It’s 6:30am on a Saturday morning. I’m feeling nauseous yet ravenous at the same time. What a horrible position to be in. I desperately hope the kids will sleep in, a couple more hours if I’m really lucky. But probably not. This first trimester of pregnancy is definitely not as easy as the last two that’s for sure. Thankfully there is the amazing RED RASPBERRY TEA to the rescue! I go down the stairs, boil a couple cups of water, put the loose leaves into my tea strainer and wait 15 minutes until it’s ready.
I was thinking about how amazing it is that in everyday plants around us, there is the potential for health and healing. Although we might not know now, we know that many herbal remedies work. With regard to to Red Raspberry Leaf Tea – if you do a quick search, you will see many a blog touting the amazing effects of it. Now are there actual solid research studies which document beyond a doubt its efficacy for every single pregnant woman?No not really. So science would say that the evidence for this tea is poor. Sara Wickham examines the evidence in this article.
However there is a lot of anecdotal evidence, historical documentation in traditional communities, and personal testimonies about how great this herbal is. It can purportedly help women in various ways including:
- Decreasing menstrual pain
- Balancing hormones
- Possibly improving fertility and implantation
- Strengthening and toning the uterus (which is a smooth muscle that involuntarily contracts)
- Increasing milk production
- Providing essential vitamins and antioxidants in an absorbable manner
- More info here on Mama Natural’s website.
As for me, I’m a believer. Even though I’m have a Master’s degree in science, I don’t always feel that I need overwhelming evidence from a randomized controlled trial before I decide to give something a try. I drank red raspberry leaf tea every day after my first trimester with the last two babes.
With baby number 1 – I had very minimal pain, and he was out in 2 pushes. His labour was so efficient that he arrived before the midwives did…but that’s a story for another time. Baby number two was a little different. That time around, I had my husband brew a strong concentrate of the tea to drink while in labour. That labour wasn’t as fast and it actually seemed to stall a bit when I should have been nearing transition. But let me tell you….it really did get labour going! I kid you not, after contractions slowed a bit, I thought to try to tea. After about 3 gulps of the piping hot tea, I was suddenly ready to push. The next few contractions were quite intense and they took me by surprise because it all happened literally within 1 minute of drinking the tea. A few minutes later, my daughter was out in 3 pushes. (Midwives and my hubby are my witnesses. I’m not making this up!)
With this pregnancy, I’m going to faithfully drink my red raspberry leaf tea. I have found that it is helping me with the all day sick feeling that I’ve been experiencing. If you have an appointment with me at my office, you’ll probably see a large travel mug with this stuff in it – I sip on it all day long and it really helps. Placebo effect? Maybe. But frankly, I don’t really care. If it works, it works. And there are no known adverse effects. If there is a chance that my uterine muscle can be strengthened and made to work more efficiently, I’ll take it! I plan on asking Dr. Holly – our lovely Naturopathic Doctor – her thoughts and recommendations. She would be the best person to talk to!
So how about you? What’s been your experience with Red Raspberry Leaf Tea? If you’re interested in learning more about how to prepare your body (both inside and out) for childbirth, please register for our upcoming pre-natal workshop: Prepare Your Pelvic Floor For Childbirth . See you there!
Ibukun
