Laboring with Essential Oils

Jasmine Hutchinson
Jul 31, 2019
5 min read

The end of every pregnancy is usually filled with excitement and some fear as you prepare for the arrival of your family. Essential oils can be used to prepare your mind and body for labor. I used essential oils throughout my pregnancy to help with symptoms and stay healthy; when I became full term I began using oils along with herbs to prepare myself for the labor process.

At 37 weeks you are considered full-term and it is at this time I became eligible to deliver outside of the hospital. I really wanted an out-of-hospital birth in a holistic environment, so I prepared my bag with different essential oils for diffusing and homemade lotions/ creams, among other things for my natural labor process.

Body Cream… By whipping shea butter, coconut oil, and Castro oil with Sage, Lavender, Peppermint, WildOrange, and Basil essential oils. This created a mix that would both act as a natural magnesium cream, help my contractions, and aid with pain. I started rubbing this on my stomach daily to aid in preparing my uterus for labor. Once I reached 40 weeks I started applying it twice a day.

Diffuser… Common essential oils used during labor include Lavender, WildOrange, Citrus, Peppermint, Sage, AromaTouch, and Frankincense. I did not have the opportunity to use these oils during my labor but it is important to be prepared for whatever you may end up wanting at the moment. I didn’t get a chance to use them.

Message Oils and Lotion… Mixing fractionated coconut oil with black pepper and basil essential oils also provides a nice blend to aid with back pain. (I didn’t get a chance to use this either. But I did read it worked or some.) I used the Doterra deep blue lotion on my back and stomach during labor. THIS WAS SO HELPFUL AND WONDERFUL!!

Peri-popsicles (postpartum pads)… When it came to creating postpartum pads, at first I didn’t want to but I was sure glad I did. In a small mixing bowl filled halfway with water, I mixed 5 drops Frankincense, 2 drops of peppermint, and 10 drops of Lavender essential oils. I then dipped cut up cloth in the shape of a pad and wrapped them in wax paper and placed them in the freezer (make sure you squeeze out some of the water). Some websites show pouring a small amount of water on an actual pad then placing it in the freezer. Unless you want wet underwear, be sure to place frozen pads over another dry pad.

This along with adding a couple drops of tea tree oil to you peri-bottle, helps keep that area feeling nice and pain-free (especially if you tear).

Inducing labor… Aside from eating “The Salad” at Caioti Pizza Café in Studio City to aid in inducing my labor at 41 weeks. The next evening I also made a Labor Inducing Cocktail with Lemon Verbena Essential Oil.

2 tbsp almond butter *I warmed this up so it would blend better

2 tbsp castor oil

blended in 200-300ml water

200ml apricot juice

5 drops organic lemon verbena essential oil

You can repeat the cocktail every four hours but you probably won’t need to. After taking this cocktail I was instructed by my midwife to go and walk the curb for an hour (thirty minutes on the left and thirty minutes on the right), pump, and then go to sleep. She told me if I didn’t go into labor to repeat it the next evening. But there was no need for a repeat. I took the cocktail at 6:30 pm on a Tuesday evening, walked the curb from about 7-8pm, pumped from 8-8:15, and then began timing my contractions which started coming every two minutes and lasted forty seconds thereafter. I alerted my husband around 8:45 pm so he could time them. I alerted the midwife at 9:30pm and then met her at the birth center at 10:30pm to receive my antibiotic and so she could check me. At 11:30pm I was only 2-3 cm so, I went home to rest. At 2:31am the following morning my beautiful baby girl was born. Talk about quick labor.

***You should always talk to you MD/OB or midwife before inducing labor, even with herbs

Laboring… During the labor process, it is important to relax while you are in pain so you

can dilate. Yes, this is easier said than done but, if you are able to you do have a sense of being able to overcome anything. During my labor process, aside from taking some valerian root and Benadryl so I could sleep in-between contractions- which came every 1-2 min since the start; I used doTERRA’s deep blue lotion. My baby was OP, I rubbed (saturated) deep blue on my back and stomach. I am not going to say it completely took my pain away but it sure helped make it more tolerable. I was also impressed at how the oils in the lotion interacted with my body and what I was feeling. When a contraction was starting I could feel my back become increasingly warm until the contraction peaked and then it would cool. While my back was becoming warm my stomach was becoming cool. It gave me something else to focus on during the contraction and made sleeping in-between them easier. This also probably helped my labor process go by more smoothly. It was interesting to feel that even after the baby was born when my placenta was being delivered, as my stomach would contract it would become warm

Planning… When creating a birth plan it is important to keep an open mind and plan for alternatives. My plan was to have a natural vaginal birth may be in the water. I had tools prepared to help with pain and distraction just in case, some of them came in handy. But you don’t know what you are going to like or what you will have time for. I ended up delivering five minutes after walking into the birth center making a water birth not an option. But overall my labor experience was still an enjoyable one.

I hope this information helps you during your labor process.