black/blue cohosh

[doulalove]

what are you experiences with these herbs?

i have a client due jan. 15 & she just informed me that her doc wants to induce a week early....surprise, surprise. she's not opposed to it (as long as it's not pitocin) so now i'm working on educating her about natural induction methods. i've never used the cohoshes & have read some pretty frightening stuff. of course, i've read positive info, as well, but i need to address the negatives before i can move on to being comfortable recommending & using these herbs.

thanks!

[DouLaura]

I would send her to a good herbalist or naturpath and steer away from recommending them yourself.

[jesscardona]

Again.. why does the her dr. want to induce her a week early?? (she wouldn't need to go through all this..)

[doula Michele]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouLaura I would send her to a good herbalist or naturpath and steer away from recommending them yourself.

Agree with that. Would not recommend them myself at all.

[b'earth angel]

I would simply find a great book or website on herbal therapy during pregnancy and recommend that she read it herself. Since most of us (if not all) are not MHs and can't recommend herbs to our clients, this is your best bet. I would inlcude suggested reading on the methods, pros and cons of induction also.
I used black cohosh herb during both of my pg as part of a last 5 weeks combo formula. It tones the uterine muscles and prepares for the labor and birthing process. It is not recommended for use at any other time to my knowledge.
You need to be educated as an individual about herbs before you start tossing down some pills. They do not work like allopathic meds do, take a pill headache goes away, KWIM? A person needs to fully understand the results of taking an herb and how it is going to work within their body. I suggest that anyone who is serious about taking herbs take one or two starter courses about the basics in herbals. These can be had for little $ and are correspondance, go at your own pace.
Best thing that I ever did! Has helped me tremendously over the years.

[1stimestar]

It is outside a doulas scope of practice to recomend herbs unless you are recommending them as a trained herbalist. Then you are using your herbalists' hat and not your doula hat. I would steer clear of recomending these anyways as they wont work if her body is not pretty close and you can pretty much bet that she isn't that close at a week before her due date, but CAN cause serious problems. I would have her read The Induction Seduction by Penny Simkin and point out that inducing a week before her due date is liable to give her a preterm baby.

[doulalove]

that about sums it up for me....i guess i won't be recommending these!

fyi, her doc is recommending induction because Baby is "too big" which is the same thing that happened with her previous babe. she is aware that she can refuse induction but said it feels right because of the timing issue. we briefly discussed induction at our first prenatal meeting but i'm going to go into it further during our next prenatal in a few weeks. i want to be as prepared as possible with alternatives for her.

[b'earth angel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stimestar It is outside a doulas scope of practice to recomend herbs unless you are recommending them as a trained herbalist. Then you are using your herbalists' hat and not your doula hat.....I would have her read The Induction Seduction by Penny Simkin and point out that inducing a week before her due date is liable to give her a preterm baby.

I would agree w/this that it is outside of a doula's scope of practice to recommend specific herbal remedy or treatment. But there is nothing wrong with providing a client with resources and educational materials surrounding herbs, as most of you would agree.
The client needs to be informed and educate herself instead of just taking someone else's word for it. If one of my clients shows an interest in alternative ways of inducing (or other things), then my goal should be to provide her with as much information as I possibly can to help her get educated. Then she can make her own choices and not feel influenced by me, the doula, in any way. And in the process, I get educated also. It's a great win/win situation.
Directing her to books and websites are great and easy ways to do so.
The Simkin book is a great idea.

[doulalove]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stimestar I would have her read The Induction Seduction by Penny Simkin

i can't find this book anywhere!? is it very old? i've looked on amazon & googled the title & looked at all penny simkin's books....do you have any idea where i can find a copy? thanks!

[doulalove]

i found it! it's a presentation she gave called The Seduction of Induction....i thought it was a book.....

[1stimestar]

Oops sorry I just saw this. Glad you found it.

[happy heartsong]

Patience is one of the lessons of pregnancy and mothering! Hopefully she will consider your counsel on this!
Have her work with visualization that the baby is coming at exactly the right time and that it is the perfect size. Her body knows how to birth a baby. Repeat Repeat Repeat in as many ways as you can. AND Believe it yourself down to your every cell. Sometimes we have to hold that matrix/vibe for them. They can choose to entrain or not and we let it go.
A good course is the Advanced Doula training on herbal medicine at Birth Arts. www.birtharts.com

[mari]

Stephanie

My personal experience with cohosh was being a week over due and my midwife gave it to me to help induce labor. (Can't remember if it was black or blue). She also told me to make love and walk. I did it all. What I finally did was I went to my dear friend who had a 6week old baby and she let me nurse her. An interesting experience. I started labor that night. So if it was the cohosh, love making, walking or the nursing who is to say. As a doula I certainly would not advise anyone about herbs without a professional helping me.

Mari

[DouLaura]

Here is an interesting thread from Ronnie Falcao/gentlebirth.org

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/blueCohosh.html