Herbs In The Childbearing Years
Ahhh herbs… our allies. I love how much the plants around us and in the world in general want the best for us. They really do have our best interests in their design.
I have been connecting much more deeply with my roots, my ancestral heritage, my blood line lineage. There is so much there, especially with regards to herbalism, magic, and witchiness in general :) Connection to nature played a big role in older Irish, British, French, German, general Eastern European and Scandinavian history, all of which make up who I am and all of which hold space in my blood, my DNA. I’ve been trying to tap into that ancestral knowledge lately, especially when it comes to working with herbal plant allies with clients (and myself!) during their childbearing years.
My journey to knowing more about myself by learning more about my ancestry and blood line is perhaps a story for another day, but for today I thought I’d share some herbal remedies for various issues that come up throughout the childbearing cycle. I hope this blog post can expand over time and provide a materia medica of sorts for my future clients, and for now a small glimpse into the world of the supportive plants and herbal allies we have at our disposal in this world at this moment in time.
Feel free to reach out with questions or concerns you may have about herbs during preconception/conception/pregnancy/postpartum and beyond! I love talking about this stuff and will gladly hold space as you explore which herbal/plant allies might be best for where you are in your journey through life. And if you haven’t already, download my free herbal PDF to have an easy reference on your phone or computer for some of the main issues that come up during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and the herbs that help support in those scenarios.
I love getting all of my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs because they are super high quality and mostly organic or wild crafted. If you have an herbalist near you, reach out to them because they probably grow or source their herbs from locations local to you, which is always better than buying from someone/a company that is at a distance.
Without further ado:
Aches / Body Pain
Growing a baby in your belly not only affects your midsection but it can trickle through and affect the entire rest of your body in one way or another. Your feet, your legs, your butt, your pelvis, your back, shoulders, and neck can all feel more strain during pregnancy. Breast tenderness is also an issue throughout early pregnancy and early breastfeeding days.
To help with muscle tension, nerve pain, restless legs, and breast tenderness, you can make a massage oil with arnica, St. John’s wort, and chamomile. Dilute these oils in a carrier oil like almond oil and you can rub into sore and tender spots all over your body during pregnancy and beyond.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Skullcap
Anemia / Low Iron
Aviva Romm recommends making a nettle infusion by steeping a large handful of dried nettle in 1 quart of boiling water for two hours, straining, and drinking between 1-4 cups daily depending on how low your iron is in pregnancy.
Susun Weed also recommends using nettle in her book “Healing Wise”, saying nettle infusion drank during pregnancy has “assured anti-hemorrhagic power,” adds a plentiful supply of vitamin K and iron to the blood, and reduces the likelihood of hemorrhage.
Another reputable wise woman herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar, in her book “Herbal Healing For Women,” says that nettle is one of the highest sources of digestible iron in plant form, rich in calcium and vitamin A, nettle strengthens and supports the whole body and is still commonly used in native cultures to enrich and increase the flow of milk and to aid in restoring and rebuilding the mother’s energy following childbirth.
Other plants to consider:
Alfalfa
Dandelion
Nutritional Yeast
Raspberry leaf
Spirulina
Watercress
Yellow Dock
Bleeding / hemorrhage
I hope that you will have outside support during and after your birth, but in the chances that you will be birthing by yourself or want to be prepared in case that occurs, there are herbs that you can have on hand for postpartum hemorrhage. Some of these also work to prevent or offset bleeding during pregnancy. The herbs used for bleeding are shepherds purse, witch hazel, and yarrow.
In general, these herbs should not be used during pregnancy unless it’s an emergency. If after birthing, there is too much blood coming out to the point of the birthing woman growing faint, pale, ringing in the ears, losing consciousness, etc, then she can take a dropperful of each herb in tincture form under the tongue to help stop the bleeding. You can also add these herbs in tincture form to a tea that is ready-made for after the birth if that is easier to take in.
In combination with herbs, there are other methods of stopping bleeding, like putting pressure on/squeezing the uterus, chewing/sucking on the umbilical cord, or cutting off a piece of the placenta and putting it in the cheek of the birthing woman.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Bayberry bark
Beth root
Cinnamon bark
Breastfeeding / Milk Supply
The best "cure" for milk supply is to spend a lot of time skin to skin with your new baby and to feed her/him as often as she/he needs or wants. Secondary to that would be adequate nourishment and peaceful grounded energy.
If you feel like you'd like to encourage and support your body in producing plentiful and nutrient-dense milk, blessed thistle, fennel, fenugreek (note that fenugreek can upset thyroid levels so best to avoid this if you have pre-existing HPA issues), and nettle are your allies.
Blessed thistle stimulates blood flow to the mammary glands, and is often combined with red raspberry leaf and fennel to make a nourishing tea. Nettle is just an all- around nutritive herb that has been used for centuries to enrich and increase the flow of milk.
I'll include a recipe for Milk Tea below:
3 parts fennel seed, 1⁄2 part fenugreek seed, 1⁄2 part blessed thistle leaf, 1⁄4 part hops. Use 4-6 tablespoons of the herb mix per quart of water. Add herbs to cold water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Remove from the stove and let sit covered for 20 minutes. Strain and drink up to 3 cups per day. Can also be made into a tincture. Blessed thistle and hops are both very bitter herbs, so adding honey and/or lemon juice can help.
Other plants/herbs to consider:
Moringa (start at 1750 mg per day for supply issues)
Goat’s rue
Shatavari
Ashwaganda
Alfalfa
Nettle
Constipation
Constipation is a common occurence for women during pregnancy. The slow-down in our digestion is necessary so we can remove the maximum amount of nutrients as possible from our food each time we eat. Sluggish digestion doesn't have to cause physical or emotional strain though! If you're struggling with constipation, it may be because of low iron or some other nutrient deficiency. The herbs dandelion root, yellow dock root, and slippery elm can help with getting things flowing more smoothly.
You can make a syrup from dandelion and yellow dock roots in a base of blackstrap molasses to help cure constipation (and increase iron) safely and effectively. Take as much throughout the day as you'd like.
Another option is to make a laxative tea, with the recipe below:
1 part slippery elm, 1 part flax seed, 4 parts fennel seed, 2 parts licorice root, 1⁄8 part cinnamon bark, 1⁄8 part senna pod (increase senna if necessary). Add two teaspoons of the herb mixture to two cups of cold water and bring to a slow simmer over low heat. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, remove from heat and infuse keeping the pot covered for 20 minutes. Strain. Drink one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening.
Fatigue
As with most pregnancy ailments, fatigue is a symptom of either calorie or nutrient deficiency, or a deeper emotional/spiritual issue that is trying to come to light. Adding more calories to your diet in the form of healthy proteins and fats will help support your body and provide more energy throughout the day. Fatigue is also a symptom of low iron, so check the section about anemia for more resources that may help, in addition to adding iron sources to your diet daily.
Herbal allies for fatigue all help add nourishment and nutrients to the body: alfalfa, dandelion root, nettle, red raspberry leaf, and yellow dock root. Make a tea or infusion with any or all of the above, and drink throughout the day. Adding spearmint or peppermint or ginger will help add some pep and energy to the herbal blend as well.
Another thing to keep in mind when feeling fatigued is the need for rest. If you're having a hard time slowing down but also feeling fatigued all day, perhaps the fatigue is a signal from your baby that you should make more time for yourself to rest. <3
Heartburn
Heartburn, ugh. It’s got to be one of the worst feelings of pregnancy when everything starts getting so squished and our body is starting to relax all of our tissues in preparation for birth. Dandelion tincture is recommended by Aviva Romm. Her dosage is 20 drops of the tincture, 4x per day for heartburn or indigestion. I love dandelion during pregnancy, and it has so many great benefits like helping with morning sickness, low iron, constipation, and swelling, in addition to heartburn!
Susun Weed also recommends dandelion leaves for digestive issues, saying they increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach, helping to digest foods better and get more calcium out of foods, and help to avoid stomach issues. She recommends picking some of the leaves on the way home from work, cleaning them, then pouring boiling water over them and to then let that sit while you make dinner, drinking it after dinner before bed to help with indigestion and heartburn.
Wellness Mama says, “In the past, roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems. Native Americans also boiled dandelion in water and took it to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and upset stomach. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it has been used to treat stomach problems, appendicitis, and breast problems, such as inflammation or lack of milk flow. In Europe, dandelion was used in remedies for fever, boils, eye problems, diabetes, and diarrhea.”
This is a superfood! A superherb :) I highly recommend looking more deeply into this herb to see if it is an ally for you in your life, depending on what you have going on.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Chamomile
Catnip
Fennel or anise seeds
Lemon balm
Slippery elm bark (make a tea or drink stirred into warm milk)
Spearmint/peppermint
Hemorrhoids
No one likes or deserves hemorrhoids! They are awful and can cause not only physical pain but also emotional/psychic stress during pregnancy. My first recommendation for hemorrhoids is always healthy diet with lots of healthy vegetables and fruits and fats, in addition to proteins and healthy carbohydrates. My next recommendation is taking magnesium glycinate capsules. Lots of women drink the Calm magnesium drink, but it really doesn't compare to the efficacy of magnesium glycinate capsules! You can take as many as 4 caps before bed every day until you notice an ease of elimination, and then adjust the dosage to something that feels good to you.
Herbal remedies to help with hemorrhoids are comfrey, St. John's wort, and witch hazel extract. Drinking a nettle leaf infusion every day can also help treat the issue from the inside! You can buy dried comfrey and St John's wort and make a poultice to apply to hemmorrhoids externally for an hour, and you can also make a salve that you keep in the fridge with those same two herbs. Witch hazel extract can be store-bought or make a strong infusion from the dried herbs. Soak a pad or cotton cloth with the extract/infusion and apply to hemorrhoids topically for relief.
Herpes
Herpes is relatively common, and there is some fear surrounding it during pregnancy since it is recommended that women with an active herpes outbreak at the end of their pregnancy have a mandatory cesarean birth to avoid potential complications in the baby from passing through the vaginal canal during an active outbreak.
There are some herbal remedies to try, though, to help support the body and avoid an outbreak during pregnancy. Aviva Romm recommends echinacea root in combination with burdock root as an infusion to drink throughout pregnancy if you are prone to outbreaks, in order to help prevent them. Place ½ oz each of echinacea root and burdock root in a quart jar and fill with boiling water, cover tightly and let steep for 8 hours. Strain and drink and store leftovers in the fridge for the next day. Drink ½ cup, 4x per day. Take throughout pregnancy if you have regular outbreaks or begin taking it if you notice pre-symptoms of an outbreak. For every week you take these herbs, take a three day break before resuming (so, 7 days on, 3 days off).
Studies on echinacea in relation to recurrence/relapse of genital lesion outbreaks show promising results, too, and one study says, “in order to reduce the relapse risk, an induction of a protective immune response seems to be essential to allow rapid viral clearance from genital areas surrounding lesion and treatment zones. Echinacea promotes this process. EP and EA [different types of echinacea] dry root extracts seem to be a valid adjuvant therapy in reducing relapse incidence of lesions in patients.”
An article on draxe.com says, “echinacea is one of the most powerful natural antivirals against human viruses. It contains a compound called echinacein that inhibits bacteria and viruses from penetrating healthy cells. This greatly reduces the chances of contracting any type of infection while consuming echinacea.”
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Calendula
Comfrey
Lemon balm extract
Licorice root
Myrrh
Propolis
St. John’s wort
High Blood Pressure / Hypertension
Aviva Romm recommends mixing equal parts of tinctures of cramp bark, hawthorn (berries, leaves, and flowers), black cohosh, and motherwort and taking this AFTER the first trimester for reduction of tension and mild hypertension. Hawthorn is a cardiotonic that dilates peripheral blood vessels and improves cardiac output and reduces strain on the heart, thereby reducing blood pressure.
In the book “Healing With Whole Foods” Paul Pitchford calls hawthorn berry a “sour” food, meaning in Chinese medicine that it has a cooling quality and is used to prevent or reverse abnormal leakage of fluids and energy. The sour flavor is most active in the liver, where it counteracts the effects of rich, greasy food, functioning as a solvent and breaking down fats and protein, which to me makes sense if high blood pressure is due in part to this sort of dietary intake. Sour foods are the “proper foods” for the “heart-mind,” which is the Chinese concept of the union of heart and mind, which -- I feel -- is a major part of pregnancy: organizing and balancing the heart and the mind.
A study also found that participants with mild high blood pressure who were assigned to take hawthorn experienced a reduction in blood pressure AND decreases in general anxiety over the course of the study. Double bonus :)
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Valerian
Chamomile
Dandelion leaf
Garlic oil
Lavender
Lemon balm
Passionflower
Skullcap
Insomnia
Insomnia in pregnancy can be caused by many different things -- including lack of adequate caloric intake -- but occasionally we see insomnia just as plain insomnia with no apparent other causes. Of course there are always emotional undertones to every pregnancy complication, but we can look at insomnia on its own and treat it independently as well, with something as simple as chamomile.
Aviva Romm recommends preparing tea by steeping 1 tablespoon of the dried flowers in 1 cup boiling water, covered for 10-15 minutes. Strain and sip up to 2 cups before bed to help with insomnia. I have personally used this plant ally during my pregnancy to help with more restful sleep and to help calm my crazy pregnancy dreams down from bizarre status to normal status :)
Rosemary Gladstar also recommends chamomile during pregnancy for helping with sleep and anxiety. She recommends filling the bathtub with warm water and adding a large cloth bag full of chamomile and lavender blossoms, followed by a nice massage with chamomile oil before bed for a restful night’s sleep. I think the idea of creating a restful, oxytocin-inducing pre-bedtime routine for yourself during pregnancy is really invaluable. Making tea, having a bath with chamomile flowers infused in the water, and then a nice slow and intentional body massage with chamomile oil sounds great to me, and will for sure help with sleep!
In a Taiwanese study, postpartum women with sleep issues were sorted into two groups, one who drank chamomile tea each day for two weeks, and the other group didn’t do anything differently besides their normal postpartum care from their care provider. The chamomile tea drinkers showed significantly higher rates of better sleep and significantly lower rates of depression than the control group. Sign me up for the experimental group, please :)
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Lemon balm
Passionflower
Hops
Valerian (a very small percentage of people have an opposite effect with Valerian and it makes them have more insomnia, so check in and make sure it is working before committing to it long term
Miscarriage
Miscarriage is a very touchy and emotional subject for many women, and more women than you probably think experience this. Among women who KNOW they’re pregnant, 1 in 8 will experience miscarriage and of course that number is much higher in women who don’t realize they’re pregnant.
Aviva Romm recommends using black haw during a threatened miscarriage to relax uterine muscles and reduce contractions. Her blend is: 1oz each of partridge berry tincture, cramp bark or black haw tincture, and wild yam tincture + ½ oz dried ginger root. Dose is 30-60 drops of this blend every thirty minutes to two hours, depending on the frequency and intensity of cramps, until they quiet down, up to ½ oz of total tincture in one day. She also says this blend can be used by women with a history of miscarriage to help prevent miscarriage in current/future pregnancies.
The Women’s Wellness Collective also recommends black haw for threatened miscarriage, saying “black haw is one of the most beneficial herbs to use for recurrent miscarriages. If there is uterine cramping without cervical dilation, black haw has been used to help stop uterine spasms, contractions, bleeding, and nervous tension in early pregnancy. Black haw can also help to strengthen a weak cervix. Black haw is best consumed as a tea or infusion. To make an infusion, add 2-3 tbsp of Black haw to a quart mason jar, cover with hot water and a lid, and let it infuse for 4-8 hours. Drink 1-2 cups of tea or ½ an infusion daily upon conception.”
The British Medical Journal, in 1886 (!!!) published a short article about the benefits of black haw to prevent a threatened miscarriage, even saying “some women miscarry on the slightest provocation, and they continue to do so although every care may have been taken to prevent it. But when I have had the opportunity of commencing the viburnum (black haw) shortly before the anticipated period, and continued it at intervals on the first appearance of threatening symptoms, these patients have invariably gone on to full term, and done well without being subjected to restrictions or debarred from active exercise.” Wow.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
False unicorn root
Mood Swings
So many women experience lots more variation in emotional landscape during pregnancy and postpartum! I think some aspect of this is completely normal, though uncomfortable for some who aren’t accustomed to experiencing such big emotions (or who usually hide them away), but if it is impeding your normal daily activities, there is an herb that can potentially help!
Aviva Romm recommends passionflower tincture for emotional mood swings in pregnancy, particularly for those with anxiety and irritability. Her dosage is 10-30 drops up to 3x daily.
Red Moon Herbs has a blog post that says, “No one is left unscathed by the marks that living in a society of stress leaves on us, especially not pregnant women. Pregnancy is innately a helter-skelter time for emotions to storm up and scatter around. Moodiness during all three trimesters is, of course, normal and expected.
But herbal allies like skullcap and passionflower made life with a bun in the oven doable for me. They may be your allies, too, combined with other relaxation and mindfulness techniques like meditation, prenatal yoga, journaling, and simply allowing yourself to be human (a human growing a human, that is).”
Juliet Blankespoor says, “The mandala-like flower [of passionflower] demonstrates the powerful signature of its use in circular thinking, especially during insomnia; passionflower is especially suited for folks who have a hard time letting things go, mulling them over incessantly in a repetitive manner.” I thought that was really interesting!
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Milky oats
Rosemary
Chamomile
Lavender
Lemon balm
Partridge berry
Skullcap
Morning Sickness / Nausea All Day
Most women experience some form of morning sickness during pregnancy, from general feelings of nausea to full blown hyperemesis. All of it sucks! Aviva Romm suggests using wild yam tincture. She said this tincture reduces irritation and irritability in the hollow organs. It’s an excellent herb for reducing nausea/morning sickness, relieving vomiting, and relieving spasms in the stomach. She suggests 30 drops of tincture, 4-6x per day. Combined with dandelion root (30 drops of each), it has proven very effective for reduction of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and is totally safe long term!
Anita Stone also talks about wild yam, saying early settlers used it to ease labor pains, colic and leg cramps and to prevent morning sickness and miscarriage. She also mentions that while it is completely safe during pregnancy, it was also used in the first formulations of commercial birth control because of its ability to help the body increase its progesterone levels!
Rosemary Gladstar also recommends using wild yam tincture for morning sickness, and her blend is 2 parts wild yam root tincture, 1 part dandelion root tincture, ¼ part ginger root, and ½ part chaste berry. Mix all together and take ¼ teaspoon 3x per day, or during acute episodes, it can be taken more frequently throughout the day.
I know it seems counterintuitive to eat when you're feeling nauseous and aren't able to keep much down, but taking in protein and fat and carbs as much as you can while you're feeling nauseous before the point of vomiting, can help you avoid getting to the vomiting part. For many women, low blood sugar in pregnancy is the trigger for feeling nauseous, plus the concentration of hormones in our blood stream.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Lady’s mantle
Ginger root
Chamomile
Spearmint / peppermint
Postpartum
We all want to feel uplifted and full of renewed energy after we give birth! When we internalize that this is an option — instead of taking on the narrative that life after birth is full of challenging low energy days and nights — we can help it to manifest in our lives. Don't get me wrong, having a new little baby can be really challenging, but there are some super supportive herbs that can help in different ways during this sensitive time!
I love lady's mantle for restoring life force and vitality after birth. Squaw vine has the same qualities, helping to lift mood and increase vitality and strength. Motherwort can be used after birth to help clear the mind and keep emotions grounded and supportive of the transition into motherhood. Also, any herb that is high in nutrient density is a welcome friend after giving birth in order to set the stage for smoother recovery. Feel into nettle leaves, red raspberry leaves, alfalfa, red clover, and dandelion to see if any of these super star herbs are calling to you. Make a tea with any or all of them!
Swelling / Edema
As with any pregnancy issue, swelling and edema can be just a variation of normal or a sign that the body needs something that hasn't been provided. A highly nutritious diet with plenty of healthy protein and healthy salt (Himalayan or Celtic sea salt) can help prevent swelling. If you're still needing support in spite of these suggestions, try a combination of nettle leaf and dandelion leaf, either in a tea/infusion or as a tincture.
Dandelion greens are high in potassium and won't cause a deficiency in that mineral, even as they help to create proper water balance in the body. And nettles along with dandelion will help increase the circulation, help the kidneys function more optimally, and reduce swelling.
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Rosemary
Lavender
Wintergreen oil
Rose petals
Urinary Tract Infections
Somehow pregnancy makes everything that’s already bad, worse, including UTIs. Some women don’t actually even feel that they have a UTI during pregnancy and that can cause its own set of problems, but more often, women feel them as extra painful when they occur during pregnancy.
Aviva Romm recommends using uva ursi tea or capsules as a remedy for cystitis and urinary tract infections during pregnancy, but doesn’t recommend using during the first trimester. Only use this remedy for short durations of 5 days or less. To make the tea, place ¼ cup of the leaves in a quart jar along with ¼ cup of marshmallow root. Fill the jar with boiling water. Let steep for 2 hours, strain, and use at room temp or cool (do not reheat or drink warm, it should be cool to work most effectively). ¼ cup every 4 hours for subtle signs of a UTI, ½ cup every four hours for obvious symptoms, and 1 cup every four hours for a raging UTI. Do this until symptoms abate, decreasing the dosage as symptoms subside, taking 1 cup a day for up to 5 days max. The effectiveness of uva ursi may be enhanced FOR CHRONIC UTIs only, by taking 2 size 00 capsules of baking soda 3x per day.
Richard Whelan writes on his site that Marco Polo reported Chinese physicians using uva ursi to treat kidney and urinary tract problems and this served to bring it into popular use in Europe. When Europeans later began to colonise North America they found that natives had already long been using it as a urinary remedy, so this herb has been around and in use for urinary tract treatment for a lonnnnng time.
Kathleen DiChiara writes that uva ursi works by killing bacteria in the bladder and urinary tract. The active constituent in uva ursi is arbutin. In the alkaline environment of the urine, arbutin is converted into another chemical, called hydroquinone, which kills bacteria. Seems like a really great alternative to antibiotics for UTIs during pregnancy!!
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Wild yam
Echinacea
Varicose Veins
Aviva Romm recommends 250 to 312mg (equivalent to 100 mg of aescin, the active ingredient) of horse chestnut extract twice daily, plus she says you can apply the cream or extract twice daily topically on varicosities.
The Minnesota Herbalist says that horse chestnut (like many varicosity remedies) contains tannins to tighten and tone the veins. It also includes flavonoids providing important nutrition for venous integrity. Horse chestnut is also used to treat insomnia, obsessive thinking, and high blood pressure. She recommends using the tincture, 5-20 drops, 2x daily.
A vascular surgeon recommends using horse chestnut cream and says, “ This cream has natural components including aesculus hippocastanum extract, which has been shown in a systematic review of 17 studies to improve leg pain, swelling and itching when taken for short time for patients with symptomatic varicose veins compared to placebo.”
Other herbs / plants to consider:
Witch hazel topically
Dit dat jiao liniment
Nettle leaf tea
In conclusion, I’m curious which herbs stand out to you or which are calling you to investigate more deeply :) Fee free to reach out with any questions you have or leave a comment below with other herbal remedies that have worked for you!
