Red Raspberry tea, Evening Primrose Oil, and Alfalfa?

[VTnurse]

I'm a little over 35 weeks pregnant and planning a homebirth. (Second child, first homebirth). One of my girlfriends suggested drinking 2-3 cups of red raspberry tea/day starting now. She also suggesting taking 1000 mg of EPM 3x/day with food after 38 weeks. She suggested alfalfa at 40 weeks. I have no idea the risks/benefits of these. Can you educate me? Is anyone doing this?

[mediumcrunch]

I start taking EPO at 36 weeks. 1/day at 36 weeks, 2/day at 37, 3/day at 38 etc.....
It is a commonly recommended supplement, even by more mainstream practitioners. I know tons of women who take it and have only heard of one aquaintance who got itchy from it. Never heard of any contraindictions, I take it as a VBAC without issue.
RRL is a commonly recommended supplemt too. Many women drink it throughout their pregnancy or at least in the 2nd and 3rd trimester.

[sunfish21]

My midwives have rec. both the RRL and the alfalfa. I did drink RRL tea with my first (for toming the uterus). I am not sure what the alfalfa is for...

[MommaKitten21]

Alfalfa is to help prevent excessive bleeding!! I have a bleeding disorder where I normally bleed more then others over small cuts. I started taking alfalfa and only bled for one day after baby (home birth)

I am pregnant again and will start taking alfalfa at around 30 weeks to help with this birth!

I do pregnancy tea now, and will switch to RRL when I am further along. Probably about 35 weeks.

[Sweetiemommy]

RRL tones the uterus and is a generally nutritious herb, which has been recommended by midwives for centuries. Tons of women use this herb for pregnancy, it is the major ingredient in all "mother to be" or prengnancy teas on the market. It is often paired with nettles for extra nutritional value.

EPO is very rich in polysaturated comega-6 fatty acids, which are necessary fatty acids that body needs to complete numerous functions including insulin absorption, regulating the heart, and regulating mood. The body does not manufacture these fatty acids on its own, so they have to be taken as food or food supplements. Aside from the omega-6 fatty acids, evening primrose oil has linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid (“GLA”). Both of these acids are very important and very beneficial to general well-being. It is also thought to "ripen" the cervix, because it contains prostaglandins.

Alfalfa is a natural source of chlorophyll, rich in protein and vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K. It also contains calcium, potassium, carotene, iron, and zinc. It is recommended to prevent excessive bleeding and is also great for postpartum recovery (although it can increase milk supply).

All of those herbs are pretty standard for the homebirthing crowd. Most of us swear by them and like I said, they've been around for centuries. Using herbs is pretty similar to eating foods that are good for you. Taking pills or concentrated forms (like a tincture) obviously could be abused or overused in some cases, but those three are pretty standard and very safe. Teas are the weakest form of herbal supplementation so there isn't much to worry about. Hope this helps.

[claddaghmom]

I'm doing a "mother's brew" of RRL, nettle, alfalfa and peppermint as tea. I steep 10 tblspoons to a quart.

I was going to splurge on some nice flaxseed oil w/ EPO ($35 for a bottle!!!) but found New Chapter complete omegas in pill form on sale so I'm doing that instead.

[mommamisty]

Also doing the mother brew, starting w one glass a day in my first trimester and will increase up to a quart a day for last few weeks.

I have taken and applied EPO to my cervix starting 36 weeks with my last 3 pregnancies.

[LittleBlackBug]

I took all of them during my pregnancy. I mixed the RRL with pink lemonade as I don't usually drink tea. I'm almost positive they all helped with my quick and (almost) painless labor / birth!

[ColwynsMommy]

I've never heard alfalfa recommended to anyone other than low supply moms. In fact, I've heard it said that unless you're *positive* that you will have a low supply, you should avoid it because it can cause a problematic oversupply in moms who would have had a normal supply otherwise.

Isn't nettle similarly good as far as vitamins are concerned, just without the milk production aspect?

[Sunshinesmiles22]

I make a qt. of what I call pregnancy tea: rrl, nettle, oatstraw, rosehips, alfalfa, lemon balm. I add a bag of red zinger to make it taste better. This brew does all sorts of things---overall, I just feel great!

I did just rrl last go around and a super strong infusion during labor--and I went from 2 cm to 8cm in minutes (my labor was stalling a bit, so this kicked it into gear!).

Highly recommend the teas..

I do 500 or 1000 of evening primrose/day now that i'm in the home stretch.
(35 or 36 weeks)

[wannathird]

yes

I use alfalfa with my first home birth its great for Vitmin K use also and for bleeding i start taking RR tea for my uterteus toning i start around second trimester. I took EPR when i was 5cm open 90 % dilated and still walking around like that for 8 days I starated by taking it and putting it in my private area. I will take it orally this time starting this weekend i am 35 weeks at this time.

[springfever]

I'm almost 33 weeks along, and I've been drinking 1 or 2 cups of raspberry leaf tea every day, with 2 tea bags each. I'm too lazy to do loose leaf and I prefer the taste of the tea bags. After 36 weeks I'll be starting EPO and upping my RRL tea intake!

[erin_brycesmom]

I swear by RRL tea and alfalfa but do not agree with the idea of starting alfalfa at 40 weeks. I would start asap and I've actually read some believe it's best to STOP with the alfalfa temporarily once baby comes.

[mion]

Alfalfa eliminated swelling and also curtailed constipation for me. I take it as a regular supplement, pregnant or not!