Q: Susun: I have a 9 month old baby and had not a period until last month (January). It was very spotty. I' ve heard there is no normal first period after birth and several women in town said they had the same spotty peroid for their first after giving birth. I've had several cravings as I did when I was pregnant the first time so my husband and I are a little concerned that we may be pregnant again and we don't want to be. I was given one of your books, Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, but the pages about herbal birth control were ripped out, so I ordered your books Wise Woman Herbal Series, and then saw the excerpts online. Your book may go into this, but until they arrive my husband and I had a few questions. In the case that I am pregnant and I do any of the suggested herbal remedies, if they don't work will there be any harm done to the fetus? Also, I am still breastfeeding and I wanted to know, is there a method I shouldn't do while I am breastfeeding? I know you are a busy woman, but I would appreciate a response. Thank you, A.
A: Hello A., thank you for writing. Susun does not have internet in her home so is not able to correspond through email. I am glad you have one, and maybe soon, all of her books. I am also glad you found the ripped out section on our websites. I assume this is the section you are talking about: Wise Woman Birth Control?
If I understand you correctly you are concerned you may be pregnant and do not wish to be. So you would like to try the herbs mentioned in the article/book to end a pregnancy? Is this right? You are nursing now too? And you have not and do not intend to take a pregnancy test to determine first if you are pregnant? Is all this true?
About potential harm to the fetus, anything you do to attempt to abort will harm it, possibly in small enough ways to be able to heal simply, but possibly in more serious ways. In any case the energy and intention will likely have some effect. I know someone who was concerned about being pregnant so took rutin from ovulation to menstruation date. When menstruation did not come she did large doses of vitamin C hoping to induce the menstruation. This did not work and she eventually went for a checkup and found the fetus was weeks larger than was possible. This signaled possible molar pregnancy. She aborted, and I think likely the intention and supplements are what did the abnormal damage and wonder what would have happened then if she had not gone through with the medical abortion.
It is always your choice of course, but I believe if one wants to abort, it is best to be willing to follow through with a medical abortion if the herbal abortion does not work. If the latter does not work there is possible damage to the baby, that may not even be detected until later.
For the future, if you don't already practice some kind of pregnancy protection, perhaps you would be interested to explore Fertility Awareness using temperature, charting, cervical fluid and cervical position to help you determine if you are ovulating and when.
Regarding these herbs and nursing, my first thought would be concern that if you are taking them at a dose to affect a child growing inside you have the potential to affect the child you are nursing. I do not know for sure however and this would be specific to what herb you choose.
I realize you sent this 4 days ago, and wonder if you have already made some decisions, and if there is anything further I can help with. We are happy to help in any way we can. I would also like to invite you to our online forum where people from around the world come to share life experiences and questions. You are welcome to read and/or post at our "Wise Woman Birth Control" section (or any other of course :)) to help you sort through your choices and wants.
Blessings,
Karen Joy
wisewoman@herbshealing.com
www.wisewomanweb.com
Q. I am also concerned about unwanted pregnancy during breastfeeding. I want to find out if medical abortion can cause the milk supply to stop?
Also, I have never taken the pill and I really don't want to. What I would love to master is the natural fertility method. I have another question about this: You have the signs of being infertile one day, but sperm can live for up to seven days in the vagina, which means you have to be sure that youre not going to be fertile again for another seven days in advance? And even if you could be sure about that, that would leave a very short infertility time per month...would greatly appreciate some advice! P
Posted by: Phoebe | March 24, 2009 at 06:01 AM
I really recommend the books on the topic as they answer all these questions in depth. There is some variety as each of our cycles our unique, but basically after day 5 I think it is, from the start of bleeding it is best not to risk things until 3 days after your peak ovulation. These you know from watching your cervical changes, fluid, and temp and charting it all.
I still refer to the books for these specifics :) so they are the best places to research the details, better than relying on my memory!
love,
Karen Joy
Posted by: KarenJoy | March 25, 2009 at 09:02 AM
Abortion - the most common method of birth control in Russia. This procedure (abortion) is important in the ambulatory practice doctor - a gynecologist. Subject to all conditions, technically competent performance of an abortion rate of all complications of abortion ranges from 10 - 30%. Of these, the most frequent - bleeding associated with delayed fetal remnants of eggs (70%), endometritis (12%), adnexitises (3.2%). Complications in abortion cases are usually detected in the first 10 days after the abortion.
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