When a baby is born, there’s virtually no attention on the new mum who has gone through quite an incredible amount of physical and emotional trauma in order to birth their little miracle into the world. Add a pandemic into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for needing much more self-care and nurturing than normal – I know, because I gave birth to my baby girl 6 months ago, and whilst it was magical, it was also a very stressful time. So, for all you new mums out there, we thought it’d be helpful to talk about how you can superpower your postnatal healing with aromatherapy essential oils – safely.
Now the first point to make is that you can’t just use “any” essential oils when you’ve a newborn baby as they are very sensitive – even to what you use on your own skin, if you are breastfeeding or doing skin to skin. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use them at all – it’s just important to follow the safety guidelines. In this article, we’ll provide some helpful aromatherapy blends and recipes – and self-care and nurture practices for the new mum, including how to aid healing from birth trauma, how to stimulate milk production, relaxation and pampering practices, as well as oils for baby massage and to help baby sleep in line with nature! What more could you want?
So, let’s get straight to it – whatever type of birth you had – vaginal or abdominal – there will have been an immense amount of trauma – both physical and emotional. Regardless of whether you calmly hypno-birthed or screamed your way through it like a wild mama (like me!), there will have been challenges, trauma, and there will be much chaos requiring some relaxation and pampering. The following blends will really help, so read on!
Healing postnatal stitches
Firstly, there is a lot of recovery for the tissues in our bodies, and essential oils can be really helpful for this – especially if you have stitches from an episiotomy, tear, or c-section. So, let’s look at some physical trauma healers here.
The first suggestion I’m offering for new mamas out there is to make a simple and diluted healing spritz – using Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils, which can be used as your stitches are starting to heal and you want to add some extra support. Tea Tree is anti-microbial and cleansing, and Lavender is very healing, so these are perfect oils to support the healing process.
Healing Body Spritz Blend
Mix 100ml Lavender Hydrolat with 15 drops Lavender and 5 drops Tea Tree essential oil and apply to the affected area.
You might also like to consider our Babyopathy Padsicle Soother. This 100% pure essential oil has been expertly blended with Helichrysum, Geranium and Lavender to help reduce post-delivery pain, bruising, swelling, bleeding and to promote healing ‘down below’ and for c-section wounds.
Healing the nervous system
It is also important to heal the nervous system which has been through an immense stress. In Waking the Tiger, Peter Levine talks of how in the wild, animals instinctively know how to recover from trauma by shaking their bodies to recover their nervous systems – but that this has been conditioned out of us humans. In fact, during trauma, we are virtually bounced “out of our bodies” as we try to evade our experience, and things like anaesthetic can separate us from our experience, and so it is important to ground back into our human body. One of the best things you can do is get back in your body, when you are feeling able to move again – even if you only start gently.
So, my next practice is one to restore our nervous systems. Which essential oils might help with that?
Grounding, sedating oils like Neroli and calming oils like Bergamot and Chamomile are great for the nervous system and human psyche during postnatal recovery. These oils are ideally not to be used around baby for the first 6 months, as they are still very sensitive, but they can definitely be used for you. I’d suggest the following ritual:
Healing Shower Blend
Find half an hour when your partner can have the little one and carve it out as sacred time for yourself.
Create a little Grounding Shower Gel with 2 drops Neroli, 2 drops Bergamot and 2 drops Chamomile mixed into 15ml of our SLF Free Bath & Shower Gel.
Bringing awareness to each body part, rub it into your skin as you say “this is my head, this is my neck, this is my shoulder, this is my arm, etc – making your way down your body. As you do this you will be grounding yourself firmly back into your body and letting your nervous system know it is okay to be calm. As you rub, tune in and notice where your body is feeling tense and where it is feeling relaxed. Enjoy this process as a luxurious bit of ‘me-time’ which is so important in those early post-partum days.
Milk production
Now, if you’re a breast-feeding mummy you might well be aware of the challenges that can come with it! If you’re wanting to balance your milk production (increasing or decreasing), then you might like to throw a little balancing essential oil into the mix. Again, in the early weeks we will avoid these oils directly on the skin, or near baby, but you can definitely make use of them in a Milk Balancing Inhaler.
Milk Production Inhaler Blend
To increase your supply, Fennel and Basil are said to be great galactagogues (substances that produce milk).
Add 2 drops of Fennel and 2 drops of Basil onto the cotton wadding inside an Aromatherapy Inhaler and sniff for a few minutes every few hours throughout the day for a few weeks.
Milk Inhibitor Rollette Blend
If you’re purposely trying to decrease your supply – for example if you’re bottle feeding – Peppermint and Spearmint essential oils are great milk inhibitors. Add 1 drop Peppermint and 1 drop Spearmint to a Rollette bottle with 10ml Grapeseed oil and roll on to your pulse points and sniff for a few minutes every few hours throughout the day – or apply as necessary to the breasts if you are no longer feeding baby.
Relaxation for ‘you’ time
One of the biggest challenges as a new mum is that you don’t get any time to yourself. Of course, we are powerful creators of our lives, so you can set this intention and carve out time to really honour your time to heal and adjust. It’s crucial, especially amidst the pandemic, which may have left you limited on time due to home-schooling (if you have older children), or perhaps you have your partner working from home. Add a baby to the mix and it’s chaos – but you need to make time for yourself!
As often as you can, it’s important to select a ritual for yourself which makes you feel nurtured and allow yourself permission to enjoy it whilst your partner or someone in your support bubble takes care of baby. Here are a few ideas for rituals and blends you can try:
Relaxing Bath Blend
Run a warm bath, and for the first 3 months, instead of putting oils in the bath we’d suggest you diffuse a beautifully relaxing blend of oils.
Try 3 drops Mandarin, 2 drops Lavender, and 2 drops Chamomile in a candle burner or diffuser, then lie back in the bath water, and focus on your breathing. You could add half a cup of Lavender or Orange Flower (Neroli) Hydrolat to your bath if you long for something extra, yet super gentle!
Finish off with a beautiful Coconut Butter moisturisation – rubbing it in to the skin in the direction towards the heart – to feel fully pampered and to help heal those wild-power stretchmarks.
Pampering Facial Blends
If you’re the kind that prefers to pamper your face, you can do this in the bath too. Add 1 drop Neroli, Rose or Chamomile to 10ml of Lavender or Orange Flower Hydrolat and use this to cleanse your face. Then mix 1 drop of Neroli, Rose or Chamomile in 10ml of Grapeseed oil and gently massage your face in slow, circular motions, from the inside (nose) out (towards ears).
Aromatherapy for Baby
Of course, it’s not just mama that can benefit from essential oils. I’d recommend avoiding any use of essential oils directly on baby for at least the first 3 months, and only diffuse oils in low doses as babies are particularly sensitive. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t begin to introduce aromatherapy to benefit your baby – and, in turn, benefit yourself as a new mum as you encourage infant sleep!
Baby Sleep Diffusion Blend
Our Babyopathy range has a wonderful post-partum blend called “To Infinity and Beyond’, which contains Cedarwood, Lavender and Roman Chamomile. We recommend diffusing this oil as part of baby’s bedtime routine – right from the start. Diffuse 2-3 drops in a candle burner or diffuser for 5 minutes before baby goes to bed – building up to 20 minutes over the following weeks. This can help to establish a routine and restful sleep as baby develops its circadian rhythm.
Fourth Trimester Baby Massage Blend
Once baby is 3 months old, you can start to introduce heavily diluted essential oils by patch testing blends first, one oil at a time. Add 1 drop of either Chamomile, Lavender or Yarrow essential oil to 15ml of Grapeseed oil and patch test a small amount on baby’s elbow crease or under the chin by the ear. If all is okay after 60 minutes, you can then use this oil to gently stroke baby and give some gentle massage, to calm before bed as part of their night-time routine. As the weeks go on, you can begin to mix the essential oils, to a maximum of 2 drops of essential oil (total) in 15ml of carrier oil.
Overall, the postpartum period is tough, so go easy on yourself and get as much support as possible where you can, especially in this difficult time of Covid. It’s important to honour your self-care as this will help you feel better, and the essential oils shared here are real mood-boosters, and relaxants, so they will support you well as you adjust. Prioritise it and enjoy!