Healthy Habits: Mother's Intuition and Saving Charlotte

I recently had the chance to review Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition by author Pia de Jong. It's a fascinating read about a mother who chose to trust her intuition when her newborn daughter was faced with a major medical condition. Diagnosed with congenital myeloid leukemia, Charlotte is in a grave situation. With the limited medical information about the condition available, Pia and Robbert decide not to pursue chemotherapy, but instead take a watch-and-wait approach - and approach that, thankfully, works.

I had a chance to interview Pia to learn more about her story and the power of intuition.

Why did you decide to write this book?

I decided to write Saving Charlotte because it is a touching story about a fragile newborn and the love she evokes from everyone around her. In this world, where we can hardly avoid listening to screaming politicians, it is a relief to open oneself to a story of hope.  A thing of love is a joy forever. We can only learn from it.

Why is the power of mother's intuition so strong?

A mother's intuition is so strong because the mother has carried her child for nine months in her own body. She breathes for the baby, so it gets oxygen. She put her hands over her belly to protect her child. She knows him before he is born, through each of his different kicks. There is already so much interaction. It just continues, in an even stronger way, after the birth.

How can we learn to trust our gut?

We can learn to trust our gut by being calm. Only when we breathe quietly, can we listen. Listen to the responses in our body. How does it feel when others confront us? How do we feel when we are in nature, in a city, with a group of people? What does make us nervous, what makes us smile? Know yourself. That's most important thing for every human being to know -- and it's how we can judge the decisions we have to make.