General Recovery & Healing
Keep taking your vitamin & mineral supplement if you are taking one. Homeopathic Arnica pellets in the first week can minimise any bruising or swelling caused by childbirth.
Rest as much as you can, and drink as much water as you can in the first week. Your body, its healing and establishment of breastfeeding is the most important thing after your newborn's needs. REST!
Vaginas, Periniums & Tears
Sitz baths with herbs are excellent.
If you don't have one on hand, simply dissolve a handful or two of sea salt in a large pot of warm water, add a drop of tea-tree essential oil or lavender essential oil. Gently pour the salt water over your vagina while sitting in the shower.
Try and get in two showers a day, you'll feel so much cleaner and the salt will aid healing! The tea-tree is to head off any possible infection with its antiseptic properties, and lavender is usually used for relaxation/pain relief.
If you have torn, be reassured in knowing that tears heal quicker and easier than the cut of an epistomy, WITHOUT needing stitching. Most tears involve less tissue damage, are less painful and do not often go very deep; Many tears won't need stitching as the jagged ends knit well together.
For pain of tears, use aloe vera - cut fresh from the plant itself, slit the leaves open and scoop the gel out onto a menstrual pad (preferably cloth!) and hold it against your tear.
Drinking comfrey leaf tea will rapidly build new cells. You can also use the herb in a sitz bath preparation, or a cup of the infusion in with the salt water rinse.
A good tear paste is a mixture of comfrey root powder, slippery elm bark powder, water, and a little 100% PURE vitamin E oil. Apply it to the tear to bind the torn tissue together, relieve pain and promote healing. Apply the paste often, and make sure your vagina is kept clean (salt water or sitz baths) as the tear paste can draw dirt, hairs, blood, clots, etc. to it.
Afterpains
Those can be worse than labour itself, and usually last a few days. Massage your uterus and make sure it is firm and on level with your bellybutton.
Remember that those contractions are shrinking your uterus back to pre-pregnancy size and reducing your post-partum bleeding.
Afterpains often occur while breastfeeding. Breathe and make deep noises through them. Breastfeeding can make them more intense, but at the same time it also reduces the frequency of those pains.
Sometimes Arnica 200c every 30 minutes helps, other women use relaxation or hot water bottles/packs on the belly while breastfeeding.
Catnip leaves in tea or tincture form relieve uterus spasms and keep the blood flowing out.
Ground Ivy tea eases afterpains and tones the uterus. If the pains are especially bad and frequent, try 5 drops of Motherwort tincture under the tongue or in water. Some women need more than 5 drops before change is felt.
Remember to pee lots as pooled blood and blood clots can increase afterpains, and get lots of rest in bed for a few days so that your body can heal up a bit.
Infection
If concerned about possible infection after you give birth, you can include 5 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract - GSE (Grapefruit seed, not grapeseed!) in your glass of juice or water and take this 3 times a day for a week after birth. GSE is a natural antiviral, antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic that will not damage the beneficial bacteria in your gut like antibiotics will.
Another effective natural antibiotic is Echinacea Root - take 10 drops of the tincture in water or juice twice a day for a week.
If you already have an infection, increase the dose of GSE to 10 drops 3 times a day, and take 2 cups of Echinacea Root infusion for 5 days, then 1 cup a day for another 5 days.
Infusion is stronger than tea. If you don't have it, you can use the tincture. The usual dosage of tincture if you have an infection is 1 drop per kilogram of body weight taken 4 times a day until the fever goes away, then 2 times a day for another week.
If the infection is possibly due to retained membranes, you can wait for your body to handle the membrane expulsion, or you can assist your body along with Ground Ivy or Angelicia Root tincture (a teaspoon).
Exhaustation
It is often usual to feel exhausted after childbirth due to birth, adjusting to new sleeping patterns or to the large amounts of energy consumed by your body in producing milk and balancing its milk supply.
Sleep and rest as much as you can. Drink plenty of water and high protein foods for slow releasing energy throughout the day.
Eat your placenta raw. You can cut it up and put it in the fridge and eat a few pieces as you feel the need to. Others make raw placenta smoothies with red fruits and cut up placenta. Benefits of Consuming the Placenta
If you have trouble sleeping or resting:
5 drops of Motherwort tincture in water will aid with stress, tension and emotional upheavals. Take as needed but do not keep taking it after 3-4 weeks consistently as you can become dependant on it.
Skullcap tincture - start off with a tiny dose like 3 drops. It is not habit forming like Motherwort and will help you to sleep. You may have to increase the dose if you are using commerical preparations of this tincture.
A cup of Hops flowers infusion will put you to sleep! It also helps with breastmilk production and the easing of afterpains.
Sore Breasts & Nipples
Make sure that your baby's latch is correct. This is often the root of most painful breastfeeding problems. See a Breastfeeding Attachment Diagram here.
Do not delay in calling ABA or contacting a lactation consultant if you are having difficulties, and surround yourself with constructive supportive people, not people that say "Oh well, formula is ok too" instead of giving any real help and support so that you can successfully breastfeed.
Make sure you do not have a blocked duct. This is obvious by a hard painful lump or lumps in your breasts. Take a warm shower and massage the lumps towards your nipples. When breastfeeding, massage the lumps towards the nipple as well.
Breastfeed often, and on demand. Do not avoid breastfeeding for more than 4 hours at a time in the first week to avoid running into breast engorgement and blocked duct problems.
Expose your breasts to air and if possible, sunlight. Do not wear a bra all the time - only use it for going out if you have to. Topless for the first few weeks is lovely at home and easy on your breasts.
Express milk onto your breasts and massage it in, express more and air dry.
Breastfeeding Aid and Information page with herbal and poultice suggestions (coming sooner or later!)
Breastmilk Supply Issues
If you have low milk supply issues, take nourishing teas of Comfrey, Red Raspberry Leaf, Nettles, Alfalfa and Red Clover. You can also try taking a tincture with a mix of those herbs but most women report better benefits from rotating a tea of each single herb every week.
Hops flower tea, Blessed Thistle and Borage leaves will boost milk supply as will hot Barley Water poured over fennel seeds. (To prepare barley water, soak half a cup barley in 3 cups water overnight or boil it for 30 mins and strain out the barley).
Food sources considered beneficial to maintaining lactation supply are: leafy greens (beetroot greens, dandelion leaves, parsley, watercress), carrots, apricots, sweet potato, asparagus, green beans and peas.
Depression
Post-partum depression and the rollercoaster of hormones after you give birth are aided by breastfeeding as breastfeeding regulates your hormones, gives you endorphins and allows your body to slowly regain its hormonal balance.
Melissa Lemon Balm leaves made into an infusion with honey and milk if you drink milk. Take a couple cups every day for a few weeks.
Blessed Thistle leaves can aid severe depression and other problems related to the post-partum period if taken as an infusion 1-2 cups a day. It can be taken in tincture form as well - up to 80 drops a day. It is good for milk supply also.
Foods that help process and balance hormones in your body are: bee pollen, ginseng, hops, figs and royal jelly.
St Johns Wort can be taken in tincture, tea or pill form as well to help cope with depression.
