Herbs for perineum after birth, and for afterpains?

[loobop]

I cross posted in the health and healing.
I want to make an herbal compress for my perineum for post partum, to speed the healing of the tissue, any sugestions? So far I am thinking comfrey...what else?
Also I'm preparing for afterbirth pains (didnt have any with dd1, but heard they can be mucho more intense with following births), so am interested to find out about helpful options/remedies there too,
thanks heaps in advance

[~*max*~]

: I have been thinking about this too.

(And yes, after pains are much worse w/each subsequent birth.)

[sarahlynne]

For Perineal Healing: This is a recipe for a post partum herbal bath that both you and the babe can use.

(for each bath)
1/4 Cup sea salt
1 lg BULB garlic, pealed
1 oz. uva ursi
2 oz. comfrey leaf
1 oz. shepherds purse

Whiz the fresh garlic in a food processor.
Make a "tea" with all ingredients and strain before using.
Add to a warm bath and have a good soak!

The garlic and sea salt make this antiseptic.
Uva Ursi is specific to healing a woman's reproductive organs.
Comfrey has a cell proliferant to speed healing. It may be contraindicated, but this usually refers to internal use, not topically.
Shepherd's purse is excellent for preventing and controlling excessive bleeding.

Peri Bottle Herbal Wash:

(one handful each)

Calendula Flowers
Comfrey Root
Yarrow Flowers
Rosemary Leaves

Make a tea and strain. Use as a perineal wash with a peri bottle

*I have not tried the peri wash yet, but I did use the bath last time*

I am hoping to make these recipes up as part of a labor project, so they will be ready to go when I get home. (I might even take the peri wash with me to the hospital)

HTH!

I heard about an herbal postpartum preparation called Fema-Gen, has any one tried it?

[~*max*~]

If anyone knows any good web-sites that sell these things (I'm a little intimidated to amke them!), I'd appreciate it.

[loobop]

thanks Sarahlynne!!

[sarahlynne]

*max* - earthmamma angelbaby (sp?) sells a pre-mixed tub of herbs for baths and also a "bottom spray". Never tried it, just know that they have one.
If you venture to try it yourself, all the herbs can be purchased through Mountain Rose Herbs online. It really is just like making a BIG batch of herbal tea. Either way, hope you enjoy a nice relaxing soak

[~*max*~]

Originally Posted by sarahlynne

*max* - earthmamma angelbaby (sp?) sells a pre-mixed tub of herbs for baths and also a "bottom spray". Never tried it, just know that they have one.
If you venture to try it yourself, all the herbs can be purchased through Mountain Rose Herbs online. It really is just like making a BIG batch of herbal tea. Either way, hope you enjoy a nice relaxing soak

Thank you Sarahlynne. I will definately check that out.

Just looked. I am soooo ordering some stuff! I could use a little pampering right about now.

[mwherbs]

there are many workable formulations--
the ones already mentioned can be tooled- for instance instead of uva ursi- manzinita leaves can be substituted same portion
plantain- plantago sp, can be added or used instead of comfrey leaf and a couple of hands full of lavender flowers can be added to the mix just minutes before straining - not only does it smell great but has many healing qualities


plantain can usually be found fresh in many places in lawns are the most common- comfrey is wild in the northwest and I remember while living in Portland seeing it come up out of the cracks in the side walk in the middle of down town even.

[mwherbs]

for after pains

some use a tincture of motherwort
or tinctures of motherwort, crampbark, and st john's wort

[RiceMomma]

I got my recipes for my mother's milk tea and herbal bath out of "Naturally Healthy Babies and Children" by Aviva Jill Romm. She has great recipes for teas and herbal baths and other great advice for after birth. I ordered my stuff from Mountain Rose Herbs and made big batches of everything to be ready to go after the birth- with instructions so DH could get everythign ready for me.

For the perineal wash, I kept a big thermos in the bathroom. I had large tea bags of comfrey and Calendula made up, and just popped them in the thermos with boiling water every time I ran out- then I just added cold water to the peri-bottle so that it wasn't too hot. It felt SO nice. So did a good soak in the herbal bath.

Goo dluck!

[loobop]

Thanks Rice Momma and Mwherbs