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What herbs do you use?

910 Views 6 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  pamamidwife
I'm building up my personal birth kit (which is so much fun!) and I've got a few questions. What herbs and homeopathics do you use and carry with you to births? Any particular brands?

Right now, all I have is C&C, pulsitilla and arnica gel.....

Thanks!
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Some herbs I like:

red raspberry
red clover
alfalfa
fenugreek
motherwort
skullcap
california poppy
blackberry
dandelion root
blue and black cohosh
borage
burdock
yellow dock
valerian
witch hazel
thistles
shepherd's purse
rosehips
oatstraw
cinnamon
mullin
moxa (mugwort)
lemon balm
ginger
fennel
comfrey
cotton root bark
catnip
chamomile
cayenne

These come to mind. Of course you won't need to carry all of these. And I like to harvest wild when and if I can, making herbal preparations. And lots of them have wonderful uses beyond ingesting and look so beautiful growing in your flower bed.

Blessings!
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I found Traumeel by Heel BioTherapeutics to be invaluable, in both liquid and cream forms. It's a blend of homeopathics for healing after a trauma.
It's great for reducing swollen tissues before suturing, after birth, reducing hemorrhoids, a few drops under the tongue every 15 minutes. For baby's bruised little noggin I rub the cream on, and if baby had a rough trip down and looks blown away 1 drop in the mouth every 15. It's amazing to see the little banana heads and caputs decrease in minutes.

I also keep a bottle in my purse and take it to my son's football and baseball games. My husband has one in his tool box for work, he's always hurting himself. I keep one in the medicine cabinet for kid bumps and bruises. I kept a bottle of water, with 15 drops shaken up, by my husbands bed after he got hit by an SUV off his bicycle. It's amazing stuff.
to add to the above lists-- saint john'swort oil

basically giving you a list isn't going to help as much as understanding what they do and then picking through and finding what you like to use or are comfortable using.

for references-
I like Rosemary Gladstar's books
Amanda McQuade
Ruth Trickey
Aviva Rhomm
Susun Weed

there are also some lectures you can find on tape
Mary Bove has some good info
Molly Linton and Tori Hudson

for regional make it your self info I like Michael Moore
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The last word on herbs is the book by John Lust, The Herb Book, a classic by anyone's standards.
the herbs I carry in my birth bag are:

Motherwort - excellent for promoting rest or in more frequent doses, calming nerves and picking up labor (it's a uterine contractant) and WONDERFUL for aftercramping and mama blues.

Lobelia/Valerian/Wild Lettuce combo - excellent for putting a mom to bed with nagging, going nowhere contractions. Works sooo good. Nice, too, in a smaller amount for transition panic.

California Poppy - for most of the above....

Cottonroot bark - induction or augmentation

Cinnamon - for postpartum hemorrhage

I have a full homeopathic kit that I got from 1-800Homeopathy.com They have two different midwifery kits - they're an EXCELLENT company! The homeopathic remedies I use most are:

Pulsatilla - positioning

Cimicifuga & Caulophyllum - (blue & black cohosh) for induction, ripening or augmentatioin

Gelsemium - fear

Aconite - fear of dying or death

Antimonium Tart - for "raspy" or "rattly" babies
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