Essential Oils for Labour & Birth

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Disclaimer: I used essential oils to help support my body during pregnancy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. I’m sharing my personal experience with the oils. As always, please consult with your healthcare team when incorporating new products into your healthcare routine.

I’m getting asked all the time which essential oils I used during my pregnancy so I thought I’d do a round-up of oils that I used throughout the trimesters and during labour & birth. You can read about the essential oils I used during my first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester.

Here are some of the blends I pre-made to prepare for labour and after the birth of my twins. For each of these blends, I cleaned an empty 15 mL bottle, 5 mL bottle or 10 mL roller bottle by soaking them in water & lemon essential oil to remove the labels. You can also purchase these brand new on Amazon.

Final Countdown

I put this blend together to encourage my body to prepare for labour. And while I wasn’t able to encourage my body to go into early labour when I was induced my contractions were quite easy to manage on the first day by using this oil blend.

Recipe:

Add essential oil drops to a 15 ml empty bottle (you can use one that you finish or grab a new one).

10 drops of Clary Sage
10 drops of Ginger
10 drops of Lavender
10 drops of Lemon
10 drops of AromaTouch
Top with fractionated coconut oil

Back Labour Support

I whipped this up at our Nanaimo Doula’s suggestion for back labour pain. On the first day of induction I experienced one contraction that was a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale with incredible back pain. I had Mike rub it on my back to help ease the pain.

Recipe:

Add essential oil drops to a 5 ml empty bottle (you can use one that you finish or grab a new one).

10 drops of Black Pepper
10 drops of Peppermint
Top with fractionated coconut oil

Perineal Spray

I made a batch of this up in case we were able to have a successful vaginal delivery. After delivering the babes both vaginally and undergoing a forcep delivery and an episiotomy I was so glad that I made this and brought this with me to the hospital. I used it up in one week and have already made 2 more batches.

Recipe:

Add essential oil drops to a 15 ml empty bottle (you can use one that you finish or grab a new one).

20 drops Geranium
20 drops Frankincense
20 drops Sandalwood
20 drops Lavender
20 drops Roman Chamomile
Top with fractionated coconut oil

I would’ve added Roman Chamomile too but I was out of that oil at the time of making the first bottle. I’ve included the oil in the recipe above in case you have it.

I also picked up spray bottle toppers on Amazon so I could easily spray it on my perineum.

Milk Supply

I worried about having enough milk come in to feed the twins. I’m glad I made this up because due to all my birth complications my body has struggled and is struggling to bring in a full milk supply. I’m using this daily and sometimes several times of day (when I remember) and rubbing this on my breasts after breast feeding.

Recipe:

Add essential oil drops to a 10 ml empty roller bottle (you can use one that you finish or grab a new one).

20 drops Clary Sage
20 drops Basil,
20 drops Fennel
20 drops Geranium
Top with fractionated coconut oil.

What Other Oils Did I Bring In My Hospital Bag?

I also brought my Frankincense & Neroli roller bottles and Copaiba. They actually have a Copaiba touch format now so I would’ve grabbed that to easily roll on.

I rolled Frankincense and Neroli on my wrists and palms to inhale as I was wheeled into the OR to birth the babes. I used Frankincense on Alora’s scalp to help heal the small mark from the scalp electrode heart rate monitor and I used Copaiba post-birth to help manage pain.

I’ve put all the oils mentioned in this post into a shopping cart for you. You can grab them all or only grab the ones that you’re interested in making DIY recipes for.

Shoot me an email if you have any questions. robynpineault @ gmail . com

If you end up using any of these DIY recipes, do let me know!

Essential Oils for the Third Trimester

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Disclaimer: I personally use essential oils to help support my body during pregnancy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. I’m sharing my personal experience with the oils. As always, please consult with your health care team when incorporating new products into your health care routine.

I’m getting asked all the time which essential oils I’m using in my pregnancy so I thought I’d do a round-up of oils that I’m using throughout the trimesters. You can read about the oils I used during my first trimester here and second trimester here. Here are the oils I used during my third trimester.

Essential Oils for Third Trimester

The third trimester in a twin pregnancy was by far the hardest trimester. I don’t think I was truly prepared for how uncomfortable I’d be.

Heartburn: Last semester I talked about purchasing Ginger Gravol (US Amazon Link) or (Canadian Amazon Link) at my midwife’s recommendation. However, even that wasn’t working some nights. So I went back to essential oils and applied Digestzen/Zengest & Ginger in fractionated coconut oil to my esophagus and that brought immense relief.

Stretchmarks: I managed to make it until week 36 until the stretch marks appeared, so in addition to using the Body Butter & Yarrow | Pom I have been applying Immortelle and Helichrysum to my belly at night before bed.

Natural Labour Induction: I made my own blend of essential oils and have been applying them to my ankles under the ankle bone from week 37 until our induction date. The blend included Clary Sage, Lemon, Lavender, Ginger, AromaTouch.

Anxiety: With the impending birth, I was anxious at times and dealing with personal and work stress. So I would reach for my Adaptiv roller constantly and apply to my pulse points, the palms of my hands and then take a moment for a deep inhale and exhale to ground myself.

What essential oils did you find helpful in your third trimester?

DIY Padsicles with dōTERRA Essential Oils

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As I get ready for the twins’ arrival, I wanted to make sure I’m prepping a few items for the fourth trimester or the postpartum party that I’m going to be hosting for myself. If I’m able to have a vaginal birth with the twins I want to ensure I have a few tools on hand to soothe “down there”. So I purchased a few items through Amazon and made some DIY Padsicles with dōTERRA Essential Oils.

What you’ll need:

Chlorine-Free Pads
Aloe Vera Gel
Witch Hazel (No Alcohol)
dōTERRA Essential Oils (I used Lavender, Geranium, Frankincense & Helichrysum)

Add Your Heading Text Here

Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free Pads: I wanted to choose a brand that was made without fragrances, deodorants, or chlorine processing. I’ve read that you could be wearing around 4 pads a day so I decided to make enough for at least one-week post-birth. If we’re able to have a vaginal birth I’ll pick up these Regular Pads and make more after a week since I did only buy the Ultra-Thin ones first. If we end up having a C-section I’ll donate these to my doula to see if another mama to be can use them.

Witch Hazel: This product has amazing anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. It’s important to find a brand that’s alcohol-free.

Aloe Vera Gel: This product has a calming effect. I chose this brand because it’s cold-pressed from certified organic aloe vera plants. It contains no harmful ingredients, no added colour, no fragrance or alcohol, and no parabens.

dōTERRA Essential Oils: Using the Essential Life app I looked up postbirth healing and they recommended 5 different essential oils. After looking into the properties I chose Lavender, Geranium, Frankincense, and Helichrysum for their skin-soothing properties.

How To Make DIY Padsicles

Step 1: Open up each pad, while keeping them in the wrappers so you can easily wrap them back up.

Step 2: I had an empty 10 ml roller bottle so I filled it with Witch Hazel and added 10 drops of each essential oil to the bottle. I then rolled the mixture onto each pad. You could fill a 15 ml bottle and just add drops to the pad!

Step 3: I used 1 tsp of Aloe Vera Gel per pad. And used a tiny rubber scraper to spread the gel over the pad.

Step 4: From there I wrapped each pad back up and placed 7 in each zip lock bag and popped the bags into the freezer.

The plan will be to take one out at a time, let it sit on the counter for a bit to de-thaw before putting it in my underwear to soothe the nether regions.

Postpartum Update: These were lifesavers to help heal after a vaginal birth and an episiotomy!

DIY Laundry Detergent

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There are days when I feel crafty and other days I just need super easy solutions. I was feeling a little crafty so I tackled a DIY project for my mom & me to make our own DIY laundry detergent.

Mike and I are currently renovating our house so we are staying with my parents. We are so lucky and blessed because we get to eat dinner with our family every night. My mom is baking Mike muffins every time he finishes a batch and they are spoiling our dogs. They may or may not be getting treats to lure them inside if they are causing a ruckus!

If you’re here you may be looking for more “green cleaning” products to incorporate into your life. Or you are intentional with your spending. Here are 2 recipes you can try if you want to make your own DIY laundry detergent.

DIY Laundry Detergent Recipe

1 Cup of Washing Soda
1/2 Cup of Borax
2 Caps of dōTERRA OnGuard Cleaner Concentrate
10-15 Drops of dōTERRA Lemon and/or Wild Orange Essential Oil
Water

Instructions:

Mix the borax & washing soda in a mixing bowl.
Add 2 cups of hot water and whisk the borax and washing soda together.
Add 2 caps of cleaner concentrate and whisk in.
Divide the mixture evenly among 2 empty laundry detergent containers.
Add 10 – 15 drops of each essential oil to each container.
Shake well before using.

What You'll Need To Purchase

If you just don’t have the time to be crafty you could purchase the pre-made dōTERRA OnGuard Laundry Detergent or the newer Abode Laundry Pods.

The Detergent & the Pods usually lasts us about a month using it for 2-3 loads a weekend.

One of the reasons why I became interested in making my own laundry detergent is because I’ve always had issues with mainstream store-bought products. And while there are great options out there with less toxic ingredients they are quite pricey!

Switching over to cleaner products made the world of a difference in my health. Gone are the days of itchy skin from the standard detergents on the market. And now I’m able to save money by making my own!

dōTERRA Pre-Made Laundry Products

Essential Oils for the Second Trimester

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I’m getting asked all the time which essential oils I’m using in my pregnancy so I thought I’d do a round-up of oils that I’m using throughout the trimesters. You can read about the oils I used during my first trimester here. And now as I roll into third trimester here are all the oils I used in my second trimester.

Essential Oils for Second Trimester

Many pregnancy blogs, apps, and videos say that the second trimester is where you gain some new energy and feel much better if you were experiencing sickness in the first trimester. I definitely gained a bit more energy but in my experience, my second trimester with twins was still fairly challenging.

Heartburn: So I went from nausea to burping. My solutions here actually didn’t involve essential oils but I thought I would include. After getting by with DigestZen/Zengest essential oil, ginger chews and ginger cookies in the first trimester I needed something stronger in my second. We ended up purchasing Ginger Gravol (US Amazon Link) or (Canadian Amazon Link) at my midwife’s recommendation and I would also peel and cut up fresh ginger and add chunks to my water. I also found that I couldn’t eat too late in the evening and I would need to remain upright for at least 30 mins after eating to avoid getting heartburn.

Growing Belly & Boobs: I knew I was going to have a big belly by the third trimester (since I’m carrying twins) but I wasn’t expecting to look full term by week 24! I’ve been using the dōTERRA body butter and Yarrow|Pom everyday on the growing belly and boobs!

Nasal Problems: My sinus problems have persisted since the first trimester. I didn’t cover this in my first-trimester post but it’s been sticking around. It’s especially bad at night. When I lie down on one side one nostril fills and then drains to the other side when I roll over. I’ve been diffusing Breathe/Easy Air at night and literally shoving CorrectX up my nose to soothe the dry skin or help heal when my nose starts to bleed.

Gum Bleeding: One of the lovely body changes is that your blood volume increases during pregnancy, which unfortunately can contribute to bleeding gums. I’m brushing my teeth twice a day with OnGuard toothpaste, scraping my tongue in the morning, and also using the OnGuard mouthwash after flossing to soothe the gums.

Aches & Pains: I’ve had this weird ache across the top portion of my belly, it’s like a strip of pain and at times it even goes numb. I thought it was associated with my bras being too tight or even just the pain of the bra sitting on that area. It definitely feels better after taking my bra off for the day. One thing that has been amazing about working from home in the past 2 months has been the joys of a no bra lifestyle! I purchased 2 nursing bras for after the babes arrive and they are much more comfortable than my underwires. The other habit that’s been helping immensely is using Rose Touch and Copaiba topically on the band and massaging it into the skin!

What essential oils did you find helpful in your second trimester?