optional items

[crsta33]

My midwife has a list of optional items on her birth supply list and I'm wondering what benefit/use some of them are and which I might need or use during labor.

Anyone know what these are for?

Arnica oil
Arnica remedy 30C
Rescue remedy cream

Christa

[darkstar]

arnica helps with pains. THe oil is usually for perineal massage and the pellets are for afterpains. I used both. The rescue remedy is for freak outs, just to calm you. If you are not having a water birth I would buy the oil...but if you areit would almost be pointless although it works great as a massage oil. Weleda make it, you can buy it at the HFS. As for the Arnica 30x get it. It is great to have in the medicene cabinet. It is great for bruising and such too. I have resuce remedy at my house for myself and the kids. If things are getting too intense, I take it.

GOod luck mama

darkstar

[ashleep]

I highly recommend the arnica, both pellets and gel/cream. I labored on my hands and kness for 6 hours straight and had extremely powerful counterpressure to my back. Both should have caused significant bruising or at least some soreness. After the birth I applied the gel to my knees and back and took some pellets. I did not end up with a single bruise, not even a slight reddening of the skin! It made me a believer for sure!

[runes]

the arnica pellets and rescue remedy are both recommended items on my midwife's supply list. i've taken arnica before for muscle aches and it works wonders. i've also taken rescue remedy and it also works very well. both are great things to have at home anyway.

good luck!

[crsta33]

Thanks! I guess those arnica pellets would have come in handy last time when I pushed with my head/neck against the headboard and ended up with a tender bruise on the base of my head and a resulting catch in my neck after a good night's sleep.

I'm not sure where I'll be able to get the pellets though...Wild Oats carries the arnica oil and Rescue Remedy cream.

Christa

[jerawo]

I used arnica but I didn't need any RR. I actually think the advil I took later on helped a lot more than the arnica did.

[WinterBaby]

Originally Posted by crsta33

My midwife has a list of optional items on her birth supply list and I'm wondering what benefit/use some of them are and which I might need or use during labor.

Anyone know what these are for?

Arnica oil
Arnica remedy 30C
Rescue remedy cream

Christa

These are homeopathic remedies... which means they're more, uh, the "memory" of herbal things instead of, well, actual drugs or herbs. Sugar pills, in other words. That said, I use them. (But in a totally skeptical, while-I-don't-believe-in-energy-I-believe-in-a-real-placeabo-effect sort of way, lol.) They may very well help, and best of all, they certainly can't hurt. Still, strictly in the optional venue. Any oil will be nice for massage (and I find the massage more helpful for injury than the arnica ) and I might pick one with a scent I'm partial to. You'll find the pellets someplace that carries homeopathic medicines, generally health food stores, or health supplement shops, sometimes organic groceries.