The story is a big one, we will have to discuss it in layers.  I’ll start here, as this was news to me.   Have you heard of HTST and UHT pasteurization types and their effects?   Today, is a share from one of my brave news watchdog sources, “The Health Ranger”.  Before you sign up with him, be forewarned, he is not afraid to be opinionated and emotional, and we may need to do some sorting sometimes.  He does provide links to follow up his claims, and some are better than others.

“Outside of raw milk, the best choice for consumers is low temperature pasteurized milk that is heated to a temperature of 145 degrees for 30 minutes. This pasteurization process kills any potentially harmful bacteria while leaving the majority of the micro life in the milk untouched. Unfortunately, this low temperature pasteurization is uncommon. If you are unable to find low temperature pasteurized milk the next best choice is hormone and antibiotic free HTST milk. This option is thankfully becoming more available, particularity in health food stores, due to public demand for healthier options. If you see organic milk with the letters UHT on it, or an expiration date months in the future, you’re much better off not purchasing it.  Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035860_organic_milk_pasteurization_UHT.html#ixzz1us45g5tl”

So from Ayurvedic point of view, UHT non organic milk is the most amagenic, creating many incomplete products of digestion and devoid of prana.  His 145 degrees for 30 minutes is different from Dr. Ramakant Mishra’s, which is to bring it to a boil – let it climb the pot 3 times – to break up protein molecules into smaller pieces.  Whereas just under boiling he says makes them stick together and be more phlegm producing, harder to digest.  I find I handle pasteurized milk better with this boiling 3X method.

Raw milk can be brought to just under 117 degrees, which would burn our finger (scorching hot!) I believe that is the temp at which the natural enzymes in milk get destroyed according to raw milk folks.  According to Ayurvedic wisdom the more important issue is what is going on with our own inner enzymes.  We are designed with many, 42 major categories of enzymes for not just functions in the alimentary canal, but each tissue and other body functions have their own type, categories identified centuries ago by ayurvedic physicians.  It is not about ingesting a plant’s enzymes, but about having healthy “agni” to be able to digest it on our own.  This is a very different discussion, and much more sustainable than the eating of raw foods.  That said, there are other factors in how the food is prepared, or processed which do influence digestion and absorption of nutrients, such as above!

Best,

Ysha

by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher 

I’ve been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his birthday.’

‘First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.’

She’s standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

‘Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

‘My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!’ (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe.  They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there in the first place.’

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.

I’m sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it’s Show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ‘Middle Wife’ comes along.

How to choose?  There is more to it than this oil is good for that, and there is the opportunity to use your creative intelligence, and what oils you do have.

Preface

Using aromatherapy for birth is an age old process and regaining popularity.  Top quality essential oils, which are truly 100% grown on the planet all offer to some degree the general supports below to both two and four legged animals, even though different species have some special caveats.  Over 90% of “essential oils” sold on the planet are not grown here though, so let’s talk about that soon too.  I.e. they may be petrochemical entirely, or laced with synthetic molecules to bring the profile up to sniff test or even gas chromatography profile that may be hard to distinguish from natural.  So, damaging molecules come not just from the pesticides which any fat or oil concentrates while growing.

Here are some of the exciting virtues of organic low temperature and low pressure distilled essential oils –

1. antibacterial; many are antiviral also
2. enhancing oxygenation and life force or “prana”
3. most cross the blood brain barrier with their effects by diffusion through inhalation, topical application or ingestion, and all quickly penetrate topically being very small molecules (compared to food oils which are much heavier)
4. antioxidant, free radical reducing effects
5. many are cortisol reducing (stress hormone)
6. help maintaining proper acid/alkaline balance
7. lifting toxins out of tissues for elimination

But I digress.  You can hear more about the really important Essential Oils Basics on a recorded 2 hour class.

Where to begin choosing birth oils

Some mothers like aromatherapy more than others for general labor support to relax or surrender into the process, and we let their nose know what to use.  Some prefer lavender, others more feminine florals like jasmine, rose, neroli or geranium.  Geranium has gifts for mother issues and all 4 are very skin friendly, neroli for anxiety, jasmine so feminizing and sattvic and also may help release the placenta, rose oh my and the price is an oh my too if it is the real stuff.

Some may want the aroma of the evergreens to bring nature’s life force into the room (and many other benefits), or one of the more hormonal oils like vetiver, clary sage for jump start or try a touch of chamomile for a respite when labor slows.   Sandalwood may help on any chakra level issue, or be not quite feminine or warm enough – see how she feels.   She may be dry, choose a thicker oil, or ungrounded – vetiver, clary sage, sandalwood or jatamamsi/spikenard may call. Well formulated blends offer more bioconstituents which means a broader spectrum effect.  I carry a blend with clary sage, peppermint et al for stalled labor on the rare times I get to attend births – I don’t have a midwife’s physical constitution, so don’t do that much.

Non-toxic antimicrobial support in hospital or home setting has extra benefit of smells and feels good.  Again blends are great here – or use what Mama’s nose chooses.  I use Ayurvedic principles to help choose too.  For example, in hot season we choose a less heating blend, or even lavender can be helpful here with it’s mild antimicrobial action.  In winter, or with kapha mama or someone with a bug in the family, and to protect my client from my own microclimate, I’ll often use a well researched blend which has clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus radiate and rosemary.  I use less expensive oils for diffusion, and the super potent/expensive ones on key physical or emotional points on the body directly.

For special needs during labor and delivery, aromatherapy is not nearly appreciated enough.  Used correctly is a key caveat to this discussion – essential oils are ideal for helping ease some of the problems occurring during labor.  If you are not sure about quality, dilute significantly.  If you know the inside story, and are not just trusting a bottle which says “100% pure therapeutic” etc (which could be synthetic plus hype according to the loose regulations on aromatherapy) you may dilute 1:1 or 1:2 with a carrier/massage/vegetable oil or use “neet” (straight).

But see what Mama feels about that concentration on her abdomen or near her nose before just putting it on, and know which oil may create some dryness, or be really intense.  We have booklets with nice color coded charts to make it easy.  If she is sweating with an undiluted oil on her, it is likely to sting.  Dilute with oil not moisture or cream to prevent this.

Most commonly –

1. Enhancing tissue oxygenation
2. Help relieve tension and promote relaxation – topical on muscle or inhalation
3. Relaxing oils can help relieve emotional fears and trauma
4. Help ease pain and strain – wonderful during and after labor
5. Aid in opening the breathing passages – be careful here, oils like Peppermint are too strong for Baby!  Many oils are respiratory specific – check your reference for their other qualities.  Ayurveda talks about the 20 qualities or gunas, and it is very common sense to apply this wisdom with things like, are they soothing, warming, denser and grounding or light, penetrating, cold or hot?
6. Communicating & Bonding with Unborn/Newborn
7. Refreshing oils like the citruses, evergreens eucalyptuses can enliven when dullness or some kind of congestion seems to slow or tire.
8. Antimicrobial and pain relieving oils are being used internally as well as topically by D. Gary Young for surgery!  That’s for another discussion though.  Some oils are safe for internal use, others not wise, and how they are used is key.
9. Spiritual and emotional protections – from both solar and lunar oils can be valuable in special cases too.

So I”m asked for my favorite 3 oils for birth.   Not an easy sort, unless mama and the oils collection is there together.

• Lavender gets the most votes for calming.  It has some benefits for pain also, called the “swiss army knife of essential oils”.
• A pain oil….if I’m choosing a single, I’ll choose an evergreen, fav is Balsam Fir, as it helps all the tissues – muscle, connective, bone, nerve, plus all the systems.  Evergreens are more solar, but labor is hard work and it may suit.
• If mama is fearful or anxious, we will go into a couple emotional supportive oils and the Valor blend by Young Living is first on that list.  It has spruce, blue chamomile, rosewood and frankincense in it.  Vetiver has multiple virtues and is inexpensive.  There are many wonderful oils with hormonal and emotional benefits, that’s another class I’ve spent easily 2 hours on.
• A hormonal oil, helpful if labor slows – clary sage if mama likes the aroma.

That’s …4… and I’m kind of biting my tongue, but a good start!

To be continued!