Pregnancy Tip: Herbs Commonly Used In Pregnancy,
Labor And Postpartum
Yvonne Lapp Cryns
Shepherd's Purse
Shepherd's Purse is an annual, weed, that grows to about 20
inches in height and is easily recognized by the heart-shaped
pods that form near the top. It grows in sunny areas throughout
the United States.
The entire plant is used medicinally mainly as a
anti-hemmorrhagic by coagulating the blood and constricting the
veins. Historically, the juice of the plant was put on a ball of
cotton and used to plug the nose and stop a bad nosebleed. It
was also used to increase urine and menstrual flow and increase
vitamin C in the diet. For maternity use, it is most often used
in a tincture from fresh plants which not only stops bleeding
but also causes uterine contractions. If an infusion is wanted,
one need only steep the chopped plant material for about an hour
as it give up the medicinal properties readily in water.
USES
To provide calcium: eat the leaves.
To control bleeding following a miscarriage: give 10-20 drops
of the tincture sublingually as needed.
To build up clotting factors in the body prenatally: give 15-20
drops once or twice a day. To control bleeding after birth and
delivery in the placenta:
give 20-40 drops sublingually. It can work in five seconds. or
give a
combination tincture.
give 20 drops each of Blue Cohosh and Shepherd's Purse in
tea. To aid in
returning the uterus to pre-birth size if uterus is still large
at 4-6 weeks postpartum:
give Shepherd's Purse and Blue Cohosh tea along with
recommendation for
rest, lots of breastfeeding and better nutrition.
To provide prophylactic treatment of vitamin K to a
newborn: give 3 drops of tincture or extract to the newborn by
mouth.
CAUTIONS
If planning to make your own tincture, pick the plant
immediately before tincturing as it loses its medicinal
properties quickly once it dries
Care should be taken if used for postpartum hemmorrhage as
Shepherd's Purse can cause large clots fto form which can
prevent the uterus from clamping down and contracting leading
to continued bleeding.
About The Author: Yvonne Lapp Cryns is the owner of Midwives
.net - http://www.midwives.net
Yvonne is the co-founder of
Nursing Programs Online at http://www.nursingprogramsonline.com
and a contributor to The Compleat Mother Magazine at
http://www.compleatmother.com . Yvonne is also a law school
graduate, a registered nurse and a Certified Professional
Midwife.
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