| Most of us get along from day to day with only the occasional headache or cold to worry about, but when you are pregnant, the whole ballgame shifts. You seem to have every ache and pain in the medical book and feel somewhat of a hypochondriac because if your morning sickness is under control, then perhaps your feet are swollen, or you have a massive headache from lack of sleep (owing to the numerous bathroom trips you make during the night) or your heartburn is acting up, or your back hurts, your chest is sore, etc …..and there’s no magic potions you can take to make any of this go away because of the risk to the baby. For some of these complaints however aromatherapy may be the answer to your prayers.
The first thing that you need to be aware of however is that some oils are not allowed to be used during pregnancy so make sure you use the ones that are deemed to be safe. The ones listed below are fine to use throughout pregnancy - although geranium and lemon are not to be used in massage techniques.
Top of the safe list is lavender. Almost every pregnant woman I have spoken too has used this to great effect for one reason or another during her pregnancy. For me it was my stress reliever. When my muscles were sore my husband would add a few drops to a massage oil and rub it into my back and they would instantly relax; when I was feeling like the world was getting on top of me I’d put just a few drops in the bath and soak in it until I felt better; and when I was having difficulty sleeping a couple of drops on my pillow would send me over in no time at all.
Next I recommend eucalyptus. Many women feel as if their noses are constantly stuffed up during their pregnancy and burning a little eucalyptus oil in an oil burner can help this situation immensely. This is also a great little oil to have if you have a cold during pregnancy because it helps with congestion problems. During one particularly bad cold my husband would mix a couple of drops of this with a couple of lavender and add them to a massage oil which he would rub on my upper back at night. This worked wonders!
The most surprising and refreshing use I found for aromatherapy was with my feet. By the 6th month I felt as if my feet changed into flippers by afternoon because they would be so badly swollen. It was a hot summer and I would put about 5 inches of luke-warm water into a dish together with 2 drops of lemon and 2 drops of geranium and I’d happily sit there for almost an hour! The swelling would go down, and miraculously stay down, for a good few hours afterwards. A lavender scented foot cream or lotion massaged into tired feet can also work a treat.
The scent of lemon has also been found to be useful to counteract the nausea of morning sickness - but that greatly depends on each individual woman as morning sickness is often triggered by smells, so although it is worth a try, proceed with caution - it could cure you, or make things worse for an hour or two! Try a couple of drops on a piece of cotton wool, then if you feel confident it wont make you worse, put some into your oil burner and see if you feel less nauseous.
For those who are feeling completely worn down during the day, a shower with a gel scented with mandarin could be just what you need to pick you up again. Other people recommend a room scented with bergamot as a great way to lift sagging energy levels.
I used a great little book called “Aromatherapy and Massage for Mother and Baby”, by Allison England, during my pregnancy and found it to be very useful. It lists which oils are safe to use during the pregnancy and which ones should be avoided, explains about the different ways to use them, and has a great section on the various common problems associated with pregnancy and ways of using aromatherapy to help with the discomforts these cause. There is a chapter on massage and another one about using aromatherapy during labour and birth - I can’t say whether this works or not because although planning to use it, I ended up with an emergency c-section! The baby is not forgotten in the book. There is a chapter that deals with common complaints in babies they can be helped through the use of essential oils and it gives details on how to massage your baby. If you’re interested in trying aromatherapy throughout your pregnancy I would certainly recommend you to read this book.
Be careful to use only those oils that are safe during the various stages of pregnancy. At the beginning there are more restrictions than after 5 months. If you aren’t sure, check the bottle, ask when you buy the oil, or read up about it before going out and spending the money - and on that note, you don’t need to buy the most expensive oils in the store. A non-brand bottle of lavender bath oil or bubble bath will probably work just as well as two or three drops of pure essential oils.
I hope that these scented suggestions help relieve some of the pregnancy discomforts you may be experiencing.
Katie-Anne, 2005
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