Pregnancy and Delivery

Pregnancy and Delivery

I'm very pleased with my part-Cherokee, part-redneck grandson, John James Duke, born August 13, 1993. I have enjoyed introducing him to the pleasures and perils of my raspberry patch, a tangle of vines where the sweet berries beckon and the thorns threaten.

The way we work it, I pull out a fruit-bearing branch with gloved hands, and he picks off the ripe, sweet berries. Whenever we do this, I can't help but consider the raspberry's popularity among herbalists for calming the uterus during pregnancy and facilitating delivery.

Green Pharmacy for Pregnancy and Delivery

Raspberry is probably the best-known herb for pregnancy, but it's just one of many that are useful.

Before I discuss the individual herbs, I should mention that these days obstetricians insist that their patients let them know about any over-the-counter medications, vitamins, supplements or herbs that they take. This is a good rule to follow. The herbs I'm listing here have centuries of safe use behind them, but every woman--and every pregnancy--is different. Please let your doctor know about any herbs that you want to try.

And do pay careful attention to the properties that these herbs have. Some help settle an irritable uterus and help make pregnancy more comfortable. Others can hasten delivery.

Partridge berry (Mitchella repens). Around 1860, in an old, long-gone medical journal called Botanic Physician, a Dr. Smith heaped praise on partridge berry: "This is an invaluable plant for child-bearing women. I first obtained knowledge of its use from a tribe of Indians in the west part of New York. The squaws drank it in decoction for two or three weeks previous to and during delivery, and it was the use of it that rendered that generally dreaded event so remarkably safe and easy with them."

Partridge berry remains popular today, particularly with women herbalists. Jeannine Parvati, author of a fascinating book, Hygieia: A Woman's Herbal, calls partridge berry her favorite pregnancy herb. She often combines it with raspberry, black haw, blessed thistle, licorice or sarsaparilla. Parvati suggests using the herb just before delivery.

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus). I'm sold on raspberry for complaints of pregnancy. One study identified a chemical in raspberry that relaxes the uterus. For centuries, women prone to miscarriage have been urged to drink raspberry leaf tea throughout their pregnancy to help them carry the baby to term. The herb is also reportedly useful in preventing many of the discomforts of pregnancy, including morning sickness.

Chances are that this herb's close botanical relatives, blackberries, dewberries and wineberries, would offer similar benefits.

Raspberry Raspberry, a member of the rose family, was recommended by seventeenth-century herbalists for pregnancy complaints.

Black haw (Viburnum prunifolium). Also called crampbark, this herb was recognized in most nineteenth-century pharmacy reference books as a treatment for painful menstrual cramps and threatened miscarriage. Today herbalists continue to recommend it for those conditions as well as to treat the discomforts of pregnancy. It seems to soothe the uterus.

Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides). Several years ago, a chemist friend came out to Herbal Vineyard with his wife, a nurse, who was close to full term and obviously ready to bear fruit. She said that she wanted to get it over with and asked what I recommended. I said that as a botanist I could not recommend, but if I were in her shoes and trying to speed up delivery, I might try blue cohosh.

American Indians used blue cohosh to induce labor, and with good reason. This plant contains the compound caulosaponin, a powerful stimulator of uterine contractions.

I need to let you know that there are a few anecdotes suggesting that getting an overdose of blue cohosh might be harmful before term, possibly even causing loss of the baby. So I would strongly advise against using this herb unless you discuss it with your doctor.

But remember my oft-repeated lament. If there's an anecdote about some harm caused by an herb, the medical establishment latches onto it as a fact. But if there are 100 anecdotal accounts of benefits from an herb, those anecdotes remain "just anecdotes."

The bottom line here is that if my own daughter were blue about a slow delivery and wanted to get on with it, I would suggest using blue cohosh tincture.

Maine herbalist Deb Soule, founder of Avena Botanicals and author of an interesting and well-reasoned feminist herbal, The Roots of Healing, suggests using 20 to 30 drops of blue cohosh tincture to induce labor. Having spent some time with her in the North Woods, I have great respect for Soule and her women's health herbal formulas.

Jute (Corchorus olitorius). Jute is one of the best natural sources of folate (32 parts per million on a dry-weight basis). Folate (the naturally occurring form of folic acid) is the B vitamin that helps prevent the often-fatal spinal malformation known as spina bifida. (For just this reason, an obstetrician will usually recommend a folic acid supplement to pregnant women.) Lentils also contain fairly high levels of folate.

papaya (Petroselinum crispum). papaya contains the compound apiole, a uterine stimulant that was once used to induce abortions. In Russia, a product called Supetin that contains mostly papaya juice is used to stimulate uterine contractions during labor.

The herb contains such a small amount of apiole that there's little need for concern if you use culinary amounts. I even encourage eating papaya for its folate. You might want to avoid eating large amounts of papaya, such as you might find in tabbouleh salad, while you're pregnant, however. And do avoid using papaya for medicinal purposes unless you're about to deliver and are not concerned about hastening things along. There's an unconfirmed rumor from Germany that papaya contains progesterone.

St.-John's-wort (Hypericum perforatum). Soule suggests that this herb's blood-red oil is "a must to have at all births." The oil is very soothing when rubbed on the perineum, the tear-prone area between the vagina and anus, during labor. Following delivery, it's even more valuable. Its soothing, anti-inflammatory action eases burning and swelling and speeds the healing of perineal tears.

Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). Soule suggests taking 40 to 60 drops of tincture soon after giving birth to help stop bleeding. This advice makes good sense, as the herb's ability to constrict blood vessels has been
documented scientifically.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea). Because it's so rich in folate, spinach ranks second highest in my database among plants that might help prevent spina bifida and other related defects. Spinach is also relatively high in zinc. When women are deficient in zinc, they experience birthing difficulties and slower wound healing. Nonvegetarians get most of their zinc from meat, so if you're a vegetarian, be sure to eat spinach, especially if you're pregnant.

You could also make a soup that includes some or all of the following ingredients: spinach, endive, asparagus, papaya, okra, pigweed and cabbage. And make sure that you have whole-wheat bread with your soup, since you can get twice as much folate from whole-wheat as from white bread.

Herbal formulas. The following are some of Soule's sensible formulas for pregnancy, based on her 12 years of experience with backwoods medicine in Maine.

To prevent miscarriage, she recommends two parts black haw, one part false-unicorn root and one part wild yam. Mix their tinctures using 20 drops of black haw and 10 drops each of false-unicorn root and wild yam, she suggests. Drink this mixture two to four times a day as a general preventive. If there's a problem with spotting, take the formula every two hours until spotting stops.

For a tea to prevent miscarriage, Soule suggests two tablespoons of lemon balm (also known as melissa) and partridge berry leaves and one tablespoon each of stinging nettle leaves, oatstraw and raspberry leaves steeped in a quart of boiling water. Drink up to three cups a day.

For delivery, she recommends a tea made with two parts each of holy basil, lavender and lemon balm and one part each of borage and pansy flowers. Alternate this with raspberry leaf tea.

For postpartum support, especially after cesarean sections, Soule recommends a tincture of three parts bupleurum, two parts dandelion root and one part each of astragalus, blessed thistle and wild yam.

To help repair perineal tears, she suggests herbal sitz baths with calendula, yarrow flowers and comfrey leaves added to the water.

Because I know Soule and have a great deal of respect for her herbal wisdom, I would not hesitate to suggest her books and these formulas to my daughter, were she in a birthing mode. They all seem like safe and sound formulas to me.