natural childbirth |

Hey Holly,

I am 35 weeks along with my third child (the first two being twins). I am hoping to do natural childbirth with this one. I was reading your posts on raspberry leaf tea and reading your birth story. I have the tea, but I would like some further information on how you prepared your tea once in labor. I saw you said to use 1 oz of the loose leaf tea and drink it as hot as possible. How much water did you use?

Thank you so much for your help and your constant encouragement in mothering! You are such a treasure.

Thanks,

Wendy

Hi Wendy!

First of all, congratulations on your impending arrival! Thank you for your kind words, but I feel like mothers of twins are the true encouragement to mothering. It must be so intense and wonderful at the same time.

I have had lots of people write to ask about my red raspberry leaf tea protocol.

I wish I had photos of the whole leaf tea, my husband steeping it, and me trying to guzzle it down in 107 degree weather, but I was a little preoccupied…the directions I followed from the Rodale book are:

“On one ounce of raspberry leaves pour one pint of boiling water, cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain, and when the time for delivery is approaching drink the whole as hot as possible.”

This is what I did, and I really believe it helped.

Here’s to a quick and incredible delivery for you Wendy. YOU can do it. Your body was designed for this, and you have what it takes! Let me know if you have any other questions, and please let me know how it goes.

Holly

C-section births are climbing steadily in the United States, affecting one in three babies. Click here to read the published report outlining the trend. It has become so commonplace that most women I talk to just assume they might have to give birth this way, not really giving it a second thought. It is, however, major abdominal surgery and carries risks. It is an amazing procedure when done to save mother or baby’s life, or in situations where complications have arisen, however often times today it is used for reasons other than life saving measures. Physicians’ fear of lawsuits, patients requesting scheduled births for convenience and inducing labor on a baby who isn’t quite ready to come out are all reasons the Caesarean birth rate is now over 32% in the United States.

What can you do to protect yourself from a surgical birth?

Take a birthing class. Many OB’s say they aren’t necessary, but that’s because the use of epidural anesthesia is 75-85% in the US, and once you have that you don’t need (and can’t use) anything you learned in a childbirth class. I would never have succeeded in a totally drug-free natural childbirth if it weren’t for my amazing teacher Shara at Real Birth in New York City.

Become informed. Watch The Business of Being Born
and read Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care

You will be amazed at what you learn and how much you can do to take charge of your child’s birth.