midwives, herbal/cohosh question

[marymom]

greetings,
I know you can start a mom up with black and blue cohosh, I have used it to promote periods also, (myself, personally I mean)
I know it makes my uterus contract, or it feels like it does. I know it makes me bleed, I know it can make a pregnant mother contract.

So- after a mother has a baby, the uterus contractin helps her to stop bleeding...right?
but you wouldnt want to give her cohosh to help her contract after baby would you? or would you? Doesnt it promote bleeding?
turn the light on for me someone, I just cant see it but I feel like its right under my nose. Also, differences between the cohoshes? I use black usually, but both are used for labor promotion? and other uses?
thanks

[pamamidwife]

You could use blue cohosh after birth. It doesn't promote bleeding, but promotes uterine contractions (which helps bring on your period), so it would be fine.

Shepherds Purse is an herb that is commonly used for women who are bleeding a bit much after birth.

Blue Cohosh coordinates uterine contractions, while black cohosh starts them. Using them together ensures contractions that are even and coordinated, thereby being more "effective".

[marymom]

can you explain to me why uterine contractions bring on bleeding at some times,(like when you are missing a period) and at other times, they inhibit bleeding?(like after birth?)

[cottonwood]

Well... I'm not an expert on physiology. But, the answer, I think, is that "bleeding" means something different in each of these situations. In the first, pp hemorrhage, we're talking about an open wound from which blood is coming out. The action of the uterus works to staunch that flow -- kind of like how if you put pressure on a cut, it stops bleeding. In the other, menstruation, we're talking about the sloughing of the uterine lining which is not blood but contains blood. The action of the uterus does not cause you to bleed, per se, it only helps the separation and expulsion of the lining (which contains blood) from the uterus, just like it expells the baby during birth. Uh, right?

[pamamidwife]

yep. damn, you're so smart, blueviolet! *mwah!*

[marymom]

thankyou ladies