Ep 35 Essential Oils for Pregnancy, Labor, and Birth

Essential oils, if used correctly and safely, can be used during pregnancy, labor, and birth.  In this episode we chat about what exactly an essential oil is and some things to look for when searching for oils (think quality!).  From using oils to invoke calmness and focus during labor, to using oils to help relieve pain and cope during back labor and transition - there are lots of different uses.  We talk about different oils to use, including some to avoid, as well as when to use them during different parts of the birthing process, and different ways to use the oils (aromatically and topically).  Be sure to check out the resources link for lots more information.

Resources:
Guide to Perineal Massage (video)
Essential Oils for Labor
National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy - safety information
Aromatherapy in Midwifery Practice
Essentials Oils and Pregnancy videos

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Aligned Birth

Dr. Shannon

Doula Rachael

Check out our individual websites:

Transcript

Hello, hello, welcome to the wind birth Podcast. I'm Dr. Shannon here today. I am with doula Rachel. And we are talking about essential oils for pregnancy

0:16

labor,

0:17

birth. And, again, I'm Dr. Shannon, I don't sound like Dr. Shannon. I have a little battle of laryngitis. And I feel great. I just sound wonky. And it's kind of fun because Rachel and I get together and we record our episodes, like in batches because we've learned that we have one big chunk of time rather than small little chunks of time throughout the month. So these episodes we don't know when the episodes are going to come out. But it may sound like I've had laryngitis for an entire month. Which I hope not to but here we are, and we're getting stuff done. And I'm excited to talk about essential oils today because I talk about these things in the office a little bit. I like to have events in my office and have other experts come in and talk about things in ways it's just another way and a resource to support your body and to support your brain and nervous system function. And I'll go into how this applies to that nervous system function in a minute but want to go over what is essential oil kind of a few things to look for. It's gonna be short and sweet. This episode, and then we have lots of different little bullet points of things during pregnancy, labor, birth, relieving pain, ways to use them during all of those processes and then some great research articles and resources that will link in the show notes at the bottom. So hello. Hello, Rachel.

1:53

Hi, Dr. Shannon. I love the way you sound. I'm not gonna lie. It's kind of sexy.

2:02

It's just Yeah, it's weird. I thought so we're rolling with it. We're rolling with

2:06

it and I love just you know, we're being you know, transparent. We do batch recording is the best thing that ever happened for us. So I have no problem sharing that anyone that listening wants to make a podcast definitely recommend it. It's awesome and it helps us make the most of our time three. Yeah, it's

2:24

the first time I know we're on Episode Three right now

2:28

of recording I know and I always look forward to these days because it's when I get time this you know extended time with you so anyways, I'm super excited to be talking about essential oils today. I use them in my life. I share them with my clients. I was in your office this past weekend and it smelled delightful. As soon as I walked in, I was just like, I felt calm and I felt energy and I felt refreshed. I was like what office normally smells like this. So you're rocking it over there.

2:56

Yes. And that's a good segue because I want to define what is an essential oil and just a few little things how I look at it from a little bit of that nervous system standpoint and how it interacts with that. So essential oils paid simply compounds extracted from plants they kind of take the essence the the scent and the flavor of these plants. And each one has its own aromatic compound and characteristical essence to itself. They're obtained through distillation or cold pressing. And you know some key things to look for. You do want to make sure they're pure, authentic and genuine. So just really, you know, look at where you're, you're getting them from, but they're most commonly used aromatically so where you are breathing them in. And what's so cool about that is that inhaling them can stimulate areas of the limbic system. So going going straight to the brain, you know how you can sense can always bring those memories back right I don't know if you feel machines songs kind of do that for me to auditory things but scent as well and so, if you know you're smelling something and it is it, you know brings you back to a time of calm and peace well then that can be transferred and translated into how the nervous system is is responding to it. And so that's where I think these can come and play a part in kind of pregnancy. labor and birth. There's ways to do it safely though, as well, too. So, here's our disclaimer. Um, take the information from here and bring it to your medical providers and go over the questions that you have. This is not intended to be any sort of, you know, medical advice. I want it to be more of you jot some notes down and say, hey, that's interesting. I want to do some more research. I want to bring this to my medical providers and see if there's some ways that I can incorporate some of these essential oils if I'm wanting to have more of that calming birth experience.

5:04

Yeah, and just another part of that disclaimer is you know, this is not recommended to ingest any essential oils and to always dilute your essential oil when applying topically. diffusing is one of the best safest ways to use essential oils and that's our recommendations. And I echo what Dr. Shannon did said about checking with your care provider and following all the you know, right dosing and recommendations from the essential oil manufacturer, whichever one you purchase. So yeah, always just you know, being aware of how to safely use the products and doing what's best for you. I do want to speak a little bit to what you said about smell and memory and how like automatically it can like affect your brain and I so for me when I smell artificial scents, high sensitivity to artificial scents so like candle aisle at Target is instant headache. Like if I walked into a store and they have artificial scents going either like the things you plug into the outlet or candles that have artificial scents in them. It is like an instant headache for me. If I enter a room and it has oils, essential oils being diffused, I have a different completely different physiological response. Like I feel at ease. I feel safe. I feel either like maybe I'm not going to a spa or I feel like I'm at home or I feel relaxed it is based on whatever they're diffusing. I literally can feel the difference. And so for me, I'm like that's a telltale sign like my body knows the artificial scent and that is like no bueno for my body and my brain and it's triggered it says it gives me a headache. So to me that's the sign of like, you don't need that. Whereas the essential oil I have a very different response to and so for me that's the real life experience of like, oh, you know, it's obviously not the solution to all my problems but it definitely is like a sign that it is good for me.

7:10

No, I agree with that too. You know in line with that some people have the headache mine. It's really strong and pungent. I feel like sometimes like it's just it's too intense. And I feel like sometimes those essential oils yes, they can be intense. So you have to be careful with that but it's is different when you get that chemical kind of smell. But then also it can be respiratory irritant to people as well as chemical sentences. So thinking of that, that's why Yeah, I do. I like those essential oils a little bit more so than some of those chemical smells. We talked about. Yes. Aromatically is where they're typically used and are diffused within a diffuser. You can also do them topically I do like to wear them topically as well. I like little bracelets that have a lot of beads and I like those because I like to put a few drops on it. And so every once in a while, I'll get a whiff of it and I'm like, Ah calm, peace, that type of thing. But again, topically they do need to be diluted. So I personally really liked fractionated coconut oil because it's it's coconut oil, it's just in a liquid form at room temperature. They do that but it is and that's just a very easy one to dilute in and typically doesn't cause the skinnier tense however, you again need to discuss that with care providers. And there's lots of different oils you can use. You can use rose like I mean lots of different carrier oils you can use

8:34

like almond almond oil, and there's another nut oil I thought

8:40

even evening primrose oil well

8:43

yeah, then like you can use to dilute it if you have any sort of skin irritation after trying it definitely you know don't do that again. But you have a less likely chance of having a skin irritation when you dilute it and use the safe carrier oil. So for pregnancy, labor and delivery people use essential oils to help for calmness and relaxation to help fight depression and also combat physical discomfort and pain. So those are some some reasons people might use essential oils during pregnancy, labor and birth and just normal life but we are here talking about those specific things. Yes.

9:22

I really like so I want to jump right in. We're gonna talk like about calming and helping like focus. Mom help keep things focused in if we are in labor and birth in transitioning in that in that period and I mean two ones that come to mind are lavender and chamomile and you've probably honestly heard of these as far as like having teas as well. You know you always think of chamomile tea like an herbal tea, but lavender or chamomile you can use to diffuse we'll talk a little bit too. You can use lavender, even topically on some washcloths and that sort of thing. But that's safe to use during pregnancy and you can use both of those for calm and focus.

10:08

Yeah, and another great use for chamomile is to do a warm compress before postpartum for cramping. To do a puts dilute some chamomile oil with you know carrier oil onto your abdomen onto your lower abdomen then do a warm compress and that can help with some of those after pains.

10:29

Yes, that's so good. Um, yes, labor and birth can be an extended period of time. And so we can run low on energy. So you can increase energy during labor potentially by using peppermint oil so you can inhale it. You can even put like on a cotton ball. Now it can be pretty it can be pretty intense. So just do be careful with it. I know whenever I have diffuse coverage I'm like hello my sinuses and awake. You know I like that though. But you can put it on a washcloth it can be used as a compress. You can defuse it just that energy aspect as well.

11:10

Yeah, I'd like to take in when so as I'm a birth doula and so when I'm in person with someone during labor, I like to take peppermint and put a couple drops in a cold bucket of water. And then I put a washcloth in that bucket and then wring out the water so now I have a cold washcloth with a little bit of peppermint on it from the water and I'll leave that in front of them. And so you get a cooling effect and you get an energizing effect and most birthing people just love it

11:37

sounds so invigorating, as I think peppermint is invigorating

11:40

Yeah, yeah.

11:42

Now I have read that peppermint can decrease the breathing rate of sensitive babies. So not using past eight centimeters. Just be mindful of if you're diffusing in the room, maybe we just use it on that washcloth you know, so that's it doesn't have to linger and stay in the room. So just things to look at there. Yes. Um, now pain relief during birth. One lavender again, and we talked about you know, aromatically for helping common focus, but you can have like a crock pot just on a real low setting full of like lots of washcloths and just 15 to 20 drops of oil and then you can just wring out those washcloth and put on the belly during contractions. You just keep cycling through those. So that is one way to help calm and focus but also relieve some

12:35

pain. Yeah, lavender is like the most universal, easily used most tolerated essential oil. It's one of my favorites that I carry in my doula bag and I use on myself and my kids. And you can also take that warm washcloth and put it like on the lower back as well if you're having like some back labor pains and that can also provide some relief and then I think we know also some other ones that might be good for pain relief would be rose, which is safe I guess for just during delivery but not to be used during pregnancy. And then clary sage which is also good for during delivery but not pregnancy. It can help early payment it can also help stimulate contractions, which we've talked about that when a little bit. Yeah, and

13:19

I think the big thing when we say not necessarily safe for pregnancy is that we're especially like clary sage and some of those oils. They're you know, looking back at herbalism and the herbs that are used, it's just another way to use those plants. It can kind of induce some labor and get things going and started and so if we're early on in pregnancy, we don't necessarily need those things happening. So early. So those are some of the the main concerns as far as why we're saying okay, if we're in that labor and birthing process, yeah, these can can help kind of get some things going. Frankincense is another good one. This one's good. It was kind of during pregnancy, but again, you can rub on the back you can rub on the abdomen. That one has such a different, a different smell. I actually like to defuse that one with lemon sometimes. And it's a good No, I just I feel very I don't know. I feel very focused with it. So sometimes I'll diffuse that in the house when the kids are running crazy. And I'm like

14:18

Yeah, that one's versatile for sure.

14:21

Yeah, rose and frankincense again, during transition in labor. So you can eat new thinking about different times in the labor and birthing process. You can apply those like lavender, so with washcloths and that type of thing.

14:35

Yeah, I mean transition is one of the most intense parts of labor probably next pushing where you're making that final transition just 10 centimeters, usually from eight to 10 centimeters can be really intense. You can feel sort of like unhinged and and like, you know, losing control a little bit like a little bit wanting to maybe or lot wanting to give up or you know, wanting it to be over but that's just You're right on the cusp of the end and so rose and frankincense can really help balance that time out. And we

15:07

talked about clary sage a minute ago, but sometimes, labor can be stalled for lots of different reasons. And it clary sage isn't good went to kind of maybe like kickstart things, again, kind of induced some things again. And I think you even mentioned how you can put like a couple drops on each angle.

15:32

Yes. And so there's a pressure point to on the inside of like where the inside of your ankle where the bonus and then kind of go back towards your ankle, there's like a spot right there. And if you take your diluted clary sage and rub it in like real firmly with your thumb. This is really great if you can have a partner or doula do it as well because I mean, getting to that part might be difficult if you're nine months pregnant and in labor to do it yourself. But you can that's a great little kind of like a pressure point and using the essential oil combined can help stimulate uterine contractions. So that's why they recommend doing this. Once you're you know, with the care of your provider, because it can increase the speed of labor. So just to be careful, or on the safe side. You want to make sure and use that one share with your birth team.

16:23

Exactly. And same thing with mer. You can put a few drops like on a cotton ball to sniff or you can even again, dilute it with that carrier oil and put it on the abdomen to help kind of speed some things up. But again, if we're looking to, to kind of get things going again, if things have been stalled, we need to make sure we've got the birthing people there to support us who are going to be there for the birthing process. So we don't want things to get too crazy. Back labor, that's a fun one. Um, and again to this looking at the oils you can use peppermint again so invigorating, but it can be diluted and robbed where that pain is most intense and I keep thinking of like, Oh, if you could use that and do some like some hip compression and stuff how that would be like amazing.

17:13

Yeah, you could do some counter pressure on the sacrum where you take kind of both hands as being the partner or doula and put both hands on top of the sacrum where you've rubbed in some peppermint oil with the with the carrier oil and just press down during contractions and she's going to get relief in two ways by doing the counter pressure and from the peppermint. I mean peppermint MIP can rub it on your temples. You can you know, take a little whiff of it like to help with pain like headaches or attention in other ways. But specifically during labor, you might experience back labor. And so using that peppermint oil in that location could be really helpful and maybe throw in a little hip squeeze and some lead massage and she might be feeling all right.

17:59

Exactly. Sometimes that back labor is due to baby positioning. So if they're in like a sunny setup position, you know, so it makes sense that using some of those oils, another one. So that's where peppermint can be used. Diluted rubbed on the low back. And also too if you have a breech baby. If you want to take peppermint oil, you can rub it at the top of the abdomen and kind of like that rainbow shape. If we're if you know if you've got maybe like a spontaneous Breacher baby has flipped in the middle of all the birthing process and things going on. So that's some fun things to think about there. Yeah,

18:43

that is a fun one for sure. I love peppermint oil. Another fun trick with peppermint oil is if you can't pee, because sometimes in labor, like making yourself pee as harder and I'm always telling my clients to empty their bladder so they can make room for the baby to descend. And they're like I'm trying to be and I can't be and I'll put a few drops of peppermint oil and the toilet. And the the the peppermint, the invigoration of the peppermint oil will like automatically make them be.

19:12

That's amazing. Everybody even talks to the bladder.

19:17

We definitely was like is the king your queen here?

19:22

So universal and if we're looking at avoiding tearing there's and if you're wanting to kind of even avoid like a PCR dummy and that sort of thing. There's things you can do leading up to labor and birth so I know evening primrose oil is one that can be used if we're doing perineal massage like a few weeks before delivery, but you can even add in geranium. I love the smell of Geranium and frankincense. So those two together can be used. And you can do that before delivery. Now. Also looking at if we're during delivery, you can use geranium again. And healer Chrism. That's an amazing healing oil. The Chrism is and so that's another wonderful one to think about and kind of have with you as it just in case. Yeah, that's a

20:24

great way to and then combine that with like a warm compress for labor and delivery and that can definitely help the perineum. Stay in tact. And we mentioned the perineal massage, and we're not going to depth here on that but I do think that's worth learning about it's it's, it's detailed, like the steps to do prenatal massage correct to help you prepare for labor and birth and to help the perineum. Be ready for labor and birth and to help reduce that tearing, risk of tearing or severe tearing. So if you're interested in that, and you're like what is that it's a whole thing and you can do it during late pregnancies and with your partner. You can do it yourself but it is worth learning about correct technique.

21:09

Exactly I know. So those are just real short, sweet little oils just to have like in your birth bag and things to kind of play around with and remember, you know those safety precautions. If you do develop headaches or anything from it, then you know, stop aromatically using them any skin irritation, you can stop using them as well too. There's lots of good resources that we're gonna post in the show notes. And not only some websites and some books, but also some research papers that had been have been done as far as even like aromatherapy and midwifery practice and that type of thing. So we'll link all of those in the show notes. And don't forget to take all that information and check in with your care provider. Yeah, this is a fun little episode just to add some little, some little nuggets for like comfort measures during labor and birth.

22:06

Oh, it's great. It's great. And it's simple and it's worth trying. So yeah, thanks for doing this with me. And yet, be sure to check out those resources. And stay tuned next week for a new episode.