Childbearing Year

Susun interviews Elder Midwife Rev Barbara Grace

Elder Midwife Rev Barbara Grace

Susun interviews Rev Barbara Grace.
Creator and Keeper of the Elder Midwife History Gathering Project. From a very young age, Barbara Grace was a midwife. “Innately I knew that the power of touch and being a quiet witness could heal and calm. At births with all species, and in all situations.”
Graduating from seminary school at 19, Rev. Grace went on to speak all over North America about hands on healing and developing our own innate intuition. Then in the late ‘70’s she began her apprentice training with a traditional midwife, to become a midwife herself. Always a change-maker in the often oppositional worlds of our personal human rights and the laws of the legal system, she has consistently made a stand for choice, even when she became an ‘outlaw’ in the process!
Rev. Grace is mom to 3 grown sons and “Morai” (Irish for ‘grandmother’) to 6 grand-darlings. A life-long advocate of gentle birthing and human rights in childbirth, she has now created the Elder Midwife History Gathering project.
Please learn more about this important project at: http://www.facebook.com/eldermidwifehistorygathering



this episode Q&A includes:
• fertility, hormones and leaving well enough alone...
• cbds and extracting cannabidiol...
• oak bark sitz baths- astringent, anti infective, gets rid of all kinds of infection- very tannic and staining..
• bacterial vaginosis- yarrow and lots of information in 'Down There'..
• Hypericum and motherwort- are they habbit forming?

Fertility After Forty

Fertility After Forty

The most fertile years of a woman's life are those between 18 and 28. Even into the mid-thirties, it is usually fairly easy to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term. During these years the hormones that control ovulation, enhance conception, and ensure a healthy pregnancy are usually made easily and in generous quantities. And detrimental life-style choices have not had decades of repetition to create chronic problems. The previous section deals with disturbances to that pattern; and the section following deals with herbal ways to decrease or control the teeming fertility of the twenties and early thirties.

But more and more women are waiting until their late thirties, early forties, even late forties, to have children. Is this too late? Are these destined to have high-risk pregnancies? Will these children have more birth defects?

The answer to these questions -- and others like them -- is "no!" for wise women who enlist the help of green allies to increase fertility, insure conception, prevent birth defects, and promote a healthy pregnancy and an easy delivery.

Increasing Fertility; Insuring Conception

Increase your chances of conception by meditating. Cultivating a calm attitude, not surprisingly, enhances fertility. Even taking a quiet five minutes alone just for you, free of all responsibilities, can bring big results if done frequently enough.

Use lunaception to time your ovulation so you have the best odds of conceiving. It's fine to have sex in the weeks before ovulation, especially if the sex is focused on the woman and her orgasm, but do save your best efforts for those three nights when your "moon" is full and bright and ready to frolic.

Orgasm on the part of the male is necessary for fertilization. The woman's orgasm does increase the possibility of conception. Women who experience orgasm after their partner (up to 40 minutes after his ejaculation) have the very best chance of becoming pregnant.

Red clover is the single best remedy for women over forty who want to conceive but can't -- even if there are medical reasons for not conceiving such blocked tubes, diabetes, ovarian cysts, internal scaring, endometriosis. There are many heart-warming success stories I could share about red clover! But suffice to say, drinking 2-4 cups of the infusion of the dried blossoms (neither tincture nor tea nor pills will work for this application) seems to do wonders for fertility, no matter what your age.

Preventing Birth Defects

Boosting your nutritional status makes birth defects less of a worry. Women who drink 2-4 cups of stinging nettle infusion daily and eat cooked leafy greens as well as lettuce salads are getting the abundant folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals needed to create a healthy baby. (Tinctures, pills, and teas contain little or none of these important nutrients.)

Vitamin E is an especially critical nutrient for fertility after forty and freedom from birth defects. Freshly-ground wheat flour, cold-pressed oils, and nut butters are all good sources of vitamin E, as are stinging nettle infusion and most cooked seaweed, such as kelp. The man's vitamin E level has as much, if not more, bearing on freedom from birth defects as does the woman's vitamin E level.

Avoid heat, both of you. Hot tubs, even prolonged soaking in a hot bath, can cause temporary (up to several months) sterility in some men. In women, it can endanger the early embryo and trigger a miscarriage or birth defects.

Avoid drugs, both of you, including alcohol, tobacco, coffee, as well as over-the-counter drugs and prescription drugs (except those you absolutely need). Your liver needs to be strong and so do your kidneys, so you can conceive and gestate a child. Instead of alcohol, which damages the liver, drink herbal infusions or alcohol-free wine or beer. Instead of tobacco, which may contribute to birth defects and low birth weight, try smoking a little dried peppermint, or, better yet, go for a walk. Instead of coffee, which challenges the kidneys, you may wish to drink green tea or black tea, or try coffee substitutes, especially the one made with dandelion roots. Instead of drugs to ease everyday aches and pains, use the gentle herbal remedies in this book instead.

Read the rest here: http://childbearing-year.com/articles-Fertility_after_Forty.php