Wednesday August 18, 2010 | 7 comments
I had the luck in one of my anthropology classes to learn about doulas – birth attendants who provide support during a woman’s labor. After listening to an enlightening presentation on how doulas can help alleviate labor pain, I became interested in learning more about a profession that uses natural remedies to help women have easier – and more pleasant – births. As a result, I chose to attend a three-day doula workshop.
At the workshop, the other doula-trainees and I talked a lot about tea. Out of the eleven women present, many loved, or at least appreciated, tea. In addition to chatting about what teas we liked, we discussed some of the medical benefits of tea. Now, only a few months after the workshop, I have decided to research the “dos and don’ts” of pregnant tea drinking.
I assumed that drinking tea would be healthy for many pregnant women; however, not all the sources I consulted seem to agree. Are certain kinds of tea really that unhealthy for pregnant women, or are these websites being overly cautious? Apparently, some herbal teas can be harmful to a mother and her child, including raspberry leaf tea (I don’t believe it!), hibiscus, lemongrass, chamomile (I really don’t believe that one), catnip, and rosemary tea. Conversely, other sites suggest that non-herbal, caffeinated teas should be avoided, while red raspberry tea and chamomile are most likely safe. The second site also suggested that peppermint, lemon balm, and ginger root were safe as well.
I’m not sure how to interpret these conflicting sources except to ask people what they drank during their own pregnancies and how the teas seemed to affect them. Mothers, grandmothers, and health professionals: what are your opinions?
MAIN | IMAGE 1
Recent research suggest: ‘that caffeine intake of > or =6 units/d during pregnancy is associated with impaired fetal length growth. Caffeine exposure might preferentially adversely affect fetal skeletal growth. Further studies are needed to assess these associations in non-European populations and to assess the postnatal consequences’: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20427730
Given that herbs are medicine, I’m not surprised to learn that some herbal tissanes are contraindicated during pregnancy. Caffeine on the other hand, I had not heard about. Consider how many pregnant women drink coffee, which has substantially more caffeine than teas. I know for a fact that ginger tea is often used to reduce nausea in pregnant woman. I would recommend consulting an herbalist about these issues as most physicians are not educated about herbs. There is however a Physician Desk Reference or PDR- the bible for pharmaceuticals, which is specifically made about herbs. I’m sure they will note which herbs are inappropriate during pregnancy. I know certain herbs can be used, in large dosages, to initiate abortion of the fetus. I am curious what a “unit” in the comment above refers to.
Whenever a pregnant woman comes in and says her doctor doesn’t want her to drink any caffeine at all, we recommend Rooibos. We don’t do caffeinated teas because we just don’t like the processes to decaffeinate. If there is anything to contraindicate recommending Rooibos, I’d like
to know.
Hi Michelle and Diane,
I presume a ‘unit’ is an average size cup…
Diana, could you tell me more about the process of decafeination or were to find this. I’ve been wondering about this for a while. It doesn’t ‘feel’ good but don’t know the details.
Hi Peet,
This is a link that outlines methods of decafeination: http://ratetea.net/topic/decaffeinated-tea/13/
Thanks a lot Diane!
Hi All, I just went through a very successful pregnancy, am formulating a series of pregnancy teas from my experience, and personally found the following to be true for me: A little black tea in the morning helped alleviate my morning sickness and nausea. I drank 8oz our Bed & Breakfast black tea with milk and seemed to be fine throughout the morning afterward.
The best blend I found was actually Yogi Tea’s Mother to Be- it made me feel strong and has many herbs to tonify the uterus- wish I had come up with this blend myself- it’s that good! Red Raspberry Leaf is totally safe and strengthens the uterus for the birth process and tightening it back up after, lemon balm is safe, chamomile in small doses is safe but when pregnant, you will sometimes be more susceptible to ragweed allergies- and chamomile is like a ragweed. The oil in peppermint is not always good for pregnant women and can actually exemplify heartburn (believe it or not), and Rooibos is definitely a great alternative to caffeinated teas. I blended Rooibos with Red Raspberry leaf, Lemon balm, honeybush and ginger and felt great drinking that as well as our Firelight Chai with Rooibos and Ginger- that saved me when I couldn’t sleep if I boiled a sachet in milk.
It’s all about personal preference with flavors, but Dr. Greene did also let me know that the body will crave different herbs and teas in each trimester, so it’s about experimenting with the “safe” herbs for the combination that works best for you.