Questioning Late Pregnancy Herbals

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I want to find a nice middle ground between doing the best I can do to help achieve the easiest possible homebirth and being a healthy skeptic and conscious consumer when it comes to parenting.  

I have seen raves about some of these late pregnancy tonics 5-W, Gentle Birth Herbal and Wish Garden Late Pregnancy Tonic.  But these get my skeptical brain all jumpy.  

There's also RRL, which I've read enough to be convinced of it's likely positive effects but there are other things like EPO and other things like special blended perineal massage oils, stress relief tinctures, homeopathics, Bachs and etc. that I'm not quite as sure about.  

What do you all think about this?  

[noahs.mom06]

I drink RRL at my midwife's recommendation (she recommends drinking it all through pregnancy, but I'm just starting in the second tri as nausea and vomiting are diminishing). I've also used EPO in both of my previous pregnancies, both orally and vaginally. Neither of those things will start labor, they just help your body get ready to labor more efficiently, so I have no problem with them.

I don't know much about the various pregnancy tonics, but I know that a midwife friend of mine strongly discourages the use of the 5-W... I had a client who was wondering about it, and when I asked, she said to steer clear of it. Apparently it has some herbs in it that are questionable in terms of safety, especially starting weeks before your due date and before you are even considered "full term" (IIRC, my client had said that the 5-W is recommended in the last 5 weeks).

[gemasita]

I went through the same questions.  But I did end up starting the 5-W.  It's been around a while and is specifically made for the last 5 weeks of pregnancy.  It's from a reputable company.  I've been taking it about 2 weeks so far.  I had a hard time researching the different supplements (seems like each of them have neg's and pos's when I looked online) but I finally just decided to just take it.  I think the questionable herb in the 5-W is Dong Quai but it seemed like each of the other tonics had at least one questionable herb too.  Arg.

I'm going to start EPO soon and I drink RRL some...but want to increase it.  Except that the 5-W has RRL in it so now I don't know how much to drink in addition.  Questions, questions....I'm honestly almost too tired to care (can you tell I feel like crap these last few weeks?).

[Full Heart]

I have and haven't used 5w, PN-6, epo, rrl, etc.  They made no difference in length of labor, how ripe I was or anything. The only thing I liked was the EPO because it made my hair thick and shiny and my skin supple.  I figure most of the stuff out there is probably not going to hurt, but they might not help either.  And for me it was an expense that I couldn't justify.  Not to mention one more thing I needed to remember to do.  I do use Bachs Rescue Remedy when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep because my brain is going a million miles a minute.  That works well for me. 

[NuzzleNudge]

With my first baby I took nothing. I had a LOT of PP bleeding, worrisome amounts. I also tore. 1 stitch.

With my second baby a drank RRL tea starting around 32ish weeks, and took EPO around 35 weeks orally and vaginally. I had very light PP bleeding, and no tearing. I can't help but believe the herbs had something to do with it.

My midwife wants me to start the RRL now and take it throughout. It is an excellant uterine toner and does not induce labor unless you have an irritable uterus. EPO is good for helping you stretch and also according to my midwife a mood stabilizer! Seems to help me, could be the placebo effect, but i do feel calmer/happier after taking some.

[labortrials]

Great question.  I'm doing some stuff with essential oils since I have a distributor's discount through Young Living Essential Oils.  My midwife would like me to see a naturopath and make sure my liver, thyroid, and adrenals are working well.  So I bought some geranium and cedarwood essential oils to start rubbing on my adrenals (kidney area).  My liver is probably plenty happy with me right now since I hardly have a drop of alcohol!  I like essential oils - they seem to work better for me than herbal tinctures or the bach flower remedies.

I know a lot of women use EPO late in pregnancy.  Since I know that inducing and/or augmenting a VBAC labor is a no-no (generally, speaking), I'm a bit leery of using EPO myself.

RRL is supposed to be good throughout pregnancy.  I recommend mixing in some nettles.  I think the pre-packaged RRL teas are pretty gross; not that RRL is particularly yummy to me.  LoL!

I'll have to have a look at those tonics!

[Mamatoabunch]

I have taken pn-6 my last 8 pregnancies and will again this pregnancy.

[noahs.mom06]

Originally Posted by labortrials 

Great question.  I'm doing some stuff with essential oils since I have a distributor's discount through Young Living Essential Oils.  My midwife would like me to see a naturopath and make sure my liver, thyroid, and adrenals are working well.  So I bought some geranium and cedarwood essential oils to start rubbing on my adrenals (kidney area).  My liver is probably plenty happy with me right now since I hardly have a drop of alcohol!  I like essential oils - they seem to work better for me than herbal tinctures or the bach flower remedies.

I know a lot of women use EPO late in pregnancy.  Since I know that inducing and/or augmenting a VBAC labor is a no-no (generally, speaking), I'm a bit leery of using EPO myself.

RRL is supposed to be good throughout pregnancy.  I recommend mixing in some nettles.  I think the pre-packaged RRL teas are pretty gross; not that RRL is particularly yummy to me.  LoL!

I'll have to have a look at those tonics!

EPO doesn't induce labor or anything like that, all it does is soften your cervix. So it should be fine, even with a VBAC (I know I've had clients ask their [very non-progressive, barely VBAC supporting] OB's about it, and they've been told it's perfectly fine).

I get my RRL loose in the herb/seasoning section at one of my local health food stores. It's SO much cheaper ($1.88 for a big bag!), and I just put it into tea bags myself. I actually hate tea, but don't mind the RRL.

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by labortrials 

Great question.  I'm doing some stuff with essential oils since I have a distributor's discount through Young Living Essential Oils.  My midwife would like me to see a naturopath and make sure my liver, thyroid, and adrenals are working well.  So I bought some geranium and cedarwood essential oils to start rubbing on my adrenals (kidney area).  My liver is probably plenty happy with me right now since I hardly have a drop of alcohol!  I like essential oils - they seem to work better for me than herbal tinctures or the bach flower remedies.

I know a lot of women use EPO late in pregnancy.  Since I know that inducing and/or augmenting a VBAC labor is a no-no (generally, speaking), I'm a bit leery of using EPO myself.

RRL is supposed to be good throughout pregnancy.  I recommend mixing in some nettles.  I think the pre-packaged RRL teas are pretty gross; not that RRL is particularly yummy to me.  LoL!

I'll have to have a look at those tonics!

I have used epo w/ all 8 of my HBAC.

[jljeppson]

I've been thinking about the same thing.  I know some midwives that love it (Polly Jeans in particular) and some that give it the evil eye, stating that it does no good and wears the mom down well before labor by causing tons of uncomfortable BH for weeks at a time.  I'm considering doing a large survey on it, and publishing the results.  I'll let you know if I end up doing it. 

[SmtmsAlwys]

What is the recommended dosage of Evening Primrose Oil and Red Raspberry Leaf? When should both be started??

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Thanks to everyone for sharing.  I think I'm going to save the $$ on the things that have me feeling skeptical and focus more on the things that make sense to me.  I restocked on the RRL today and may well start the EPO when the time is right.   I think I'm going to skip the rest.  

SmtmsAlwys, I've read that RRL can be started early in pregnancy and EPO should be started quite late though the exact week and dosage varies a bit.  Do a search on MDC so you can be sure to get a wide range of opinions and, perhaps, check a reputable source for herbals.  

[jljeppson]

The dosage for EPO that I recommend is below.  Amounts that people use do vary some, but this is a pretty typical dosage.

Step 1- 1 capsule (or 1000mg) a day up to the 38th wk (starting at 34 wks, or any week after that time)
Step 2- 38wks- birth- 2 capsules (or 2000mg) a day until labor begins.
 

[SmtmsAlwys]

Should the 2 capsules daily be taken orally or vaginally??

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by SmtmsAlwys 

What is the recommended dosage of Evening Primrose Oil and Red Raspberry Leaf? When should both be started??

W/ my 8 born at home I always did epo by mouth 2000mg and vaginally 2000mg from 36-37 weeks.

[jljeppson]

The doses should be taken orally.