Discovering Homeopathics

I first stumbled upon homeopathy for childbirth when I was working on my doula certification and was looking for things with which to stock my doula bag. I wondered if there was some sort of kit of homeopathy for birth, since I had experienced wonderful results with my own family using homeopathy. I searched Amazon and lo and behold, I found an amazing kit containing 18 different homeopathy remedies specifically chosen for use in pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. I ordered that kit without delay. It is a handy little kit. All the remedies come in their own containers and it includes a small pamphlet which tells you which remedies are included and the complaints for which they may be helpful. In reading the kit, I found Mary’s Homeopathy Study Group on Facebook. It turns out that Mary, a Midwife and Homeopath, had been the creator of the kit to help clients and their loved ones as well as birth workers help the laboring mother have an easier birth, should a homeopathic be useful in labor and birth. I have learned so much about homeopathy through Mary’s group. I found out that homeopathy is probably the safest type of “natural remedy” one could use, since it is so diluted down there are not actually any molecules left, but the essence of the element is left. It is that essence that ends up curing the condition that the element itself would actually cause in measurable doses. For instance Ipecac would be something you would use to induce vomiting if, for instance, someone were to ingest something poisonous and you wanted to get rid of the poison. If you wanted to make a homeopathic remedy from Ipecac in the potency often used for childbirth-related conditions, you would use a 200c potency. “To make a 200C, the homeopathic pharmacy takes one drop of the herbal tincture (called a mother tincture) and mixes it with 100 drops of water (actually at 20% solution of ethyl alcohol; the alcohol acts as a preservative). The resulting dilution is succussed, producing a 1C potency. Then the cycle is repeated mixing one drop of the 1C with 100 drops of the solution, which, after being succussed, yields a 2C potency. After 200 cycles of dilution and succussion a 200C solution is produced, which can be dropped onto milk sugar pellets which I then hand to you.” (1) So, you see, the Ipecac that causes the vomiting in a regular dose is able to actually remedy vomiting in the minuscule homeopathic potency. That is the basic principle for how all the remedies work. They also work following the principle of “minimum dose”. Meaning the smallest dose possible taken only when symptoms return is the way to actually allow healing to occur. If you follow the label on most homeopathic remedies, you will normally not only waste your money, you may risk making symptoms return, by continuing to take doses with no symptoms present.
I find this fascinating! And it really does work in most cases, when you match the remedy correctly. I would like to share some examples of how I have used homeopathic remedies in real-life situations with my labor clients.
One mother had to be induced with her 4 previous pregnancies. She made it to full-term with her 5th pregnancy, with the help of following the Brewer Eating Plan for Pregnancy, without developing pre-eclampsia (a first for her!) She began having strong labor contractions when she was full-term, so I headed to her house to help her. When I arrived, her contractions had completely ceased. 10 minutes had passed without a single contraction. We looked through the homeopathy booklet and found a remedy that seemed to match her symptoms well (that is a major key to homeopathic remedies working: you need to match the symptoms with the correct remedy the best you can in order for it to work. If you get the remedy wrong, you can try something else, if a couple doses do nothing). I gave her one dose and she let it dissolve under her tongue. Nothing happened, so in 15 minutes we repeated the dose. I looked through the pamphlet to see what I would try next, if that did nothing. However, within a matter of a few minutes, she began contracting quite well. In fact, her baby was safely born 3 hours later!
I worked with a mother who experienced faintness while pushing. I looked through my remedy kit, found a match for her symptom and gave her a dose. I also saw that she was feeling extremely exhausted so gave her a remedy for exhaustion as well. After 2 more contractions, her baby was safely born!
I had a client who experienced a rapid, precipitous birth. I gave her a remedy that matched her symptoms and within minutes she calmed down and was able to handle the rapid transition her body was undergoing.
I have had numerous clients experience both nausea and vomiting for which a well-matched remedy resolved without them needing their nurses to give them medications (which they had wanted to avoid).
Those are just a few examples, I have had many successes with other clients as well!
As a doula, I make sure to always get the doctor to okay remedies before using them. I have only had one doctor not allow it, and it was fine because the client also decided she did not want to use the remedy. Other than that one situation, every client who has wanted to use remedies has had the support of their care providers. It is helpful when clients are able to speak with their care providers ahead of time and ask about using homeopathic remedies during labor and birth.
If you would like to use homeopathic remedies to help your clients or loved ones during pregnancy, labor and birth, I highly suggest you join Mary’s Homeopathy Study Group on Facebook. You can find out more by reading the files. You can find additional information by visiting www.remedyseeker.com. You can find Mary’s Birth Kit (yellow) as well as several other wonderful kits she has put together at www.homeopathykits.com. If you have Amazon Prime, she also has them available for purchase on www.Amazon.com I have had wonderful results using the Blue Deluxe Kit to help my family and friends with acute illnesses and injuries, as well.
This information was taken from knowledge gained through Mary’s Homeopathy Study Group, www.remedyseeker.com, and the above quote (1) is from: http://www.homeopathichealing.org/x-c-and-m-the-alphabet-of-homeopathic-potency.html
Karen Gartner is a Registered Nurse who offers Craniosacral Therapy, a Certified Doula and Childbirth Educator. She enjoys studying all things related to birth and is said to be a wealth of knowledge to her clients and students. She began studying alternatives to mainstream medicine in earnest after the birth of her first child in 2003. Since that time, she has devoted much of her time to keeping her family well and helping other mothers learn how to do the same. She loves to spend time cooking and exploring the outdoors with her husband and children in her leisure time.