6 | LUXlife Magazine he story of Vital Moms dates back to 2014, when Sanne Knijn was pregnant with her first child. During her pregnancy, Sanne developed pelvic instability, which was incredibly painful and made it difficult to perform basic tasks such as walking, lifting things, and even getting out of bed in the morning. After consulting with her midwife, friends, and work colleagues alike, Sanne was told there was essentially nothing she could do – she had to wait it out. Hopefully, they said, it would start to get better after she had given birth. Not willing to settle for this rudimentary advice, Sanne took matters into her own hands, researching on PubMed (a biomedical literature database with more than 35 million citations), eventually stumbling across a paper concerning specific nutrient deficiency in pregnant women with pelvic instability. After taking the nutrients mentioned in the study, Sanne was delighted to find that she was able to do things like normal just a week later, quickly solving an issue deemed ‘incurable’ by those around her. If this was the case for her, Sanne wondered just how many women were going through the same thing: given inadequate and inaccurate advice that was impacting the health of not only themselves but also their babies. After all, Sanne was very healthy, eating the right things and taking the multivitamins recommended to her. However, this did little to stop her developing a deficiency that was almost immobilising. It is unsurprising then that this lit a fire within Sanne to ensure other pregnant women did not suffer the same fate. Sanne was working as a manager in a hotel at the time but quickly retrained once she was able and back on her feet, tackling some of the most common issues of pregnancy with a sense of rigour that can only come from having experience them herself. For example, many pregnant women often have pregnancy-related complaints and cravings, which have come to be accepted as ‘normal’. But Sanne knew that the right nutrition could make the body healthy again, stop cravings and help to reduce these complaints. If it worked so well for pelvic instability, imagine what it could do for other pregnancy-related complaints. “I spent years doing research and concluded that all pregnancy complaints can be prevented and reduced with nutrition and lifestyle. In my online course, ‘Powerful Pregnancy’, I offer advice for each pregnancy complaint.” Best Pregnant Women Complementary Healthcare Provider 2025 – Benelux Pregnancy is a time of great change in a woman’s life, a time where many questions arise – some of which feel unanswerable. Alongside these questions is a wealth of challenge and opportunity, all of which can make the experience occasionally feel overwhelming. Having been through this herself, Sanne Knijn from the Netherlands established Vital Moms, an organisation designed to help women prepare for and confidently face motherhood. We caught up with Sanne for more on the deeply personal events that led to her creating this internationally recognised brand. Taking both the research she did for her own condition and that of nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle more broadly, Sanne decided to compile the summaries she had written into a book, published in 2017. This formed the basis of Vital Moms, and its content has since been expanded through both a series of online programmes within the Vital Moms Academy and a comprehensive nutrition plan. Today, many of the midwives who initially could not help Sanne recommend her method, which has proven to be highly effective. “The book is theoretical”, explained Sanne, “but described in a simple way, so that everyone (even those without knowledge of nutrition) can understand it. You can read the book from front to back, but if you don’t want to this, you can also use it as a manual and always look things up to see what the body wants to tell you with complaints and cravings.” She added: “For those who want, there is also a matching nutrition plan, so the pregnant woman can cook healthy in a simple way with no less than 140 pregnancy-safe recipes.” Despite approximately 90% of women experiencing pregnancy-related symptoms, Vital Moms’ approach not only caters to them – it is suitable for all pregnant women in search of healthy development for their baby and to prevent any issues arising for themselves. As Sanne told us: “I help pregnant women and midwives reduce or prevent pregnancy-related complaints through holistic, science-based nutrition and lifestyle guidance, aiming for a more natural, empowered, and less medicalised pregnancy and birth experience.” Vital Moms’ method is totally natural from the ground up: natural nutrition, natural supplementation, natural lifestyle, and a natural mindset. It is the commitment Sanne has to this foundation that has seen her build something that is continuing to serve the needs of women in an environment that is constantly changing. Nothing is set in stone in the world of nutrition, with new research and findings being published all the time. Sanne accounts for this by continuing her research and introducing new elements into her offering. Excitingly, Sanne is currently working on her second publication, which will cover research in new areas such as maternal health, postpartum, and pregnancy recovery, as well as many of the trends that have defined this space in the eight years since her last book. Touching on these shifts, Sanne commented: “In the broader market, there’s a growing T
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