Aromatherapy for Birth
I absolutely love using aromatherapy for my clients' birth as it makes such a difference not only to the birth environment but it also supports everyone in the birth room! It can help soothe and relax those in labour, birth partners and also midwives/doulas and even consultants! It is rare that I attend a birth where a midwife or consultant walks in and immediately comments on the aromatherapy and the benefits!
I fell in love with using aromatherapy for the birth of my daughter. I did some research and began to use Frankincense as I had read that it is really grounding (hence the earthy smell) great for easing mental chatter and helping to switch off the brain. I had already been using a lavender and chamomile spray that I had used for years so I used both in the lead up to birth whenever I was relaxing/doing yoga so that I would make a lovely connection and anchor for my birth (an anchor is a little cue that helps you connect to a space or relax or switch off).
When I began teaching hypnobirthing and antenatal classes, aromatherapy would always come up as a topic of conversation. I did some research and decided to train with Aromatherapy for Child Birth so that I could teach more about aromatherapy! Now as a doula supporting families across Nottinghamshire I am able to incorporate aromatherapy for birth at home and in hospital for my clients.
How to use aromatherapy for birth
First, it's a great idea to start using it during pregnancy as you gradually build up a connection to that smell and you are going to have the most benefits when you are in labour. First think about how you want to feel in labour and choose oils to reflect that feeling. For example lavender can support you to feel calm, relaxed and potentially has some benefits to supporting contractions. My personal favourite is Frankincense more for the benefits than the smell but not everyone will be a fan of Frankincense. Bergamot is a beautiful one and blends well with lavender, it has a very much spa smell and can help you feel calm and help to reduce pain in labour ( I would say it is a popular one! Always make sure that the oil you are using is safe for pregnancy!
Where to buy them from?
Make sure you are buying “pure blends” so it needs to be a 100% pure essential oil. I often buy mine from Nikura as I like the quality and they do a great “Tuesday £2 offer”. Other companies such as soaperay have reasonable price oils.
How to use
I make my clients a roller ball and bath salts so that they can start to use it in labour. If you wanted to have your own blend made up, the lovey doula Jess of Oyster and Olive makes some incredible aromatherapy blends! Aromatherapy is safe to use directly on the skin after 12 weeks gestation as long as it is blended with a carrier oil (never apply directly to the skin without a carrier oil). There are some exceptions such as lavender which you can place a couple of drops onto the skin to inhale directly or rub over you whilst you're in the shower for a cooling effect. Being directly applied to the skin has the most benefits as opposed to inhalation.
Most clients will use roller balls, bath salts and diffuser and massage oils. Diffusers are safe to use throughout pregnancy and birth. You can also add them safely to the bath as long as it's mixed with a little bath or shower gel as otherwise it will sit on top of the water! You can get diffusers that mix with water or ones that diffuse straight from the bottle which I prefer as they are less messy. This is the one use and it is relatively quiet.
Using Aromtherapy for labour in Hospital
If you're birthing at home, you have the convenience of using them as you would normally do at home. It may be prudent to let your home birth midwives know in case of any allergies or if you're using clary sage (if there are pregnant midwives attending to you).
The tricky thing about using them in hospitals is that not all Trusts support using aromatherapy (despite it having such amazing benefits!). I would first find out if your trusts offer aromatherapy and if they have diffusers. I would suggest using your own oils even if the trusts don't provide them as you will have the ones you like. I would also take your own diffuser if you have one because more then often if they provide them they may not have one for every room!
I like to use a rechargeable one as it means that I can set a timer on it and there's no water or wires. The only downside is that you can only use one bottle with it but you can always swap it out during labour if you want a change of smell or pop some of the other oils you're using on some cotton pads nearby so you can have a quick smell of them. I would suggest giving the task of looking after the aromatherapy to your partner. If you have a doula supporting you for birth I can guarantee they will be on it with the aromatherapy!
Top tipon how to use a diffuser, make sure that you turn it off and not have it on continuously if you want to get the full benefits as after an hour you will find you won’t even notice and your body will have become used to it. I often set it for an hour then have it off for an hour and set it back on.
Aromatherapy in Nottingham
For those birthing at Nottingham both NUH and Queens do not provide aromatherapy for you to use nor do they have aromatherapy diffusers. You can take them in and use your own just remember to mention on your birth plan which ones you are using. Kingsmill does have aromatherapy and diffusers that you can use if you don't want to take your own!
Birthing Outside Nottingham
Check your local trust to see what they have to offer. If for any reason you are being told you are not allowed to plug a diffuser in (some hospitals can be a bit funny on things) make little pots of blends of oils and waft them around or buy a room spray and sprits it every hour to get the most of the aromatherapy as well as apply either as massage oil or using your roller ball on your wrists, temples and neck.
Final Thoughts
Aromatherapy can be a beautiful way of changing a birthing environment making it less medical and more calm, relaxed and supportive as well energising and helping with pain relief (depending which ones you use). It can be relatively inexpensive too.
If you would like on getting started and you would like to do an online power hour on aromatherapy and how to use them for your birth safely I offer power hours on helping you get prepared with using aromatherapy. Contact me here to find out more.