Q: Greetings, Susun! My partner has been a great enthusiast of yours for quite some time now. i am quite new to alternative medicines, but after just a year, she has convinced me as well!
We are working with an herbalist as we attempt to conceive our first child this year. My partner is 36, and it will be her first try to become pregnant. Needless to say, we are quite excited, yet we have some lingering questions that the herbalist hasn’t really answered well for us. i’m hoping you could help a little bit.
My partner is currently taking 2 herbal teas and 1 capsule (2x/day). The tea and capsules from the herbalist contain the following: Ginger, squawvine, false unicorn root, sassafras, dandelion. The other tea we are using is red clover tops and red raspberry leaves. Is it fine to be taking both teas daily?
We also have read your book, and have a couple of questions about when to stop taking herbs, in other words before pregnancy to promote fertility vs during pregnancy: lemon balm, ginger, lavender, rose, slippery elm, oat straw, and mint.
We are trying the “not-so-old-fashioned way” of conception: home insemination with a known donor. So, in the couple of weeks every month where we don’t know whether or not conception has occurred, should we assume yes or no for purposes of herbs?
I know these are a lot of questions, and anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. Likewise, any thing we can do to show our gratitude, please let us know!
Thanks
A: Hello, thank you for writing. I understand your questions. I am a student of Susun's and help with her correspondence. If you or your partner wish to talk with Susun you may call her during her free Tuesday night phone consultations which run this year from March 30 to the end of October. During that time you can reach her by calling 845-246-8081, Tuesday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm Eastern time. In lieu of, or in addition to, the phone consultation, Susun Weed's Wise Woman Forum is a wonderful resource, with the experience and wisdom of many people from around the world to draw from -
From my years of study with Susun, I have come to feel most drawn to simplicity with herbs. This means to me choosing only a few herbs to work with at a time, sometimes only one.
As well, I have come to prefer infusion as a way to get what I usually want from nourishing herbs, over teas. Teas I save for essential oil rich herbs. The difference between the two is that while a tea is a pinch of fresh or dried herb steeped in water for a short time, an infusion is more herb, always, dried, steeped for a longer time. I use one ounce of herb in a quart jar, boiling water poured over, the jar capped, and the whole thing allowed to sit for at least 4 hours, sometimes overnight. Of the herbs you mentioned, I do this with Oat straw, Red Clover blossoms, and Red Raspberry leaves. I know the first to be an overall wonderful nourishing food/herb, the second primarily to nourish our fertility, and the third to nourish our reproductive organs, especially uterus.
I hear your concern about what should be taken before and what during pregnancy. Of the three I just mentioned I see no harm in crossover. I would focus more on the Red Clover blossom now, then shift over to more focus on Red Raspberry leaf when you are sure of conception. Of the other herbs you mention - lavender, mint, lemon balm, and ginger - I would save them for the occasional tea, and again use them as simples, one at a time. This is just my preference. Slippery elm inner bark is a wonderful healing herb that I save for very occasional use, only as needed to soothe stomachs or throats, mainly because of the tree endangered status, and some of the poor harvesting that has contributed to this. Dandelion is an incredible nourishing herb and food that I consume and recommend in various forms - greens as food, root and leaves in vinegar or tincture, blossoms as homemade wine. I would probably never take dried though, since it is so abundant and what is lost may be too much in the drying process (whereas with some herbs the drying enhances our ability to reach nutrients, in others exactly what we are wanting is lost in the drying).
I think what often happens in this international culture is that one looks for all the herbs reputed to enhance fertility for example, all around the world. Then those herbs are put together - sometimes disregarding the part traditionally used, or how it is traditionally prepared - usually in a tea bag or capsule. I prefer simples partly because we can take the time to know a plant, and befriend it as we ask it to help us.
Well, maybe a long answer to a short question :) If I can halp in any other way, please do let me know. And please, either of you, do call Susun one Tuesday night if you want. We all wish you the both the best!
Blessings,
Karen Joy
Q: Dear Karen,
Blessings and thank you for writing!
We will definitely try to call Susun! Unfortunately, this Tuesday, we will be out of state!
Yes, we are going to focus on the red clover flower and raspberry leaf infusion for fertility. With the last insemination, I worry that I had all the wrong things just after!
I bought Susun’s book Childbearing Year and I’d been having some of the things listed as emmenagogues, like ginger (I love crystallized ginger, ginger tea and Jamaican ginger beer and the stronger, the better) and vitamin C (I love to eat lemons and limes and limeade and such. I can eat several lemons in a row!)
Then on the before and during “don’t” list: I like chocolate every now and then (dark) and we love to cook with basil, rosemary, pardley, sage, thyme. In fact, I used to eat basil in my eggs :every: morning.
Do you think it’s possible that I caused myself to not get pregnant or to miscarry very early in eating these things?
We’ve been trying to be so careful, but it seems that :something: in nearly every meal is on a don’t eat” list somewhere!
The herbalist we consulted with made a tea and pills of ginger, swawvine, false unicorn root, sassafras and dandelion. The book says to avoid False unicorn root as well as ginger so TWO ingredients I’ve been downing in large quantities are on Susun’s NO lists...
I’m just a bit freaked right now because I’d felt the first insemination worked and yet got back a negative pregnancy test then got my period early and heavy... Being 36 and really wanting a baby :now: has me overly attached to the process and last month brought such sadness. If I know what :I’m: doing is ok, I think I will feel better about early auto-abortion since that just means the fetus isn’t strong enough to make it to term anyway.
I’m thinking that we’ll do the tea/capsules up until insemination and then stop, but continue all month except menstruation days with the clover/raspberry. Does this sound “safer” to you? BTW, do you agree with one day off all herbal/vitamin supplements per week and not taking any during menstruation?
Any thoughts appreciated. Blessed be.
A: Hello, I hear your strong desire to have a child, and to be sure you are treating yourself optimally to help this happen.
You ask my opinion of your choice of herbs and when. I trust your wisdom; I trust your desire to have a healthy child will lead you to what is most deeply nourishing for you and your child. Each herbalist is different and I imagine you feel good with the herbalist who mixes the herbs and makes them into teas and capsules. How you feel with this person I believe is as important as how you feel with her/his suggestions.
Personally I like having a personal relationship with the plants I ingest and share with others. Part of how I do this is by ingesting usually one at a time, so we can experience the plant simply and know better how it affects us, and if the effect is something we want.
I DO understand your concern about the herbs on "the lists" since I read them fretting that even a little pesto on toast could cause me to lose my child! Now that I have seen the other side - those who read the same lists and try the herbs to bring on a seemingly delayed bleeding or even try to end a pregnancy - I can relax and understand it so much better. As these women make their attempts, they must ingest huge doses of the herbs mentioned, and since in the case of abortion, they are ending life beginning, they walk the line of doing harm to themselves (beyond the one desired). If sucking a few lemons a day could end a healthy pregnancy there would be many happy women who would have an easy failsafe in case. I have seen so many of these women try much harsher herbs, make themselves horribly sick, and still not be able to abort or complete a miscarriage. So I can completely relate to your concern, and now I have heard enough to believe that as long as you are simply eating some herbs to flavor food and such, and are in tune with your body to know if something is causing harm, I believe you will be alright. These lists are to help you be aware, and to help those wanting to bring on thier bleeding, but not to scare you from ordinary cuisine.
When I was pregnant I started having cramping that would keep me up at night. Before I knew I was pregnant, I had a horrible flu (perhaps just hormones :)) and dosed myself with powdered vitamin C (was just starting my herbal studies then) and got Susun's Herbal. I read about the vitamin C and interpreted it as in this form, but wasn't concerned about citrus. Anyway I was able to know something was wrong and i believe the vitamin c crystals may have played a role, but I knew to pay attention and took it easy, and soon after continued my healthy pregnancy and birth!
I like to start simple, with things without risk of harm, like encouraging nourishing foods, people, activities, movement, words (I read Conscious Conception by Jeannine Parvati Baker). With these, there is little question or controversy (though always some of the latter!). I then like to add nourishing herbs, those without question from the various sources you have researched. Then if I feel drawn to add more stimulating, sedating or just tonifying herbs, or any with conflicting opinion, I would add one at a time, in a form I can relate to, and see how I react to it.
Have you read these two articles by Susun Weed?:
Fertility After Forty (still applicable to you)
Oh and you asked about my thoughts on skipping herbs one day a week or during bleeding. Of the nourishing or tonifying herbs I have enjoyed, I have not felt need for either of these. I do change my diet usually during bleeding as feels natural, but have not felt drawn yet to do this with herbs, though if I did feel like I wanted to I would :)
Blessings,
Karen Joy
Zinc has been found to enhance sperm quality in a 2007 research done on above one thousand males from China by investigators from the Shanghai Inst. of Planned Parenthood Research. Study finding indicated that males who had adequate zinc in their systems were more likely to have normally occurring sperm levels and sperms appearing and moving in a normal manner. Suggested daily zinc dosage is eleven mg whereas females require eight mg. L-arginine, L-carnitine are amino acids that could enhance motility, general circulation, form, motion and their numbers.
Posted by: Trying to get pregnant | September 23, 2010 at 04:23 AM
Hello Ophelia,
I would definitely use the red clover. Usually it can be found in health food stores that carry loose bulk herbs. Also available online at numerous places. Two online suppliers we recommend are Mountain Rose Herbs and Red Moon Herbs.
Wise Woman Team
Posted by: Kim | August 23, 2010 at 10:34 AM