First lets start off with a book list!
I would highly recommend HypnoBirthing and Essential oils for pregnancy, birth and babies. There are hypnoBirthing classes you can take as well. I did one at the hospital, so check your local area for labor classes.
Let me give you a quick run down: HypnoBirthing is basically meditation and letting your body do its thing. Teaching you, your fear to get out of the way and trusting the process. The book goes over history which is fascinating and gives you CDs to listen to and practice. The book talks about where the “pain” comes from in labor and how you can do a natural birth with out it.
The second book is by a midwife that I met with my second child. She is amazing and very knowledgeable. Her book goes through oils that will help in pregnancy and good ones to have on hand for labor, as well as after birth. She has a lot of tips and ideas of what you can do. Both books are good to have before hand and practice the meditations and relaxing.
Check out the post: oils for babies & holistic protocols for all the things you might run into with your baby and infants.
Here are some other tips and ideas for pregnancy and labor:
Morning sickness in pregnancy: Ugh. Yes this one is a big one. Unfortunately there is not a one all cure all. The reason for this is because, there are any reasons a woman’s body has morning sickness during pregnancy in the first place. Some reasons are:
- Most often it is a hormonal change. Red Raspberry tea can help this one, and can combine with ginger and alfalfa mint.
- Another cause is a congested liver. Yellow bile that is vomited in the morning during the first weeks of pregnancy if often a sign of liver congestion. Dandelion and yellow dock can help with this one, and doing a liver cleanse AFTER birth and AFTER nursing but before next pregnancy would be very helpful.
- Vitamin B6 in 200mg for 10 days and then only 5-9 mg each day after, has showed to be able to control morning sickness. Make sure to get a Vitamin B complex and Vitamin C.
- Clove tea might help- steeping 1 tsp in 1 cup boiling water.
- Morning sickness may be low blood sugar. Making tea with honey and getting something in your system right when you wake up and having something buy the bed would help.
Jaundice: It is so simple to avoid! Pack a Vitamin E soft gel capsule in your bag and all you are going to do is in your first feeding…pop the capsule and squeeze in babies mouth. Then you feed them and they get simple Vitamin E which does huge wonders to get their liver and bile going. This way you avoid lights and having to go back after you had got home recovering.
Back labor: I would look into a tens unit. Cheap for avoiding pain, for some women they work wonders and others not so much. Every women is different and then every labor is different. You never know until you are in it and then you just have to try different things. Black pepper essential oil is also good for back labor and another option you can try.
Milk production: My advice is just invest and get a good pump right off the bat. You will have a lot of milk in the beginning, and its best just to keep that up for when you fall into stressful times. So pump, pump, pump and freeze the milk for a rainy day. Putting cabbage on your breasts right when you are getting all your milk in helps with pain. Keeping the milk pumped out will help avoid stretch marks (yes on your breasts), pain and infection.
To increase milk there are lots of things to try: Mothers milk tea works great. Green salads, green smoothies, chlorophyll, and lots of water and hydration is key. Taking taking brewer’s yeast/nutritional yeast at 3-4 tablets or 1 tsp and then slowly increasing, because it might cause gas in the beginning is a huge help. Even non alcoholic beer can help if you are desperate (I would get a good, organic brand). Pink stork is a good brand for supplements and there are also lactation brownies that are really good that you can make.
If nothing is working for you, you might not have any ducts. You can get an ultra sound to check, but you might just not have ever had them. Do not stress over nursing if it simply does not work for you. You can make your own formula, that is the closest to mothers milk… the recipe is in this POST.
Decrease milk or wanting to dry up: Parsley herb helps so make some Italian! Also peppermint oil you can also run on glads.
Tearing & Scar tissue: If you tore, you can avoid scar tissue and painful sex by taking enzyme 3x a day on an empty stomach. This means so food. For example: right when you wake up, right when you go to bed and once in the middle of the day. Do this for 2 months and you can avoid reconstructive plastic surgeries. Helichrysum essential oil is also amazing to heal nerves and tissue- use a couple drops in 1/2 tsp of coconut or olive oil.
Mastitis: I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I would say its way worse than labor, I was down in bed for over a week. To avoid mastitis you need to make sure the milk does not stay and “sit” in the ducts. Make sure everything keeps moving. But also, you have to make sure you are getting enough sleep. If you do get this, treat it like a cold and take immune herbs/supplements every hour. Using Lavender essential oil topically.
Peri Spray: To help us heal up quickly peri sprays are amazing. You can make your own with this recipe- In 2oz spray bottle fill half with witch hazel, add 3 T fractionated coconut oil, 10 drops helichrysum, 5 drops Frankincense, 5 drops Copaibia, 3 drops Lavender, 5 drops Yarrow. Fill the rest with water and shake before each use.
Water retention or Edema: Do not reduce your water intake. Cut our salt, and take minerals and especially potassium. increase bananas, parsley, and vitamin C. You can also use grapefruit, lemongrass or cypress topically on legs.
Postpartum depression after labor: This is legit. No one would wish to have this and only those who have felt it, know that it is real and serious. Know that it is no the real you. It is an imbalance. Taking these supplements right in the beginning with help you re-balancing and avoid it, hopefully. Take these right away and have them on hand before the labor- B vitamins, omegas, and magnesium are essential.
Bergamot, Lemon, Lavender (stimulates serotonin), Lime, Frankincense, are great oils to diffuse and even drop into hands and breathe deeply several times a day. Frankincense is the “brain” oil, put a drop under your tongue in the morning and the night.
Avoid During Pregnancy Single Oils:
Basil, birch, calamus, cassia, cinnamon bark, hyssop, Idaho tansy, laurel, lavandin, mountain savory, mugwort, rosemary, sage, tarragon, wintergreen.
Use Cautiously During Pregnancy Single Oils:
Angelica, cedarwood, chamomile (German/blue), cistus, citronella, Clary sage, clove bud, cumin (Black), cypress, davana, fennel, laurel, marjoram, Mountain savory, myrrh, nutmeg, peppermint, rose, spearmint, vetiver, yarrow.