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Many women experience a variety of pregnancy related problems such as backache, swollen legs, heartburn, indigestion, and insomnia, or general aggravation in not being able to accomplish one's daily tasks with the usual efficiency. If you are having these problems, then it is about time to be spoiled, at least just a little.
PREGNANCY BACKRUB PICK-UP
This is a great remedy which can be massaged into your back by a partner or friend on a regular basis. This formula will alleviate physical problems at the same time as uplifting your spirit. Use whichever rose essential oil you have on hand or can afford; geranium would be a good substitute.PREGNANCY BACKRUB OILS
Rose
Geranium
Lavender
Chamomile, Roman *
Use some or all of these essential oils in equal proportions to a total of 30 drops per 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. *In some cases, German Chamomile may be more appropriate.
Women who have experienced pregnancy will remember the feeling of "heaviness" and how the feeling of tiredness to exhaustion can permeate every part of the body. Every part of the body can feel heavy - the body, the arms, the legs, the head and even the eyelashes can feel weighed down. IF pregnancy can be the ultimate "high", it can also be the ultimate "heavy" experience as well. The uplifting qualities of the essential oils are a great help after a long, tiring day when the legs are swollen and the back aches. Pregnant women should use only 2-4 drops of essential oil in a bath. Choose your favorite or try the very relaxing combination of one drop of Roman Chamomile and Lavender oils.
As you begin journeying toward the creation of new life, explore the joys of beautifying and caring for yourself. Volatile essential oils extracted from flowers, plants, trees, fruit, and roots provide a natural means of nurturing both body and psyche. Aromatherapy can be used on a regular basis throughout the childbearing year to ease discomforts, alleviate emotional stress, and maintain health and beauty.
MoonDragon's Pregnancy Concerns - Backache Tips
MORNING SICKNESS & NAUSEA
For morning sickness, a bowl of boiling water with 4-6 drops of spearmint oil added, placed on the floor by your bed overnight, will help keep the stomach calm. The aroma molecules will waft its way up and gently do their work overnight while you are sleeping. After using this method for 3 consecutive nights, the morning sickness should be gone. Alternatively, put one drop on your pillow.
Nausea usually clears up after the fourth month of pregnancy, but some women go to full term with that feeling of sickness morning, noon, and night, sometimes accompanied by vomiting. In part this is the result of a hormonal change or imbalance, for the increase in estrogen causes changes in the hypothalamus and then the gastrointestinal organs. Symptoms range from a simple loss of appetite to increased nausea and vomiting when smelling food. Not only is all this depressing at the time when one should be full of happiness but excessive vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum) is something that should be taken seriously in pregnancy.
Coriander
Cardamom
Lavender
Fennel (at 1/3 of the dosage of the others)
As a rule, the dosage for nausea treatment should be low. For the following method use one drop each of coriander, cardamom, and lavender or three drops of either one of those oils. Blend the essential oils well into one tablespoon of honey.
Fennel is very strong and should be used at one-third the strength of the other oils. In the following treatment, use one drop only. Blend the essential oil well into one tablespoon of honey.
With either of these formulas, dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of this mixture in half a cup of warm water to which you have also added the juice of a lemon or lime. Sip when needed. The maximum dose for this treatment is four times per day for a period of six days. The treatment can be repeated if necessary after taking a break for ten days.
Another excellent treatment for nausea involves essential oil of ginger. Simply fill a bowl with boiling water, put in one drop of ginger per pint of water used, cover your head with a towel and inhale for five minutes with your eyes closed.
STRETCH MARKS
Many woman have been treated with essential oils for stretch marks during pregnancy with great success. For the belly-rub treatment, the base oil is as important as the essential oils themselves. Here is a formula that has been used with success:
Almond oil - 2 tablespoons
Wheatgerm oil - 1 tablespoon
Borage seed oil - 10 drops
Carrot oil - 5 drops
Shake the oils together and use when needed.
This base oil comes to 3 tablespoons (plus the 15 drops). You will need to add 12 drops of essential oil (for 2 tablespoons base) and 6 drops (for 1 tablespoon), to give a total minimum number of 18 drops of essential oil to 3 tablespoons base oil.
Massage wherever the stretch marks may occur - the lower and upper abdomen, thighs, and buttocks. Use the oils regularly to prevent stretch marks. Below is an excellent blend you may like to try:
Rose Bulgar (or Maroc) - 7 drops
Lavender - 6 drops
Tangerine - 3 drops
Mix into a concentrate using these proportions, then add 18 drops to the base oil quantity shown above or add 2 drops per 2 teaspoons of base oil.
CONSTIPATION
The importance of eating right during pregnancy and while breastfeeding is the responsibility of every pregnant & lactating woman. But with the age of chemicals in our foods, fertilizers, meats, water and so forth, our food cannot be guaranteed to be rich in the vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients our bodies need. An example is that once liver was recommended as an excellent source of iron, but we know now that the livers coming from animals today also contain many toxins fed to the animal during it's lifetime. Even "natural foods" are not safe. They may look natural but contain many unnatural chemical products and other substances. These may come from the soil, the fertilizers, the water or air where the plants are grown or how they are processed after harvesting.
The unnaturalness of our foods, combined with hormonal changes, reduced exercise, and the stress on the pregnant digestive system, all contribute to the problem of constipation. Constipation is a common complaint. It is important to avoid this problem, because toxins can seep back into the body's system. This is not a time for using chemical laxatives; instead stick to natural remedies which are, in any case, the basis for the chemical copies. Drink lots of water, mineral water is good, and eat as many raw vegetables as you can. Good natural laxatives are dried fruits such as prunes and figs, and greens such as broccoli and cabbage. The bran content of your diet is essential now, but avoid bran breakfast cereal that are eaten with milk and sugar. It is best to try an original muesli recipe from Switzerland.
Eat this for a couple of mornings and you will find that your system has returned to normal. The oats clean the blood, take mucus out of the bowel, and generally provide one of the most cleansing treatments you can take.
Another excellent way of clearing the bowel is to take a glass of water and add 1/4 teaspoon of green clay, which is available in health food stores. As it passes through the intestinal tract the clay absorbs toxins and makes them leave the body. Yet another method involves psyllium husks, which are pure fiber and can be bought raw or in capsule form. Any of these methods will clean out the garbage lurking in the bowels.
Patchouli is an excellent intestinal cleansing oil and if you are prone to constipation it will be worth making yourself up a bottle of oil to use during pregnancy. Simply add 30 drops of patchouli oil to a bottle containing 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. To get everything going, rub the oil all over the abdomen in a clockwise direction. Start at the lower right hand side, by the groin, and rub right up to beneath the breasts, across and down the other side, down to the hairline again. Cover the whole belly in slow, gentle, clockwise movements.
HEMORRHOIDS & VARICOSE VEINS
The worst thing about constipation is that it makes you strain which in turn may cause hemorrhoids. Varicose veins and hemorrhoids are both dilated veins and their care and treatment are the same. Keep your legs up as often as possible, and for at least 10 minutes a day lie with a pillow in the small of your back - not under the head. You may as well take advantage of this time of enforced inactivity to meditate on the well-being of your baby. Send loving, affirmative thoughts to the baby, for positive thinking makes positive things happen. Such thought projection is the oldest of treatments and one whose value is again being recognized.
To make an oil that will both prevent and alleviate varicose veins and hemorrhoids use the following:
Geranium - 15 drops
Cypress - 5 drops
Diluted in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil base.
Stroke the legs very gently, working upwards from ankle to thigh. The geranium will encourage the circulation of blood and cypress has an astringent effect upon the whole venous system. The oil will also help to balance the mind and alleviate doubts and anxieties. Remember that everything you inhale will reach your baby too - so breathe deeply now. (And by the same token, if a vehicle emitting particularly noxious fumes passes as you walk along the street, hold your breath until the worst of it has passed.)
The extra pressure on the legs causes by pregnancy makes varicose veins a common problem at this time. As well as keeping your legs up as often as possible, try to exercise a little - even if only on the spot. Stroke your legs gently upwards while in a bath that contains 2 drops each of geranium and cypress. You'll find this easier to do early in pregnancy than in late pregnancy, but do the best that you can. Lavender oil makes an excellent addition to this remedy, so add 2 drops if you have some available. Foot baths also help, especially if you place a dozen or so small, round pebbles in the bottom of the footbath and rub your feet gently back and forth over them. Add 2 drops each of geranium and cypress essential oil to the footbath.
If you already have a problem of hemorrhoids, make yourself a cram by adding 15 drops of geranium and 5 drops of cypress essential oil to the contents of a small tube of KY jelly. Simply squeeze the jelly into a small jar, add the essential oils, mix very well and rub around the anal area when required. This treatment will not only alleviate the symptoms but prevent hemorrhoids occurring in the first place.
FLATULENCE
Flatulence is embarrassing at the best of times and is one of the conditions made worse by pregnancy. Gas buildup in the stomach and intestines is very uncomfortable - especially with so much pressure on all the internal organs - and can cause shortness of breath and palpitations. When the digestive tract expands this extra pressure can cause an angina type of pain which can be strong enough in some cases to be mistaken for a heart attack. When this gas buildup is expelled rather noisily this may be indigestion or may sometimes indicate something more serious, such as gallbladder problems, or even gallstones. But usually flatulence is functional - it is unrelated to any disease of the organs - and in pregnancy the most common cause is swallowing air while eating too quickly or gulping large quantities of air during the day. If you are eating foods which have previously upset your digestive system, such upset will only be made worse by your present condition. Carbohydrate foods fermenting in the large colon often cause flatulence and it can be helpful to avoid foods which contain a large proportion of starch and cellulose - peas, potatoes, pulses, carrots, and onions. Try not to swallow air and breathe through the nose if you can. If you feel like belching, do, because you don't want the extra pressure at this time, but be careful not to take in another gulp of air immediately afterwards.
There are three essential oils which are helpful in combating flatulence and which can be taken during pregnancy - dill, fennel, and spearmint. You can use any one of these individually to make an oil for the abdomen or mix two of the three. Dilute a total of 30 drops of your chosen oil or combination of oils in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and rub over the abdomen several times a day. Alternatively, spearmint can be taken internally - but only in very small amounts once a day. Dissolve 3 drops in a tablespoon of honey and keep this mixture to use when needed. Once a day, take half a teaspoon of this honey and spearmint oil mixture in a small glass of boiled, warm water, being careful to sip slowly and avoid taking in yet more air.
INDIGESTION
Severe dyspepsia is caused by a variety of factors, from eating the wrong food to lack of muscular tone or an emotional problem. Depression, worry, overwork, stress, or overstrain can all cause indigestion, as well as overeating. Basically, the cause is an increase in the acid of the stomach and most commonly it feels like a vague fullness or discomfort as soon as food is eaten. It is made much worse by worry and anxiety, and sometimes by excitement and pleasure. Sufferers experience backache, headache, insomnia, palpitations, loss of appetite, loss of strength, depression, and an obsessive attitude towards the bodily functions. There is usually not much pain as such, although the constipation, flatulence, and general disruption of the digestive system can add up to very uncomfortable experience.
If you suffer from dyspepsia you should consult with your midwife or health care provider, but there are still ways that you can help yourself. First of all, start eating small meals, every two hours or so - eat slowly, chewing properly. Treat the constipation and if there is flatulence as well it will usually clear up with that treatment. There are three essential oils which can help in the treatment of indigestion - coriander, cardamom, and dill. Ideally, your treatment will be in a complementary blend of all three because such a mixture has a positive influence within the body. But, any of the three can be used separately and dill is in a good oil to have in the house during your pregnancy because it will be useful to the baby.
Coriander - 1 drop
Cardamom - 1 drop
Dill - 1 drop
Equal parts of each of these essential oils
or
Use one oil only. Using a total of 3 drops, blend with 1 tablespoon honey. Put in an egg cup and store. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of the honey and oil mix in a little hot soy milk and sip after meals twice a day. Do not exceed this dose.
If you are experiencing pain with the indigestion, make an oil to rub over the abdomen and around the rib cage. Use a total of 30 drops essential oil to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil - again, the complementary blend is best but any of the three oils may be used individually. Use a small amount, and only once a day. Also, avoid strong coffee, tea, spices, pepper, carbonated drinks, fatty foods, and smoking.
BLEEDING
Sometimes women loose a small amount of blood during the first three months of pregnancy and if this happens to you, call your midwife and go to bed. Bed rest usually takes care of the problem but if bleeding becomes heavy and persists this could result in a miscarriage so go directly to bed and get somebody else to call the midwife immediately.
CRAMPS
Leg cramps in pregnancy are usually worse in the last months of pregnancy. They can be caused by the position of the baby or by a calcium deficiency. They are often worse during the night or during an afternoon nap. Women have been using the following footbath with success for many years:
Geranium - 5 drops
Lavender - 10 drops
Cypress - 2 drops
Place in a bowl of hot, but not boiling water.
You might take a calcium supplement, as well.
Cramps in the abdomen are a completely different subject and should always be checked with your midwife. In fact, all of your pregnancy discomforts should be discussed with your midwife, so make a habit of writing everything down that happens during your pregnancy - no matter how minor they may seem to be and let her know at your prenatal visits or by phone. In this way, your midwife has a complete picture of your development and can help you treat any condition that needs help. Make sure you attend all of your prenatal visits, no matter how inconvenient they may be or unnecessary you may feel them to be. At these visits you and your baby will be checked, your urine and/or blood work taken and checked for potential problems, and issues will be brought up, discussed, and remedied.
EDEMA
One of the things you should remember is to mention to your midwife is swelling, usually of the fingers and ankles but, can also involve your feet and even your face. Edema is extremely common and is usually nothing to worry about, but it may occur along with high blood pressure and protein in the urine, which could be associated with preeclampsia (toxemia). This condition is dangerous and cannot be allowed to continue. It needs immediate attention. If you experience swelling, spend at least 10 minutes per day lying down with a pillow under your feet. The important thing is to have your feet higher than your heart, so merely sitting down will not do. One of the best treatments for edema is herbal tea - fennel and nettle are good. Drink twice a day. The following body rub formula also helps, rubbed over the ankles and legs (working upward, always massage toward the heart), the fingers and arms (in an upward direction towards the heart), and especially on the back. Get your friend or partner to rub the oil into your back for you. This allows the essential oils to get straight into the body via the central nervous system. Don't use the oil on the abdomen and only use once a day for ten days.
Ginger - 3 drops
Lavender - 2 drops
Cypress - 2 drops
Diluted in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
EXHAUSTION
Exhaustion can occur at any stage of pregnancy, especially if you already have one or more little ones to take care of at home. Here is a reviving formula that can be used for a body oil, bath, or footbath. This remedy can be used after the birth whenever you need it.
Grapefruit - 10 drops
Lavender - 10 drops
Coriander - 10 drops
Use any one of these essential oils to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for a body oil. For a blend of oils, use equal amounts of each essential oil.
If you have made the blend of oils, use 6 drops for a bath, 5 drops in a 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for a body rub, or 4-5 drops in a bowl of hot but not scalding water for a footbath.
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