Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and Evening Primrose Oil (help, please!)

[Mama_Bear]

Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to do anything to rush this baby out, but. . . I feel the need to do *something* to help spur things along. I'd rather avoid the upcoming induction.

Anyways, I stopped by the local health food store today and bought some Evening Primrose Oil and Red Raspberry Leaf tea. My midwife isn't convinced that EPO will do anything, but she did say it certainly can't hurt. They're 1000mg softgels. How many do I insert at bedtime? I've also heard that it might help to take some orally. Anyone know about this?

Also, the RRL tea tastes. . . not so great. I'm a fruit roibos kind of gal. I made a cup this afternoon with 2tsp. of RRL and 1tsp. of raspberry vanilla roibos. It was MUCH better tasting. Is it ok to mix the teas to make it more drinkable?

Thanks for your help!

[organic-momma]

For EPO I took 1 capsule in the AM & PM both orally & vaginally.

Not sure on the tea mixing, but I can't really see how it would hurt. I have also made it into an iced tea with honey to make it more tasty.

[To-Fu]

Not sure on the EPO, but I can say that my MW blends a lot of different things together for my looseleaf RRL tea. She includes nettles, peppermint (to help with the taste, presumably), oatstraw, and some other stuff.

Given that, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to mix already-made teas together and still get the full benefits of the RRL.

[AngelaB]

I havent done the EPO this pregnancy but I did with the last and I took a cap in the morning and evening. I drink the traditional medicinals RRL tea through out the day when I think about it and I put honey and milk in it and sometimes mix other teas with it for flavor.
Angela

[AngelaB]

I forgot to add that I believe that the EPO has prostaglandins in it that are what will encourage the cervix to soften. Semen has prostaglandins in it as well if I am remembering correctly. So some nipple stimulation in foreplay or what not and then a good cervical bath in it could help!! Have fun!!
Angela

[Surfacing]

Yep I have to say I notice more mucousy discharge (mmmmmmm....TMI) when I am religiously taking my EPO orally 2-3x/day and inserting it once at night. I did it with my previous pregnancy too and believe it assisted in good dilation while in labour.

The RRL I drink with honey. Just made a big pot today with multiple teabags and am drinking it every time I get the chance. : Good luck to you too!!!

[Surfacing]

Oh yeah, though semen is highly recommended, if you can't get dh to participate my midwife says even just orgasm helps things along (releasing oxytocin and strengthening/preparing muscles). HTH!

[kati_kati]

I am debating the same thing - whether I should try EPO or RRL tea. My midwives recommended 500mg of EPO orally 2x/day. They caution against using nipple stimulation - it can cause some serious contractions that could be dangerous apparently unless you do it carefully/under the right conditions.

My hesitation is whether to "do something" or just wait for nature (which I usually don't want to mess with). I found one article about EPO and pregnancy that actually seems to say it's bad - it's a small retrospective study, so my gut says that EPO isn't usually bad, but it makes me wonder if it helps at all. The article itself seems a bit more cautious in its conclusions than the abstract. There have been no follow-on studies as far as I can tell. Here's the abstract. Thoughts/advice, anyone?

Title: Oral evening primrose oil: Its effect on length of pregnancy and selected intrapartum outcomes in low-risk nulliparous women
Author(s): Dove D, Johnson P
Source: JOURNAL OF NURSE-MIDWIFERY 44 (3): 320-324 MAY-JUN 1999
Cited References: 23 Times Cited: 3

Abstract: Evening primrose oil is widely used by many midwives to hasten cervical ripening in an effort to shorten labor and decrease the incidence of postdates pregnancies. Although its efficacy has been studied in the relief of symptoms of a number of medical conditions, its use has not been well studied, if at all, for the purpose of cervical ripening. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of oral evening primrose oil on the length of pregnancy and selected intrapartum outcomes in low-risk nulliparous women. A two group retrospective quasiexperimental design conducted on a sample of women who received care in a birth center, compared selected outcomes of 54 women taking evening primrose oil in their pregnancy with a control group of 54 women who did not. Findings suggest that the oral administration of evening primrose oil from the 37th gestational week until birth does not shorten gestation or decrease the overall length of labor. Further, the use of orally administered evening primrose oil may be associated with an increase in the incidence of prolonged rupture of membranes, oxytocin augmentation, arrest of descent, and vacuum extraction.

[AngelaB]

The way I see it is that nothing will "make" baby come before baby is ready. The EPO and RRL teas make women feel like they are doing something when the waiting is getting hard. They may help they may not but I dont think they are dangerous.They may aid in preperation for baby but if we did nothing at all baby and our bodies would still do their jobs. (I hope that didnt sound condescending in any way to others who use RRL tea and EPO since thats not what I want to convey
As far as the nipple stimulation, I have been nursing my youngest thoughout this pregnancy and the contractions are a bit more uncomfortable than regular braxton hicks but I cant imagine them being dangerous. I used nipple stimulation to get labor started with my last son since my membranes had ruptured but I wasnt going into active labor so lots of walking around tweeking my nipples got the contractions to come regularly but it took hours, literaly, to keep things going. However I believe that he was ready to come that day and no amount of anything I would have tried could have changed his mind if he decided that that day wasnt the day!! But it did help my mental well being to feel like I was doing something!
Angela

[muttix2]

I finally found my bottle of EPO again and I'm back to taking 3 capsules a day. I just take the three 1000 mg caps when I think about it each day. I'm trying to make an effort to remember my RRL tea also. I've been having contractions but honestly, I've been contracting painfully for months and even stopped working because it was getting so bad and yet here I am, still pregnant at almost 39 weeks. So, it may work and it may not but it can't hurt

[Surfacing]

Yes, the thing about the RRL is that it is meant to tone the uterus. It's not going to induce labour if your body is not ready for it. From my understanding, it's meant to help the uterine muscles work effectively and strongly together when the time comes, and when you drink it beforehand and feel some zingy bh's, that's like "training" for when it's time to get the show on the road.

As for the EPO, it's a prostaglandin PREcursor, so right, if your body is not ready to make prostaglandins then it's not being used, I guess.

Sure beats sitting around doing nothing though.

[smarie]

I just turned 36 weeks yesterday. I've been drinking my RRL for a while now bc I am attempting a VBA2C. For my tea I mix RRL, Dandelion & Nettle. I let it refrigerate overnight and drink it as iced tea all through the next day. I mix mine with simple syrup though instead of honey for sweetness bc I don't like honey. I started the Primrose yesterday for 2 reasons. We're a military family and the Drs here are trying to make me have a c-section, which I absolutly don't want, so I am trying everything I can to avoid it by going into labor early. Also, my husband is deployed and will be back in a couple weeks, hopefully just in time for baby. Since he's been gone obviously there has been no sex to help out with the prostoglandin part, hence the Primrose . I started yesterday with taking 1300mg orally and vaginally once a day and then in 2 weeks I'll up the dose to 2x a day. Last night however, after just one dose, I woke up with really strong menstral like cramping and couldn't sleep for over 2 hours. Coincidence?or does anyone think the Primrose had something to do with it?

[Livie'smomma]

My midwife asked me to start the EPO starting at 37 weeks. I'm going for the VBAC as well.

So, the regimen is 1000 mg (2 capsules) by mouth at night along with 1 (500 mg) vaginally (as far back behind the cervix as can be achieved), every night.
I have been having tons of braxton hicks/tightening in the last few days, hoping these are doing some effacing.

This isn't like taking castor oil or the cohoshes or anything inducing like that. My understanding is that if your body is ready it will just help to ripen the cervix (which I am not opposed to). If it will help me get through a couple of centimeters of dilation, then that is a few less centimeters I'll have to do when the time comes.