Pregnancy Herbs - Red Raspberry, False Unicorn Root, Helonias - FROM RONNIE Falcão's MIDWIFE ARCHIVES

The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

Pregnancy Herbs - Red Raspberry, False Unicorn Root, Helonias

Why Is Blue Cross raising rates in California by 39%? Perhaps it's because Blue Cross is a very bad business manager when it comes to paying for births. Blue Cross could cover homebirth midwives at in-network rates and pay about $6000. Or they could insist that in-network rates only apply to hospital births, where they pay $15,000 to $40,000 for a birth. Call Lilian at 303-831-2088 to encourage Anthem Blue Cross to upgrade their policy for better business and better birth.

Here is some information on the herbs your patient is taking. The Red Raspberry is perfectly safe to take throughout pregnancy. The False Unicorn should be used for a more specific indication and probably not throughout the whole pregnancy. When you have future questions regarding the appropriate use of certain herbs there is a site on the web which contains the book by Grieves entitled A Modern Herbal.

Red Raspberry or Rubus strigosus

--Medicinal Action and Uses---Astringent and stimulant. Raspberry Leaf Tea, made by the infusion of 1 OZ. of the dried leaves in a pint of boiling water, is employed as a gargle for sore mouths, canker of the throat, and as a wash for wounds and ulcers. The leaves, combined with the powdered bark of Slippery Elm, make a good poultice for cleansing wounds, burns and scalds, removing proud flesh and promoting healing.

An infusion of Raspberry leaves, taken cold, is a reliable remedy for extreme laxity of the bowels. The infusion alone, or as a component part of injections, never fails to give immediate relief. It is useful in stomach complaints of children.

Raspberry Leaf Tea is valuable during parturition as a uterine tonic. It can be taken freely - warm. (Grieves)

False Unicorn Root or Chamaelirium luteum (Synonyms - Helonias)

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Emetic, tonic, diuretic, vermifuge. In large doses a cardiac poison. Of the greatest value in female disorders of the reproductive organs. The indication for its use is a dragging sensation in the extreme lower abdomen. It is useful in impotence, as a tonic in genito-urinary weakness or irritability, for liver and kidney diseases. Especially in diseases due to poor action of the liver and not to weakness of the heart or circulation. It is a good remedy in albuminuria.

---Preparations---Fluid extract, 5 to 30 drops. Helonin, 2 to 4 grains. Specific helonias, 1 to 20 drops. (Grieves)

And from Felter - "Helonias is a valuable uterine tonic, specifically adapted to uterine weakness in which relaxation of tissue is so great as to give the sensation of downward pressure, dragging or expulsion - or as the patient expresses it, "a sensation as if everything in the pelvis would fall out." Marked irritability and despondency are often associated ….It is also said to relieve the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, to prevent miscarriages."