention.

Another important factor to consider is that ear tube placement requires general anesthesia. The potential long-term effects of exposing a developing brain to anesthesia is something that deserves careful consideration, even if it is not always discussed in detail.

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At the end of the day, this is not about fear. It is about awareness.

You deserve to be fully informed before making decisions about your body or your child’s body. You deserve to ask questions, to pause, and to consider all options, not just the most common or convenient ones.

Your body was designed with intention. Your child’s body was designed with intention.

When we begin to support the body instead of working against it, we open the door for true healing, not just symptom management.

If you have questions about anything shared here, or there are topics you would like me to dive into further from a holistic health standpoint, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let’s continue the conversation.