On Birth and Being of Babes – Part 1 of 2
By Tera Warner
Plants and flowers brim with vigorous, ever renewing life, and they symbiotically lend their life energy to sustain us. The life force of the plants oils in aromatherapy and aroma-medicine make them natural and wise attendants to births and babies. Following a few simple guidelines and your own intuition, essential oils will bless your birthing rite and befriend your new little one.
Before you put anything on yourself or your baby, you want to know that it is pure and really real. Essential oils available in the market, even those sold in health food stores, are often of questionable quality. Mass distilled for the food, flavor and perfume industry, these oils are cheaply produced, further adulterated in labs and may even be imitations. Issues with safety and effectiveness make it inadvisable to use low quality essential oils. Only authentic oils, distilled carefully and truthfully from organically grown plant matter, can fulfill the promises of plant wisdom.
Labor and Delivery
Essential oils are natural and reliable helpers as you prepare yourself and your home for your new arrival.
A few drops of Tea Tree oil in warm water is all you need to clean and disinfect your baby’s world, starting with the birthing pool. You can also make a spray of water and Tea Tree to wipe down high chairs, car seats, crib railings and baby toys.
When labor begins, use an essential oil diffuser to fill the air of your birthing space with an aroma that creates a calming and welcoming atmosphere. Neroli, bergamot, grapefruit, lavender, white fir and cape chamomile are lovely and I really like frankincense for this. As a sacred oil and portal oil, frankincense opens us during transition periods and welcomes us to new places and stages of life.
The essential oil of marjoram is a very good analgesic and muscle relaxant during labor. As I was delivering our baby, Ron, my partner, massaged a 10% dilution of marjoram and lavender in jojoba oil on to my back right in the pelvic region in rhythmic circles. It was amazing!
Let Bath Time Wait
The first few precious moments after birth is a time of celebration and bonding with your baby. Try to let this moment last for hours! It is common for medical staff to whisk away the newborn for a quick bath. Washing a baby’s skin immediately after birth is unnecessary and perhaps even counterproductive. Bathing lowers the baby’s already falling body temperature, and infants have a very limited ability to create their own body heat in the first few hours of life. Neonatal experts urge us to let the bath time wait.“Washing a baby soon after birth clearly contributes to a fall in body temperature, and for this reason it is difficult to justify this practice.”1 Instead, allow your baby rest on your belly under a warm, dry blanket and let the skin to skin contact keep the little one’s body temperature up.
The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology gives an even stronger reason for delaying that first bath. Researchers reported that the white waxy substance, called vernix, that coats a newborn’s skin is a valuable part of the infant immune system. Vernix is a wide spectrum antimicrobial agent that protects against bacterial and fungal infections, like B streptococcus and E. coli. The researchers advised, “Delaying the bath and keeping the newborn together with his or her mother until breastfeeding is established may prevent some cases of devastating infections caused by these bacteria.”2
Loving the Mother’s Body after the Birth
After the birth, essential oils can help you cool, heal and get a little relief for the majestic accomplishment of your yoni. Make a little bottle for your bathroom of 30% virgin coconut oil, 55% organic jojoba oil mixed with 15% peppermint essential oil. This will help your yoni recover and ease you back into your normal daily routine.
Here are a few more useful and beautiful oils that support healthy, new motherhood:
- A few dabs of Neroli oil in a diffuser or as a pillow spray will help the family ease into new rhythms.
- One drop of fennel oil taken internally in a glass of water or with a spoonful of honey will increase breast milk production.
- Reduce the pain, inflammation and itching of hemorrhoids by applying a 4% combination of German Chamomile, yarrow and cypress in organic jojoba
- A 15% combination immortelle, rose otto and seabuckthorn berry in jojoba oil will heal stretch marks. Or, you can also use Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever. To prevent stretch marks from developing, throughout pregnancy liberally apply Best Skin Ever to your hips, breasts and belly a few times a day and right after a shower.
References:
1Smales, 0. R. C. and R. Kime. “Thermoregulation in babies immediately after birth.” Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1978, 53, 58-61
2 Akinbi HT. et al. “Host defense proteins in vernix caseosa and amniotic fluid.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2004 Dec;191(6):2090-6