I have been really looking into taking some kind of herbal support to prepare me for labor. I had never really looked into this before, and the extent of my knowledge was just to drink lots of red raspberry leaf tea. I never ended up taking the RRL very much. I would always buy it, and then drink it once or twice and then forget about it! Ha! Whoops.
But I KNOW there must be a reason why some women have super easy fast labors, and others don’t. Why some women have such a hard time healing afterwards, and others do not. I’ve had long, difficult labors, and my recovery has always been hard (even though I never had tearing)… it was just hard to walk for at least a week, how do some women seem to jump right up?
There are SO many contributing factors to these things, and most of the time we have no control, and can’t help these things. But what if there was a way to prepare our bodies, to strengthen them nutritionally to do their “job” most effectively.
Since I had those problems, and more (like serious bleeding after Thatcher was born), my midwife suggested a labor prep combination called Gentle birth.
Here is a great description for the rationale behind these labor prep combinations:
(http://gentlebirth.org/archives/herbs.html#PN)
Rationale for Prenatal Herbal Tonics
Prenatal herbal formulations are designed to help ripen the cervix and tone the uterine muscle. Typically, they do this by causing an increase in toning contractions in late pregnancy. If humans lived now as we evolved, even very pregnant women would still be doing a lot of walking around, foraging for food or moving about by foot instead of by car. Those normal levels of adrenaline from daily activity caused toning contractions (archaically called Braxton-Hicks contractions), which helped move the baby into the optimal position for birth and toned the uterus for an easier labor and birth. Moving the baby’s head down onto the cervix helped ripen the cervix so it would open more easily when the contractions of labor started. Having a ripened cervix helped the baby to come in a timely fashion, preparing the uterus to be ready to go into labor as soon as baby threw the switch. This meant that baby was more likely to have a nice, flexible head for easier molding and less likely to release meconium before birth.
Instead, we now see lots of women with long prodromal or early labors, which tell us that the uterus and cervix weren’t ready to go into labor when baby was ready to come. Women can help prepare the uterus to be in synch with baby’s timing either by doing lots and lots of walking (several hours per day would be optimal), or by taking herbs which also cause toning contractions.
The herbs in these prenatal formulations are tonic herbs, meaning they are mild, and you need to take them over an extended period of time in order for the benefits to accumulate. The capsule formulations are not a concentrated tincture or extract; they simply take the plants, chopped and dried, and put them into gelatin capsules. This is why you end up having to take so many capsules around your due date; they’re not concentrated the way herbal tinctures are. You could view it as a way of getting more greens every day.
Their are three main products/companies that carry these combinations- however you can take these things seperately or find a great herbal shop to blend them for you, or put them in a tonic.
Dr. Christopher’s PN-6 (however this his hard to find?), Nature’s Sunshine 5W (Standing for 5 weeks, which is how long you take it for), and Gentle Birth by Mountain Meadow Herbs.
All of them claim basically the same things, with the “strongest” formula being the PN-6, then 5W, and then Gentle Birth.
- Very little post-date babies (they come either “early” or “on time”)
- Less pain during labor and delivery
- Advanced dilation before discomfort was felt (Can I get an Amen?!)
- Shorter, easier recovery
- Very little bleeding and hemorrhaging
- Better breastfeeding
- Little to no “after pains”
I have read that they will make you have lots of braxton hicks contractions near the end, but they will actually regulate those contractions, and when you are ready for real labor (as opposed to false labor), it STARTS and then doesn’t stop. It feels like an epidemic with my close friends that have labors that start and stop and start and stop (poor things, how awful, huh?).
If taken before 35 or 36 weeks however these can induce labor early, so it is recommended that you take them per what the bottle says of course, and under the provision of your care provider.
I was interested to learn what some of the herbs in these combinations actually did- here are a few-
Squaw vine herb: Used by Native Americans and “among the best remedies for preparing the uterus and whole body for child birth”. Recommended for use during the some weeks before one’s EDD. Also useful in the relief of painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea). When used in preparations for labor, combine with raspberry leaf.
Black cohosh root: Used by Native Americans and “has a most powerful action as a relaxant and a normalizer on the female reproductive system”. Also useful in dysmenorrhea relief. Its usefulness in labor is to “aid uterine activity whilst allaying nervousness”. That said, this herb is known to have some sedative effects in addition to its effects as a general female tonic.
Red Raspberry Leaf: Used to strengthen and tone the uterus, thereby easing labor and preventing hemorrhage. This herb should be taken regularly during pregnancy and esp. during labor.
Here are the other herbs found in some of these combinations if you wanted to look each of them up…. blessed thistle, blue cohosh, false unicorn, bayberry,ginger, scullcap, motherwort, wild yam, dong quai root , butcher’s broom root.
My midwife recommends the gentle birth formula, and my herbalist recommends the 5w, however there are many midwives that do not think these are a good idea, so check with your care provider before taking them!
I sat fascinated and in AWE of the testimonials of all three of these products through this one forum I found online- hoping I have a similar experience as these women, you MUST check out this feed…. http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php?topic=15472.0
I am 36 weeks now, and I will be taking one until I have the baby! I will let you know which one I ended up taking, and then I will obviously let you know how my labor/recovery goes!
And please tell me, have you ever tried these? What was your experience with them?
