Aromatherapy Help Needed.

Hiya all,

My wife Erin is pregnant and due in July. I would like to help her relax during labor by using aromatherapy. My thought is that if I use the oil during relaxation sessions and massages before the birth, when the time comes, I should be able to put some on the burner in the labor ward and massage some into her back and she should relax, because her brain associates that smell with a relaxing time.

Erin does not like lavander of any sort, and the oil needs to be fairly discrete - although I’d imagine that’s more a factor of how much I put in the burner.

Anybody able to help? Suggestions?

If she hates Lavender… You might try Chamomile. It is very mild. Also, almost any mint is good. Geranium is good for uterine cramping so that would be a good one to rub on her. Sandalwood is also a good choice.

I should have previewed!!! :smack:

DON’T use Geranium on her until the time is very near. The others are safe for her and baby during the pregnancy.

Ylang ylang is also very relaxing and there are no contraindications for it during pregnancy. I would use it cautiously, in low dilutions (no more than 5 drops per oz. of carrier). Ylang ylang can be overpowering in high dilutions and cause headaches for some people.

Let her sniff a few of the suggestions and she’ll know what’s right for her. Good luck!

Disclaimer in advance: I am not a professionally qualified aromatherapist, although it’s been a hobby of mine for almost two years now.

I’ve personally never had any experience with the use of aromatherapy in pregnancy, but here are some tips from various reference books of mine.

Certain oils are not reccomended early in pregnancy. If she is due in July you’re out of the danger zone, but you probably should wait a month or so before using these anyway, just to be certain. The list I have is: Aniseed, Armoise, Arnica, Basil, Clary Sage, Cypress, Fennel, Hyssop, Jasmine, Juniper, Marjoram, Myrrh, Origanum, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Rose, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Wintergreen.

Actually I’m slightly puzzled about some of those - Wintergreen in particular shouldn’t be used under any circumstances for home use, and as far as I know has no professional uses either. Still, that’s what the list says.

I’ll second what Stinkum says about Ylang Ylang. It’s very nice and relaxing, but you do need to be careful not to use too much.

Sandalwood is also a nice smell, but I wouldn’t use it in massage or a vapouriser. The former, mostly because it’s too expensive, the latter because it just doesn’t work. Sandalwood is, not all that surprisingly, a wood oil. This means that it’s very thick and has a high boiling point - a fair bit higher than that of water I think. Speaking from personal experience when you put it in a vapouriser it does nothing.

You could however try putting it in a light base of some sort - a little bit of oil, or some sort of cream, and applying a little to her face (Just below the jaw bone is a good area). This will get the smell to her fairly effectively. I must admit, I tend to use a drop of sandalwood neat for that kind of thing, which isn’t an amazing idea but also not generally terrible. However, high concentrations are not a good idea in pregnancy, so I strongly suggest you don’t do that.

Another warning related to Misery’s suggestion (I don’t mean to pick on you here, really! :slight_smile: ). You should probably keep the dilution fairly low if you use Camomile oil. It is mild, but not that mild and it’s better to be safe. Also, make sure she likes the smell first. Some people love it, some people hate it. (I’m somewhere in between. I find the smell nice in low doses, but rather overpowering). Also, I can’t find a cite for this, but ISTR you should wait 'till later in the pregnancy before using it. (I wouldn’t take my word for it 'though, as I can’t seem to find a reference.)

Another good one is sweet orange and/or mandarin (I prefer sweet orange, but opinions vary on that). I find sweet orange is better suited to a vapouriser, but mandarin is actively reccomended for use in pregnancy - it’s completely safe, and good for relaxing and reducing nervous tension.

On a related note, it is apparently useful in reducing stretch marks. A reccomended combination is one drop each of lavender, neroli and mandarin in 10ml of almond and 2ml of wheatgerm oil, massaged over stomach and hips daily. I have no idea if this works or not, but I just noticed it in my reading so I thought I’d mention it.

Incidentally, it’s nice to know that there are others around here who are interested in Aromatherapy.

Hope some of that helped,
Kit

Aromatherapy stinks:

http://skepdic.com/aroma.html

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/aroma.html

Do something practical to help your wife instead of falling prey to modern-day snake-oil sellers.

Lamaze techniques have been proven to be helpful. Aromatherapy has not.

Spiff: I disagree. Certainly there is an immense amount of quackery based on aromatherapy, and I don’t believe in most of it’s alleged therapeutic uses. This is why I expressed skepticism as to the stretch marks remedy I mentioned (although I suspect the actual massage does help there, just that the essential oils aren’t much use in it).

That being said I think that smells do have significant psychological value. Perhaps it doesn’t matter whether they’re ‘real’ essential oils, but certainly there’s a fair bit of evidence that different smells do help with relaxation. Mostly anecdotal I expect, but ISTR some studies to that effect. If I have time later I’ll try (and probably fail) to dig up a cite.

If these “studies” are anecdotal (as you seem to recall), then they are not valid, and they are not evidence.

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Sorry, didn’t quite make that clear. This is what I meant to say:

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that smell helps in relaxation. However, I also seem to recall there are actual clinical studies showing that smells can help with relaxation. I don’t have a cite right at the moment, but I will look for one.

(Seeing as I do actually have more than a little training as a scientist, I’m quite aware that the plural of anecdote is not data.)

Spiff - Good thing we are in IMHO. I guess that means we all get to share our opinions, doesn’t it? I don’t believe that either kitarak or I have said, “This is totally scientifically proven and everyone should do it.” LeeJam is interested in scents that might be pleasing to his pregnant wife, and we are merely passing on our experience and OPINION. Your OPINION that this is not valid is fine, but not productive to this thread.

As for the original point of all of this. I don’t disagree with kitarak. I am just approaching from the point of Chinese Medicene which has some different approaches than Western Aromatherapy. I think the basic important thing is to find something that your wife likes. Between the two of us, we have named quite a few scents that you can experiment with. Weaker strength is always better in the cases, because you don’t know what she likes. Other than that, avoid certain scents like the list in kitarak’s post as they may induce labor or make her feel sick. So, go have fun and see if you can make your wife happy.

Rule no. 1 here is not to be a jerk.

I see your point, Misery, in that I may have come close (or even crossed) the line to jerkdom by my posts.

I will therefore not pursue this any further here, as this is neither the proper forum for this nor is it germane to the questions posed in the OP. I should not have tried to turn this thread into a Great Debate on the merits of aromatherapy. My apologies.

I will offer absolutely none of my personal opinions, but I had a “duh” moment - I read the thread earlier and forgot about this site until now :

It’s actually pretty good, has appropriate disclaimers and safety information. It recommends that pregnant women use aromatherapy only under the “guidance of a qualified aromatherapy practitioner” (I have no idea what those qualifications might be.)

Thank you Spiff. That was awesome, and I really appreciate it.

LeeJam, I don’t think it matters if the oil ‘works’ in the scientific sense: it’s going to make your wife feel loved and pampered and cared for. Go for it!
BTW, if you want something else nice to do, you could volunteer to shave her legs & give her a pedicure as you get close to D-Day, or similar things she’ll find awkward to do for herself. Some women start feeling like ‘whales’ towards the end, and a little prettyfying grooming can lift the spirits amazingly.