Best Essential Oils for Labor

While many people have no problem with being medicated during labor, others question the need for modern medications. After all, women have been giving birth for as long as humanity has existed, and even today in many parts of the world labor and childbirth happen without medical intervention most of the time.

Clearly, there are benefits to modern medicine in the delivery room- childbirth is far, far safer for mom and baby than it was in the past, and that's all thanks to modern medicine. The main area where this becomes a sticking point for people is pain management.

There's no one main argument in favor of avoiding painkillers during labor; people have taken several different approaches. Some worry that the baby may get part of the dose of medicine in its system, with unknown consequences.

Others don't like the idea of being numb to the process of childbirth- they like the idea of being fully aware of everything that's happening. Still others worry about the risks of getting an epidural, and plenty of people are simply afraid of needles.

Labor and childbirth have been difficult, painful, and uncomfortable forever, and before the invention of modern painkillers there were countless natural remedies to help mothers cope with it more easily.

Some of these are more effective than others, and many have doubtless been lost to history. Essential oils are a modern outgrowth of ancient, natural healing practices, so it stands to reason that there are essential oils that can help during labor.

What causes labor pains?

Human childbirth seems to be uniquely difficult. Anyone who's observed animals in labor and giving birth can testify to the fact that they don't appear to be in nearly as much pain as human mothers do while they're in labor. Since labor is such an important biological process, you'd think it would be easy and painless.

The most widely-accepted theory for this is that humans are balancing the need to have wide hips to deliver big-brained babies with the need for narrow hips for efficient, bipedal walking. For this reason, the baby is a tight fit in the birth canal, which makes labor more difficult for us than it is for four-legged mammals.

In recent years, other theories have emerged offering different explanations for why human childbirth is so difficult, but these are still very new and under a lot of scrutiny. Regardless of the reasons for humanity's odd childbirth process, the physical mechanisms that make labor difficult and painful are well-understood.

Much of the pain in labor comes from the contractions of the uterus. The contractions are, essentially, cramps. Just as a leg cramp is painful, a uterine cramp is painful.

The difference is that leg cramps aren't as severe and they resolve quickly, while uterine contractions are much more forceful and will generally continue, sometimes on and off, until the baby is out of the birth canal.

The pressure on the cervix is another major source of pain and discomfort during pregnancy. In general, the cervical pressure and the contractions can both be felt as severe cramping in the abdomen, groin, and thighs, along with a general achy feeling.

You'll also feel discomfort from the pressure being placed on your bladder and bowels, and the stretching of the birth canal and vagina. For many women, the pain of each contraction is not very bad, but the fact that they keep coming, and that there is less and less time to rest between each contraction as labor goes on is what really makes labor painful.

It should also be noted that labor pains vary greatly from woman to woman. Some woman find childbirth relatively easy, and the pains aren't too bad. For others, it's a much more difficult ordeal, and much more painful. Even the sensation of the pain itself is different: some women will feel only intense pressure, while others will find it similar to menstrual or diarrheal cramps.

There's really no way to predict how labor will be for you until it happens. You may have a quick and easy delivery, or one that lasts for a day or more with intense pain.

If you're planning to avoid medical intervention in the form of painkillers, the best thing you can do is load up your hospital bag with essential oils to help you get through labor.

How Essential Oils Can Help

There are two primary ways that essential oils can help you during labor. The first is by lowering your stress or anxiety levels. The way that we experience pain is closely tied to stress; if we're under a lot stress, our body's pain response will usually be stronger. Therefore, if you can reduce your stress levels, you will reduce your pain levels as well.

Essential oils can also directly relieve pain and reduce other conditions like nausea and headaches that are common during labor. This means that they can make the whole experience much more comfortable for the mother.

4 Best Essential Oils for Labor

These are the best essential oils to use during labor and childbirth.

Lavender Oil

Lemon Oil

Lemon oil is very nearly as versatile as lavender, and it smells great too. It's commonly used as a mood lifter and stress-reducer. It's also an antiseptic, anti fungal oil that can boost the immune system and improve the quality of your sleep.

For expecting mothers, lemon oil is an excellent choice for aromatherapy in the delivery room. Studies have shown that using lemon oil reduces nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

This powerful stomach-soothing effect, combined with its ability to relieve stress, can make the whole pregnancy more pleasant for many women, in addition to making labor and childbirth much more comfortable.

Vivorific's lemon oil is made from the best Sicilian lemons. It's cold-pressed, so you're getting pure, unaltered lemon essential oil. Try blending it with lavender oil for an extra-strong stress busting oil blend.

Peppermint oil

Basil Oil

How to Use Essential Oils During Labor

Once you have your essential oils selected, you need to decide if you're going to be using them topically or as aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is generally the most popular choice, and it should be noted that all of the research done on the efficacy of essential oils during labor used aromatherapy, not topical treatments.

For aromatherapy, use it as you normally would by placing the oil in a diffuser and switching it on for a few minutes at a time when needed.You might even choose to bring multiple oil blends for use a different times. For instance, while lavender would be helpful at all times during labor, you may only want to use peppermint oil in the later stages when you need the energy boost.

There are a couple of reasons you may not want to choose aromatherapy, though. First, you'll likely have noticed that your sense of smell seems extra sensitive during pregnancy- that sensitivity often increases during labor, making you incredibly sensitive to smells. Using aromatherapy during labor might give you headaches or make you a bit nauseous if that's the case.

The other thing to bear in mind is that in some hospitals you use the same room for delivery and recovery. Your aromatherapy oils will linger in the air for a while, and that might be a problem for your infant.

Babies are sensitive to smells, and being in a room where the air is full of potent essential oils could be a problem, especially if they already have breathing issues which is common in babies born early.

If that's the case, you may want to consider using topical treatments. Some experts recommend applying the oils to your ankles during labor, but this may be very difficult to do. Applying to the forehead or chest might be easier.

Conclusion

Essential oils can be a very effective tool for making labor smoother, less painful, and potentially even faster. They're also very safe- many would safe much safer than medication. Many people are surprised that essentially oils have been shown in clinical trials to be very effective in reducing pain during labor.

One of the biggest benefits of essential oils as pain management tools is that you can create your own customized blend. Since everyone experiences pain differently and is affected by essential oils differently, it's a good idea to experiment with different oils and blends before you go into labor.

It's also a good idea to decide on several oils or blends to pack in your hospital bag. Not only is this good for different stages of labor, it's also good in case you suddenly find one of the oils overwhelmingly or nauseating during labor.

All of the oils listed here are excellent choices to relieve labor pains, whether they're used on their own or blended together. They're also all pure essential oil, with no carrier oils diluting them. That makes them a great value and gives you complete control over the potency of the oil that goes into your diffuser.

Are there any other best essential oils for labor which were not mentioned in the blog post? Share them in the comments below.

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