Dr H Margaret

House Calls and Lifestyle Medicine

Herbs for before and after

I have never had much use for the many herbs out there used for childbirth. Herbal reference books like Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susuan Weed, and Naturally Healthy Pregnancy by Shonda Parker, provide thorough description of herbs for fertility, pregnancy, labor and delivery, complications, and post-partum issues. Intervening with herbs can be very helpful when they are appropriately selected and timed, but in a truly normal birth no medicating is needed, even with herbs.

Below are the herbs I have used during my own childbearing years.

  1. "Preggo Tea"

There are plenty of people who have enjoyed this tea pregnant or not. It combines some classic tonic herbs commonly used in the childbearing year. This tea is not "medicinal" in terms of having an immediate effect, it instead is intended to be nutrition supporting, targeting the minerals and vitamins of special need to women.

It is often said pouring off the cooking water from vegetables is "pouring off all the nutrients." For many vegetables, especially leafy greens, this is true, the minerals and vitamins easily transfer to the cooking water. Pouring that water down the drain is a great loss.

Preggo Tea takes advantange of this same effect. Few people could sit down to a big bowl of steamed alfalfa, nettle and raspberry leaves for a meal, but pouring hot water onto the herbs and allowing them to steep provides for release of many of the minerals, vitamins and nutrients into the water. The leaves are the discarded portion, and the ``cooking water" is our tea.

said to be rich in Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, and Vitamin K * Nettle
said to be rich in Vitamin K, Iron and Calcium * Red Raspberry
said to be rich in Calcium * Spearmint
makes it taste good

There is no USDA database of nutrient content regarding these herbs, especially after they are prepared as tea. The nutrient content will depend on the ratio of herbs to water, the fineness to which they are cut, and then length of time which they are allowed to steep. The nutrient content of cooking water from spinach has been measured, and as the same process is being employed in making this tea, I expect the result is more than flavored water.

Half cup herbs to one liter hot water, cover and steep a few hours if you can. I usually make a pot or jarful and then have a strainer to pour through as it is taken. I have seen midwives recommend 3+ cups a day of similar tonic teas, but the exact best dose is impossible to quantify due to the factors mentioned above.

  1. Birth bath (for peri-compress and the days after the birth)
    • Combine equal parts:
      • calendula
      • chammomile
      • lavender
      • comfrey leaf
      • comfrey root
      • sage
      • uva ursi
    • Prepare for after birth bath

2-4 cups of herbs in a pot of water as a tea. Pour through a strainer and into the bath tub. Add a few spoons of sea salt (depends on the size of the water)

* Peri-compress

For women who wish to have a warm compress for the perineum during second stage, a handful of this herb mixture can be added to a crock-pot of warm water and kept in the birth room. Second stage in the bath tub makes this preparation obsolete.

  1. Cord care
    • Goldenseal root powder

Just a few sprinkles is all it takes, applied to cord stump each day until it falls off. (I did not use last time, instead had baths with baby and birth bath water seemed to dry up the cord rapidly, without any further care.)

  1. Afterpains
    • Catnip tea

Prepare catnip leaves as a strong tea. When I sipped in the times of afterpains it proved to provide amazing relief.

  1. Lemongrass-hibiscus tea and a pitch for phytonutrients

This tea is not specific for childbearing, tastes great, and I mention it here as a pleasing source of phytonutrients. Hibiscus flowers are a dark purple color and when steeped release red and blue pigments with high antioxidant capacity. Phytonutrients are the portions of plants which are being recognized as powerful preventers of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases. Risk reduction for chronic diseases begins in the womb. Moms who eat the most fruits and vegetables are least likely to have their children develop retinoblastoma (an early childhood cancer that is treated by removing the eyes), and mom who eat the most processed meat (hot dogs, bologna and sausages are examples of processed meats) are the most likely to have their children develop brain tumors in the first five years of life. Loading your child in the womb with protective phytonutrients (your baby eats what you eat) is a smart way of reducing risk for chronic diseases in the future (for baby and for you - after all, you don't want someone else raising your kids and you do want to one day experience the bounty of grandchildren and beyond.) A motivating introduction to phytonutrients is provided in the book The Color Code by Joseph and Nadeau. Reading this book helped me to understand the importance of phytonutrients and helped me to see the value in some of the brightly colored foods that are often overlooked. The book is especially helpful in that it does not talk about all the things to ``do not eat'', instead it motivated the resder to fill up on the best foods for preventing and fighting disesase. The end result is less room in the diet for the worst foods, but instead of feeling deprived you feel enriched by the diet changes.

Use equal parts lemongrass and cut hibiscus flowers. Use a teaspoon of herb mixture to make a cup of tea. The tea should be a deep rich red color.