Herbs: Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Beyond

Today I bumped into D.D. at Chic Mama Maternity over on Stone Oak and 1604. SUCH a cute store! (FYI, they are celebrating mother’s day with a “photo op” package for pregnant moms, and then of the newborn after the birth). Anyway, I had mentioned some herbs to one of her employees and they were desperately searching to find what I had recommended...so, I thought it best to visit herbs all by themselves, away from vitamins. Vitamins are a daily thing, herbs are a “squirt as you need them” thang.

    My favorite one stop herb shop is www.wishgardenherbs.com They have the most comprehensive list of herbs for every phase of life a woman will go through from PMT to PMS to miscarriage to recovering mentally and hormonally from birth to menopause. Jenny, the owner, has a gift with herbs and everything I have taken from them works. Whole Foods now carries about ten of their mixtures, and it’s a good thing.

    Now, herbs, are expensive. BUT, so are drugs. And, herbs don’t have the side effects most drugs have. I have a few tinctures from wishgarden herbs that I really like and then, I found a couple of cheaper substitutes that seemed to do the trick as well. This time, I have not been as faithful with my raspberry tea. I usually drink it every day when I’m pregnant, but this is a “leaf” that keeps your uterus strong and vital. It doesn’t taste like much, so I just mix it with another tea of choice and plop it in the fridge.

    Ok, for labor and delivery, I use AfterEase for afterpains. These are not so bad the first time, but in subsequent births, this is a good one to have on hand. During birth, I like Smooth Transitions for during “transition”. If you have taken a Bradley Method birthing class, you will be very very familiar with this term and when it will occur during the birth. I’m finding not every woman seems to know this information and for me it has been an invaluable key to having a great birth. Google it or get a book on it, whatever you need to do, and then I will share my experience with transition. 

    In Bradley class, you learn that the first 5 centimeters of the cervix opening is the longest period of birth. This part can take HOURS and can frustrate the woman because she feels like she isn’t really advancing, when this is just the slowest part. Once you hit 5 centimeters, the cervix really starts to open and birth moves much more quickly. Around 8 centimeters, or right before pushing is the “transition” phase of birth. During this phase, the woman feels helpless, sometimes cries, and usually feels she cannot go on with birth at this point. Many women ask for drugs at this point. Being armed with this knowledge is “birth changing” BECAUSE, it only lasts a few contractions and then you are THERE. You are ready to push and the contraction part is over. 

    For me personally, knowledge has been SUCH a key to a fear free birth. If I know the signposts and I know what’s next and I know the normal emotions one should experience during the different phases of birth, I feel so much more in control, even in the “out of control” moments. During transition on the first three births, I emotionally experienced the helpless feeling, I shook, and I cried. Usually, this lasted one to two long contractions. Then, it was over and I had a 20 minute “rest” between final contractions and pushing. I would just sit and take a few breaths, drink some kool-aid, and then, it was time to push. On one of those first three births, my mid-wife gave me one dropperful of transition drops DURING transition. The few moments of that herb in my body, my emotions went from all time low to balanced in just a few seconds. 

    The last birth (number four), I had these drops in my hand and walked out to the hot tub, got into  the hot tub, and every contraction I took a dropperful in my mouth. I never experienced the lows and shaking or crying that I had the other births...and then I pushed for 45 seconds and the baby came out. It was the easiest thing I had done so far in my birth experiences. So, that’s my testimony on smooth transitions. Again, being armed with knowledge (use your local library and check out the Bradley Method book) helps SO SO much in birth. Your doctor, your friends, your mother, and your husband don’t know any of this information and even if they do, they forget to tell you.

    I have four bags of the AfterBirth Sitz bath herbs. I’m sure they are great, I just never sat in them. I probably will try this time and really wished I had the other times.

    For lactation, I honestly have never used the herbs from that site. I keep a giant bottle of Fenugreek on hand and if I need a lactation BOOST, I take a few of these vitamins and my milk increases. I get my vitamins from www.vitacost.com. I will give you a tip on mastitis, though. First of all, I LOVE my breastpads that I sew at home and wool breastpads. All of the paper products get old pretty quickly and I start craving cotton or a natural fiber against my skin. You can order the breastpads directly from me, they are $10 a pair if you want.

    Mastitis is basically an infection in one of your milk ducts. Be armed with THIS info., because you can get mastitis within 24 hours of the birth. It’s easy to take care of if you recognize it the minute it hits, but if it goes full blown, you have an intensely high fever and it’s hard to get on top of it as fast. O.K., when your breast gets tender “lumps” in it, that’s mastitis. I usually get it just on one side and many times it’s from stress, or just from being burned out from no sleep, having the baby, nursing, and then still no sleep. The SECOND you realize you have a painful lump, IMMEDIATELY RUN TO YOUR BED, LIE DOWN, and drink a gallon of water. Take vitamin C and rutin together and some zinc and massage your breast while you are in a hot shower. The faster you get on this, the faster the mastitis leaves. One of my friends rubs the outside of her breast with a salve. The main thing is doing whatever you normally do to fight an infection and doing it fast. I got really sick the first time I had this and fortunately one of my girlfriends gave me this advice....ever since, it’s been a piece of cake.

    Speaking of salves, wishgarden herbs has a great salve if you are already shopping there. The New Mother’s Nipple and Repair Salve is nice. I have moved on to a salve I got from the local farmer, but now I know what to look for as far as ingredients go. A salve is a MUST. You MUST have a salve on hand before the birth. This will soothe nipples, bottoms (yours and babies’) breasts, and more. Since the birth I do not travel nor do I leave the house without salve on my personage. It’s first aid in a can and basically has all the ingredients one needs for healing skin. If you happen to tear during the birth, this will help all heal that much faster.

    Postpartum herbs: Baby Blues Mood Support and/or ReBalance: Hormonal Tonic. Keep these on hand just in case. I found my emotions went nuts after the first one and it was such a surprise and unknown/unexpected thing for me that I was not prepared at all. The cheaper “local” item I have found even at HEB grocery stores is called “Bach’s rescue Remedy” a mood and stress support herbal drops bottle. Just squirt some in your mouth and you immediately feel your mood and hormones “lift”. This last time, I just had these drops on hand and they worked great. Just squirt until you find you don’t need to squirt anymore.

    Finally, the last 5 weeks of pregancy, I take 5-W. This is available through Nature’s sunshine or something like that. It’s one of those tier companies, but the herbs in this formula prepare your body, uterus...for birth. I have done these every time.

    Hope this helps. I have a dear friend who educated me on herbs before my first birth, and I will forever be grateful for her information.