Title: When Labor Is Prolonged
Categories: Info
Yield: 1 Formula

TINCTURE TO FACILITATE LABOR
1	pt	Blue cohosh
1	pt	Black cohosh
3	pt	Pennyroyal leaf (not oil)
		80-100 proof alcohol

Do not use teas to hasten labor simply because you are impatient! Each child has his or her own birthing rhythm and it should not be disturbed except in an emergency. Frequently, that rhythm does not correspond to the designated calendar birthing time (or the doctor's schedule), but unless the birth is VERY overdue there is generally no need to worry. The tea formulas are used only when a prolonged labor has become debilitating to the mother and/or child and when it is necessary, for health reasons, to manipulate the timing. Sometimes a warm bath made with chamomile and/or valerian is relaxing and soothing enough to hasten delivery. Herbal tinctures and teas can be used in conjunction with warm herbal baths to facilitate labor.

A special massage oil made of fresh grated ginger combined with valerian and lavender has proven useful when massaged over the back and stomach muscles. Make the oil ahead of time. Follow the directions for making herbal oils in the Hemorrhoids section (just stop and bottle the oil before the heating and beeswax step!).

T I N C T U R E T O F A C I L I T A T E L A B O R For instructions on making tinctures, see General Formulas for a Healthy Pregnancy. Dilute « teaspoon of the tincture in ¬ cup of warm water every 30 minutes, or as often as needed. The taste is somewhat unpleasant. You may wish to dilute the tincture in peppermint tea to camouflage the flavor.

Sometimes a shift in energy is all that's needed to encourage the birth. Master herbalist Rosemary Gladstar tells the following story:

Years ago, on the land where the herb school was located, a friend wished to have her child in our tepee. Circular, white, and sacred, it was located next to the pond and seemed like a lovely place to give birth. Several weeks before her due date, she and her family settled in. Life in the tepee was good. But the weather in coastal California in the middle of the summer can get really hot. And in that tepee in the open sun-drenched meadow, with a belly stretching to give birth, my friend found it hot indeed.

When her birthing time came, the breeze stopped, the sun beat down hotter that ever, and it seemed as if everything--including her contractions--had come to a standstill. She'd start and then she'd stop. This went on for several days. Her frustration began to reflect the hot, still days of that California summer.

One afternoon when I stopped in to check on my friend, I was appalled at how thick and heavy the energy was in the tepee. Something needed to happen. The wind needed to blow, the trees to dance, the energy in the tepee to move. Instinctively, I began to sing to my friend. And then I began to dance. Luckily, there were a couple of other women in the tepee who joined in the singing, for my own voice is notoriously out of tune. The midwife present happened to be an accomplished belly dancer (the dance of birth) and she began to sway in a beautiful rhythm. It was really lovely and exotic. And, of course, very soon thereafter the wind began to blow and the energy to undulate in the tepee. Within hours, my friend gave birth to her fifth child. Today, on the small knoll beside the tepee, there's a lovely tall eucalyptus tree growing where the placenta was planted.

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