HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR CHILDBIRTH

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Before birth – To prepare the mother and baby for the optimum experience:

1. Constitutional homeopathic treatment.

2. Yoga and swimming (until the last week). And pelvic floor exercises!

3. Eat healthy organic food.

4. Any problems/worries should be talked through with partner immediately.

5. Make a birth plan. See ‘Who’s having your baby?’ by Beverley Beech.

6. To avoid occipito-posterior labour  (‘back to back’ ie. baby’s spine facing your spine), from 36 weeks it is important to adopt positions daily, eg. in 20 minute sessions, which encourage gravity to swing the baby’s back to the front. This can be achieved easily whilst reading the paper or watching TV by leaning forward eg. Over a large beanbag or birthing ball, or crawling around the floor on your hands and knees. Spending time on a sofa with knees higher than the hips predisposes the baby’s back to lie in the posterior position and should be avoided. If the baby is in the ‘back to back’ position during labour, try Kali Carb 200c (see page 5) to encourage the baby to turn.

7. From 36 weeks drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea daily increases uterine tone helping make uterine contractions more efficient when labour starts.

 

To Initiate Labour

A first baby is often at least two weeks late. Don’t panic or let others decide when the baby will come. It will come when it is ready.

If you need to initiate labour:

1. Take a long walk.

2. Clean the house/make soup/do some kind of activity in the house.

3. Nipple stimulation.

4. Watch a sexy movie.

5. Make love. Prostaglandin in semen will help contractions. With a pillow under the thighs, let semen bathe the cervix for as long as possible.

6. Eat a whole fresh pineapple.

7. If you are not used to strong curry, eat one now. As it rushes through the bowel, the uterus is irritated, and it can set things in motion.

8. Your partner to give you a foot massage, paying particular attention to the Shiatsu point of the cervix which is situated on the base of the heel (see diagram below).

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9. If the baby is in breech position (bottom down) to turn it around use Pulsatilla 1M one dose.

10. If you have to go to hospital and they want to induce you, ask the midwife for a ‘Cervical Sweep’ morning, evening and morning (about as uncomfortable as a smear test) before induction.

11. If you are still pregnant at 39 weeks you may take Caulophyllum 30c x 1 daily until labour starts. This remedy ripens the cervix.

12. If you are overdue and feel that labour is delayed due to fear or anxiety consider a single dose of the following remedies:

Aconite 200c – marked fear, including fear of dying during labour.

Gelsemium 200c – It is almost as if the woman is holding back the process with her emotional state of anxiety about how she will manage ie. Waters may have broken and then labour may have started but then stopped.

 

During Labour

1. Snack every 2 hours, or as and when desired. Mother needs to keep energy and blood sugar up. If blood sugar is low, when you have the baby, you won’t be able to meet the incredible hormonal energy surge just afterwards. Every 2 hours take 2 tablespoons of either: 

​* Lentil soup with some bread in it.

* Fresh juice (or herbal tea) with honey. 

*  Small pieces of fruits (frozen grapes are excellent)

NB. If you have more than 2 tablespoons it will be a problem as the body in labour needs to keep a relatively empty stomach; large amounts of drink/food make induce vomiting.

 

 

  2. Encourage the mother to withdraw into herself. Respect and help her do this by limiting activities/talk around her.

 

  3. To assist in this process synchronise breathing of everyone present with the mother’s breathing and the contractions.

 

 4. Mother should take Arnica 200c every 3-4 hours only once the labour is well established. In labour you are using muscles you do not normally use and this will give the muscles a boost. Arnica is also a prophylactic against formation of pus. It helps eliminate puerperal fever (from retention of placenta). It also helps with bruising of mother and helps her relax. It can work like oxytocin. It also helps the baby when on its journey down the birth canal.

 

*  The mouth can become very dry in labour. Dissolve the Arnica in filtered/spring water, take one teaspoon of the water at a time as 1 dose.

 

*  Mother should be encouraged to pass urine every two hours; a full bladder can stop the baby’s head crowning and cause trauma to the bladder.

 

*  Everyone else present should have Bach's Rescue Remedy on hand, so that they can stay calm around the mother. 

 

Remedies to aid effective and Rhythmic Contractions (abridged extract):

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Pulsatilla:  Aids onset of contractions when they are intermittent. Dose:  Pulsatilla 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Caulophyllum:  A hesitant labour where contractions are ineffective and the woman is showing signs of nervous exhaustion. Or, if labour stops. Dose:  Caulophyllum 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

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Cimicifuga:  A sense of foreboding and fragmented thought, or a history of painful/difficult past obstetric experiences, alongside weak, irregular contractions. Hysteria, sighing and tearful. 

Dose: Cimicifuga 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Cocculus:    Vomiting in labour (vomiting/bowel motion & feeling very sleepy can be an indication she is fully dilated & transition is coming) Dose:  Cocculus 200c one dose.

 

Ipecacuanha:   Vomiting as a side effect of Pethidine. Dose: Ipecacuanha 200c every 30 mins for up to 3 doses.

 

Gelsemium: Nervous apprehension. Cervix usually undilated. Relaxation and weakness of the uterus, causing weak, ineffectual contractions. Dose:  Gelsemium 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Kali Carb:  This is the first remedy to try if you have an occipito-posterior labour (‘back to back’ presentation during labour). Dose: Kali Carb 200c every 30 mins for up to 3 doses.

 

Kali Phos:  Complete collapse and exhaustion during labour. Can’t go on and contractions stop.

Dose: Kali Phos 200c every 30 mins for up to 3 doses.

 

Natrum Mur: This woman will feel inhibited by lack of privacy & may be unable to get on with the work of labour while strangers are present or likely to enter the room. Closes up emotionally in labour. Become tight. Dose:  Nat Mur 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Nux Vomica: Frequent urge to urinate and defecate in labour.  Dose:  Nux Vomica 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Opium:  Terror, frightened, the contractions scare her. Everything stops due to fright. Hazy look in her eyes, looks spacey. Dose:  Opium 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

Secale:  For women who have had lots of babies, shrivelled with no muscle tone. Feel bearing down the uterus. Contractions are very irregular. Dose:  Secale 200c every 30 minutes for up to 3 doses.

 

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If you would like further in depth help with any aspect of pregnancy, labour or childbirth, then please get in touch or make an appointment for my half hour Drop In Phone/Skype Clinic. Existing patients and those with short queries are welcome to use my FREE 15 minute Check in appointment for advice. Those with more longstanding complaints should book a full Face2Face of Skype consultation. I work internationally via Skype or face-to-face in Brixton, London.

 

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​Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider. First aid situations may require medical or hospital care. Do not use this article as a means to diagnose a health condition. Speak to your doctor if you think that your condition may be serious, before discontinuing any medication that has been prescribed for you, or before starting any new treatment.