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The Complete Home Guide ltiofeHesrtbasg, eNsatural Healing, and Nutrition
146
miscarriage
Should miscarriage occur, seek professional advice immediately.
Herbal douches, vaginal cleansing suppositories, herbs to rebalance the
sudden change of hormones and help to support the nerves— including
chaste tree berries, skullcap leaf, passionflower flower, and a little lobelia
(
Indian tobacco) leaf— will all help you come to terms with the physical
and emotional traumas associated with miscarriage.
labor
Labor should, ideally, be a relaxed affair. Whether you give birth at home
or in a hospital, you should take every possible means to feel as confident
and at home. Special music, familiar pillows, and nice smells can all help.
There are herbs that can be used to help a birth along, should it
become apparent that intervention, such as forceps or a cesarean section,
may be needed. Yet it is important to let the body do its own thing as far
as possible, so herbs should be used no less reluctantly than any other
interventionist methods.
Pennyroyal leaf can help stimulate contractions; squaw vine leaf and
aerial parts and red raspberry leaf will generally support the labor; and
cramp bark will relieve any contractions that are too sharp or painful.
However, these herbs should not be used in a self-help fashion ever.
Small amounts of chamomile tea may be drunk or sipped during labor to
relax and help concentrate the breathing, though large amounts will relax
the contractions too much. I prefer to keep things simple unless
intervention, herbal or otherwise, is really necessary. One herb I would
choose would be lobelia leaf tincture smeared on the lips, because it will
provide relaxation and stimulation as required. However, only a
qualified herbal practitioner must ever prescribe all these herbs in
this situation.
after the birth
Pains after birth can be treated with a combination of cramp bark and
lobelia leaf. Nettle leaf tea will restore vitality, help mend torn or injured
tissue, and provide iron to compensate for lost blood. Should there have
been considerable hemorrhage, high and constant doses of nettle tea
should be kept up. To stop the hemorrhage itself, take one teaspoon of
yarrow tincture every half hour.
Equal parts of squaw vine leaf (a hormone balancer), fennel seed (a
galactagogue— that is, it encourages the production of milk), nettle leaf
(
for calcium, magnesium, and iron), and marshmallow root (for calcium
and as a galactagogue) will help balance you hormonally and provide a
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