Pregnancy is a profound experience in a woman’s life. It carries with it many joys and challenges; yet, understanding how to keep your health in balance can make all the difference.
The time leading up to, during, and after your pregnancy — more than ever — is a great time to focus on natural health.
Learning how to get as many of your daily recommended vitamins and minerals from food and a variety of herbs can make all the difference for you and your baby.
The Best Herbs for Pregnancy
For hundreds and thousands of years, women across many cultures have used herbs to nourish themselves, and their babies, during pregnancy. Likewise, many foods and herbs can actually relieve some of the discomforts associated with pregnancy — making the time you spend growing your precious little one more of an enjoyable experience.
Each of the following herbs contains countless vitamins and minerals necessary for good health and vitality throughout pregnancy.
Alfalfa. Loaded with beneficial vitamins and minerals this plant material has the ability to help manage weight loss and gain, it lowers the chance for diabetes and improves the function of the pituitary gland. Alfalfa may also help to reduce swelling, improve your quality of sleep and normalize bowel function.
Nettle. Throughout pregnancy, the use of nettles can work dramatically in improving your energy level. It supports the immune system and increases our resistance to illness. Nettle leaf is also known to support proper liver function, improve the absorption of iron, regulate blood sugar levels, reduce the occurrence of headaches, naturally increase milk production, and it may reduce the likelihood of tearing and hemorrhage during the birth of your baby.
Oatstraw. Oatstraw is wonderful for our body’s nervous system! It acts to nourish the brain and reduce anxiety. During pregnancy is may reduce the occurrence of leg cramps and improve digestion and bowel habits. Likewise, it can improve circulation to the uterus and placenta.
Red raspberry leaf. Tones the uterus in preparation for labor. It nourishes the reproductive system and increases milk production. Red raspberry leaf also promotes healthy skin, bones, nails, and teeth.
These herbs are plentiful, easy to purchase, and inexpensive. You can mix them together to make a super nourishing herbal tea, herbal capsules, or daily tincture to nourish yourself and your developing baby throughout a healthy pregnancy.
Note: It is rare to find the quality and exceptional service that is offered through Mountain Rose Herbs and the Bulk Herb Store. They are my online go-to for all of my herbal remedy needs.
Where do I start?
Thankfully in a world where so many are screaming for our attention, there are those that rise above by offering the answers to our longing questions through exceptional wisdom!
Over the past month I have had the great pleasure of reviewing a 480 page book — and the DVD series that accompanies it — titled Making Babies, written by Shoshanna Easling of the Bulk Herb Store. She is an energetic mother, author, and small business owner.
Her upbeat and sunky attitude is infectious — making her a brilliant communicator and teacher. Making Babies is your answer to using food, herbs, and natural health methods before, during, and after pregnancy.
If you are a lover of all things herbal and natural — or simply interested in learning more about natural health and herbal remedies — Shoshanna will most definitely come along side of you and guide you through each step of creating your own herbal tinctures, teas, and a variety of remedies.
I strongly believe that God has given us in nature a cure for everything that ails us. From the nausea of morning sickness to liver health and muscle aches, Shoshanna through her Making Babies Series will inspire you with her trained knowledge, life-experience, and love of motherhood.
This is a bold statement — and not one that is made causally — but after reading and using several of her recipes…I must say that the information found in the Making Babies Book is a resource every woman should have in her home library.
Making Babies Book and DVD Series
“Making Babies is such a beautiful thing. It is truly amazing how you can mold their bodies, touch their souls, and pave a way for them to grow. Your baby feels your heart beat. He knows your voice. She knows your emotions and feels them with you. He eats your food and drinks what you do. She is a part of you.” –Shoshanna Easling
This book and DVD series is a fun, informational, and colorful highlight of pregnancy. You will follow Shoshanna through her pregnancy as she stays healthy and builds a baby.
The Making Babies Book and DVD Series is full of helpful information regarding:
- delicious recipes that use real food ingredients (and not to mention tons of gluten-free recipes)
- herbal remedies
- herb concoctions
- fertility and conception
- remedies to treat morning sickness
- exercise
- birth prep
- postpartum issues
- nursing
- losing weight after delivery
Valued at $110 — and thanks to the generosity of the Bulk Herb Store — I am happy to offer the opportunity for one in our community of readers the chance to win this excellent series.
Creating a Kitchen Pharmacy: How to Make an Herbal Compress and Poultice
Fresh clean water, with everything I need and nothing I don’t!!
Safe, clean water for my family.
Not sure if I am supposed to answer about a Berkey filter or the Making Babies DVD/book set 🙂
So…I second comment above – Berkey would be excellent for our family. And I have been wanting the Making Babies DVD/Book set, I am currently struggling with unexplained infertility, so these would be a wonderful addition to my health book collection!
Ha! Oops…forgot to change that from the last giveaway for the Berkey 🙂 It should be all fixed now!
Hehe! It’s all good! 🙂
I have been wondering about herbs since I got pregnant! Now, at 5 months, all I hear from LNPS, Doctors, and the Midwives I’ve been working with is, “there’s not really enough research”. I wish they felt confident enough in their own experience to recommend herbs without me feeling like I’m taking a huge risk by drinking a cup of tea!!! I nearly had a panic attack last week because I bought Lemon Ginger tea and found it had lemongrass in it, which I read is not good during pregnancy. I’ve been avoiding caffeine as much as possible, but can’t seem to find an herbal tea to drink, and can’t seem to get answers from the people around me about what is safe!
I’m so glad I was reading the comments here. Your comment, specifically regarding lemongrass was really eye-opening. I found a meal that sounded delicious using lemongrass. I was planning on making that next week. I’m glad I found your post first. I am only about 6 weeks along and would not want to take any such risk. Thank you for your insightful comment, Kacey.
My daughter is having some trouble getting pregnant, so I would love for her to have this book.
I’m also 5 months pregnant, and would love to know more about herbal remedies and medicines that are safe while pregnant or in postpartum.
We have been trying to conceive for 12 years, I would love to have healthy recipes and natural options to improve our chances.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I like herbs and new ways to use them
What’s better than starting a healthy child off from the very beginning? = )
My husband and I are preparing for my pregnancy. I’m doing a bunch of research and getting myself in better physical condition, so this is a very wonderful source of information for me. 🙂
What a great resource! I think it’ s truly a praise to God when we can say He is redemptive in all of creation. What more evidence can He give us that even in the things he causes to grow He uses to make us whole. Pregnancy can feel like a lonely time, and and unhealthy one! It’s sad to me that my good natured, God loving doctor couldn’t recommend for or against ANY natural remedies, exercise, etc. Shouldn’t we all know about these things?
I will be excited to check this out sometime. Thanks for doing the leg work for me. 😉
I am pregnant right now and would be thrilled to have the series!
I’m pregnant for the first time, and I want to know everything I can about making this the most natural and healthy pregnancy possible!
Yet to be pregnant but developing healthy habits now so I can give myself (and baby) the best possible chance for health!
From the looks of it this could be so helpful even beyond pregnancy! Thanks for offering this 🙂
Was really hoping to watch this dvd series-already been drinking my red rasberry leaf tincture!
I absolutely LOVE learning about natural health and would LOVe to win this. I love pregnancy and birth subjects and studing it!
I’ve been wanting this for months!! I’m 4 months pregnant with my 3rd baby, and know SO much more than I did with the first….
Always trying to expand my education in this area- there is so much to know! Especially when it comes to herbal healthcare. I’m working on putting in a large herb garden and am ready to put it to good use 🙂
What excites me most? I am pregnant with baby number three and I (thank God) am enlightened to a whole new and much healthier way of living in general. So far I have ditched conventional prenatal vitamins for a whole-food organic version. The cost is QUITE staggering but well worth knowing that I am in no way harming my unborn child.
Bottom line, I really need this book. 🙂
Thank you!
What excites me the most is having the healthiest pregnancy possible and then being able to share all the great info with other mommas and mommas to be in my life!
I’ve been doing more & more research on natural living as I get ready to move towards that next step in my life, and this sounds like just the resource I need!
I am excited that with each pregnancy ( I have been pregnant nine times) God has revealed new things that show His love toward us. Three of our babies have gone on before us and we have six blessings here with us to enjoy. Our newest baby is 5 months old. I don’t know if we will be having more children, but I would love this series to share with my five daughters as they mature and become mothers themselves.
Oh, wow. I really, really want this book/DVD. My daughter is 13 months old, and we’re starting to think about when we’ll have the next baby. It took us a while to conceive the first time, so I’d love to read more about how to naturally boost my fertility and make sure that all future babies are as healthy as they can be!
I’m 16 weeks pregnant with my second child. I love to use natural remedies whenever possible. This book set looks really great! I like to read about other women’s pregnancies, it’s amazing how there are so many similarities while still so many differences between each pregnancy.
Please stop promoting Red Raspberry Leaf for pregnancy.
It’s great for helping birth a child, but beyond that it can be quite damaging. Folklore has been interpreted wrong. Red Raspberry Leaf is an emmenogouge, which means it will promote uterus bleeding, contractions and possible miscarriages.
Please consult a herbalist that approaches herbalism from the knowledge of the chemical constructs of herbs and not purely folklore. Thank you
Red raspberry has been used safely for centuries for conception, pregnancy, delivery and beyond. It actually helps prevent miscarriage by toning the uterus. Not only in humans either. I know of goat breeders that use it
to increase fertility, healthy pregnancies and milk flow… even incidence of twinning.
Personally, my midwives (who have safely delivered thousands of babies!) encourage red raspberry as a tonic for pregnancy. The only precaution might be for women with a known risk of miscarriage, who would be advised to wait until their third trimester to use red raspberry.
My main problem is that the “grey area” has become far too broad. I see many companies promoting, without warning, Red Raspberry leaf for pregnancy regardless of the stage.
The lack of caution with this herb and other emmenogouges, such as Chamomile is very reckless. People assume Chamomile so safe that most companies, and herbalist don’t even caution against Ragweed allergies.
I came across one company that sold Penny Royal for an insect repellent… no warnings against use for pregnancy… The American Aboriginals used it as a birth control. It’s one of the strongest known emmenogouges. And like other emmenogouges it WILL cause miscarriage if used incorrectly. Take a single cup of tea for example; A small amount of this constitute will generally not cause harm to a healthy patient, but make a tincture… and then we may have trouble.
I agree most herbs are safe, but as long as you know the dosage, the allergen warnings and what chemicals are in the herbs and how they affect your body, Until you know this, please treat herbal medicine as carefully as you would pharmaceutics. Thank you
I am interested in growing the right herbs myself to use if I get pregnant again. At the moment still breastfeeding. Both pregnancy- and nursing tea is very expensive and surely by far not as fresh as growing your own.
I am currently pregnant and a book like this would SO help…especially since I plan to have 3-4 more babies!
I would love to have this series! We are trying conceive, what wonderful timing C;
I am having a hard time getting pregnant, so I would love to read the book and see what it says about fertility.
This couldn’t come at a better time as we try for our first!
I enjoy reading anything dealing with herbal remedies.
I would LOVE to give this to my daughter. She would love it!
I would enjoy learning different herbal remedies and share them with my sister who is due in October.
Also would use the remedies when its time for baby number 2.
I just love your blog!!
While I already have four children of my own, I know many womn who struggle with infertility, as well as many women who are pregnant for the first time. This would be a valuable resource to share with both groups.
Oh cool! I recently got Rosemary Gladstar’s herbal health for women book & have found the pregnancy section super helpful (I’m in my 3rd trimester with my 3rd kid)… I would be so jazzed to learn even more!
I also believe that there are natural ways that our amazing bodies can heal and nurture themselves with. Would love to learn more about it.
I’m so tired of hearing that you should stay away from herbs while pregnant because they aren’t tested. I’m like, look back through human history, people! I’d love to own this great, solid reference! (And if I can find anything to kick my chocolate craving here in my 2nd trimester, that would be a huge bonus!)
I’d LOVE this resource!!! I would really like to have access to all this information about herbs and other good foods for the childbearing season of my life. Thanks for your blog. awesome!
We are thinking about having baby #3 and this would be a wonderful resource to help me along with our quest to be more natural. I have been wondering about herb use and pregnancy and this would help so much!
I am very interested in this resource for herbs as a way of sustaining mother and baby during pregnancy. I wish I only wish I had looked into it with my prior pregnancies.
I would love to have as natural a pregnancy as possible. There are not many reliable sources out there for using herbs during pregnancy. I need a great source of information on having a natural, healthy pregnancy.
Since I’m 6 months pregnant right now, this is perfect! 🙂 I want to do things a bit more natural with this baby than I did with my first. Thanks for offering a great giveaway!
This excites me that there’s actually a book out there amongst all the mainstream “advice” that is so hard to wade through 🙂
The Making Babies Book & DVD Series looks like a wonderful resource! I’m currently pregnant, and have learned enough from having my two boys that we’re looking to natural remedies and alternatives for this pregnancy and birth. I have met a wonderful homebirth midwife who is very encouraging about using herbs and essential oils, so this book looks perfect. 🙂
I love the idea of having a comprehensive resource to help me to have the safest and most natural pregnancy and birth as possible and to add to my knowledge and refer to afterwards as my children and I grow older. This is awesome, and exactly what I need, as I have been trying to learn more about herbs lately and it has been a bit overwhelming. Thank you!
I had absolutely no guidance during my pregnancies. I would love to share this with my daughters and some young mothers in our church so that they can be better informed.
This would be such great information!! I’m hoping for a 5th soon and have loads of friends who are either expecting or hoping to be soon! Thanks!!
Andrea, this is an awesome series. I have heard a lot about it from collegues. I am currently studying to be a midwife (after being a doula for the past 10 years). This would be a terrific resource for our small community.
And yet, another inspirational posting by you. You are quickly turning into my new hero.
Julia
I am An OB/GYN RN and feel this would be a great tool to have in my arsenal. I am also a firm believer and follower of all things natural ( herbs, etc. ). I am also the mother of three wonderful teenagers, young adults, and nursed every one of them. Thanks for a wonderful site.
I would be sharing this series with my daughter-in-laws. What a great resource for natural and healthy pregnancies.
We are trying for number two and past 40 so this series would be a big help. Hope to win.
I am in the third trimester of my second pregnancy and this one we’ve been treating gestational diabetes all naturally with no medication. I have had to figure it out mostly on my own. I would love to have such a valuable resource on natural remedies for pregnancy and babies on hand.
I’m so glad you shared this. I have never heard of this book. It sounds like an excellent resource and I look forward to reading it.
Excited about this! I would love to have more children but I get terribly sick. Also 2 of my relatives have had several miscarriages and I think this would help..
sadly enough I have been “holding off” having more babies just cuz I get morning sickness so bad….but I’m hoping & praying that the more natural healthy lifestyle we’ve been living will help the next time around…..and if I could win this & learn even more – that would be fabulous!!!!
This book sounds like a fantastic and thorough resource! I love the herbal in general, but it is nice to have some specific infor for pregnancy too. Thanks for the opportunity!
Knowing i can have a tool to help me first get pregnant and then throughout. I have been trying to get pregnant for a while now and would rather try using natural methods! Thanks for the opportunity 🙂
I’m currently pg with my 2nd, and would love to win this resource! I’ve visited the Bulk Herb Store site many times and think Shoshanna is great!
This sounds like an amazing resource. My first baby was delivered using Western medicine and it was a horrific experience for baby and me, leading to a plethora of health problems. I’m interested in doing thibngs differently when I have another. It’s hard to find all of the necessary info. And this would be a fabulous help.
Having the set will hopefully ttc a bit easier and knowing a few more different ways to cure morning sickness would be great
I am a student midwife and I am always trying to learn new information. Also, this would be a great resource in my library for pregnant mamas.
What excites me most? Geez I’ve been wanting this so bad, I guess for the recipes and just all that awesome information.
Chamomile is one of my other all time favorite herbs for pregnancy. I would love to have this book because I can never have enough good herbal/health info
I’m a fairly new subscriber and have enjoyed your posts very much. Thank you for all the wisdom you share!
Fabulous Giveaway!! <3
I’m nervous that I’m not eating the right things to help my baby grow into a healthy one.
This series sounds great because this knowledge is not common and should be! Not only can women benefit from this, but then they can share the information they’ve learned with others!
I really enjoy your website! I am very interested in your Making Babies giveaway- it has been an 8 year trial for us. We have adopted a natural lifestyle in hopes that it helps. Any extra information we can get would be wonderful!
I’m looking forward to all of the recipes in this book. I have many health problems, and it’s been hard for us to conceive. Just reading some of this information in your blog post is already helpful. I also suffer with many gastro-intestinal problems during pregnancy and would love to find something natural to combat that issue.
Thanks for the info. about a great resource. How wonderful to learn about ways to take care of myself & baby in a natural way.
My husband and I have been trying to make a baby for 2 years now. We would love more natural options for baby makin! 🙂
This is great!! I would love to win this incredible package!
We would love to have this set! I would love some kind of remedy for morning sickness!
What excites me most is all that I could learn to make our ttc journey the healthiest that it can be… then sharing that with others.
I would love to win this wonderful dvd set! It’s is a great resource, that could be shared !
I subscribe!
I really want to win it so that I can share it with a friend who struggles with health & fertility.
I just had a baby, so the nursing and losing the baby weight sections are most exciting to me now. I am excited about changing my lifestyle to a more natural one, so that when baby number 2 comes around, I’ll have a more pleasant pregnancy!
I have been interested in this book and DVD set since I first saw it was coming out on the bulk herb store website. Now being pregnant again I would really love to get a copy for myself! =)
i love learning as much as i possibly can about my bodies in relation to pregnancy…and how it affects my baby, i’m new to most herbal things. and love learning.
I would love a chance to win this! We have been ttc after a vas. reversal for over 5 years and I know I need to be healthier in order to have better chances of conceiving.
I am pregnant right now and I think the book would be a wonderful resource in so many ways! Thankyou for a great giveaway!
I’m 4 1/2 months pregnant, and I would love to have and share this set with friends! I think natural foods are so important, but it can be so challenging to navigate all the resources and food/drink options that there are. This set looks so encouraging and supportive, and I would love to be able to dive into all this information!
Wow! This looks like a great resource!
Right now I would be most excited about learning about herbal remedies and losing weight after pregnancy 🙂
I am done birthing babies but would love to have this as a resource to share with younger friends during their childbearing years.
Would love to have as trying for #4 🙂
Baby #2 is almost here and I would love to know more about herbs to use with her 🙂
I am due in Oct. with baby #5, my third homebirth. I would love more info for a healthy pregnancy.
I have been going totally natural and herbal lately and have been looking forward to utilizing this knowledge during pregnancy. In fact I put Ginger and chamomile to good use for my recent morning sickness and really loved going that route instead of the *Zofran* route that I had to do for my previous two kids!!
Unfortunately I also just experienced a miscarriage earlier this week, my first. I know that through healthy eating and herbs I can better prepare my body to create another body, and life. This book looks amazing and would love to win it! I also LOVE Mountain Rose Herbs and plan on spending my recent birthday gift card money all on their site!! 🙂
I’m doing everything I possibly can to acheive a healthy pregnancy.. This would help alot.
What excites me the most about this book is it is all natural.
Would love to have this as a resource. I used red raspberry leaf and alphafa durning my pregnancy.
I would love to win this! I think that my baby days are over as my youngest is now 4yrs, but it would be very helpful with grandchildren coming.
I’m now 6 months pregnant with my 4th and it would be WONDERFUL to have this resource for all of us in our family! Thank you for the opportunity!
My dear sister-in-law is expecting and would love to give this to her. Plus I might have another one too 🙂
I am starting my journey to become a midwife this summer, and would like to have another baby too, so this would be a great resource!
The herbal remedies!
I would love to learn more about the herbal remedies…
I LOVE all the natural remedies for everything! It’s such a relief to know such easily accessible information is out there and that you can really take charge of your health!
I, too, am past my child bearing days. However, I would love to have this awesome giveaway to pass onto my son and his wife when they begin to prepare for their expanding family. Love & Hugs! 🙂
I’ve been lusting after this collection for awhile, so of course I would love to win a free copy! It’s a bit out of my budget…I really admire Shoshanah and her work. Thanks for offering this opportunity 🙂
I am done making babies, but have a friend who is preggo, and would love to give this to her!
Thanks for the great tips on which herbs to use during pregnancy. I am new to using herbs and feel a bit overwhelmed by it and since I’m pregnant it seems even more overwhelming since there are some that you need to stay away from.
And I absolutely love Shoshanna! I would love to win her Making Babies book.
I would love this! We needed fertility drugs to conceive our son, and while I am so grateful he is part of our family, I have never felt worse in my life than when I was taking them and really don’t want to do that again.
I’d love to learn about how to do pregnancy nature’s way!
I have seen this advertised and think it is an awesome resource. I would love to give it to my future daughter-in-law but I would like to learn to use some of the herbs for myself too. Thanks!
My husband and I have been trying for a baby, and also been trying to go more natural since we have both been dealing with health issues this past year. I have noticed how being morein natural has helped alot.
This is an awesome resource! I love all the natural aspect of it all 🙂
Oh my goodness! This sounds amazing! I’m excited about learning more about herbs during pregnancy. Especially anything that would increase my energy! I’m having a hard time keeping up with my two-year-old!
This is a unique and delightful give-away! My daughter and her hubby are planning to start their family soon and this info would be of great interest to her!
My first pregnancy was very hard on me and as I am more and more interested in finding more natural ways to handle mine and my families heath (even as an RN student!) I would love to see what this book/dvd has to offer for the difficult pregnancy period!
I have been eye-ing this Making Babies set for a while. Whether I win it or not I’m going to have to get it! I know there is a natural way to ‘fix’ my unexplainable infertility. Time to be proactive about it. 😉
My first weekend off the pill. I was even keener to come off when I found out that they were made by Bayer, who also make pesticides and lots of nasty chemicals.
I am struggling with secondary infertility after being blessed after 11 years of marriage with one child, he is now almost 5. We would love to have another biological child and I think this a resource that would help me immensely.
On mother’s day I lost what would have been my third baby. I would love to have a book like this to help guide me to heal my body and prepare it for the next pregnancy and through it so that I can carry the baby to full term and give birth to an incredibly healthy and happy baby.
I am currently pregnant with my sixth baby. I would love to have a guide to help friends and family do what I try to do and live a clean, healthy life.
We’re going to be trying to conceive in a couple months with baby #1. Id love to know how to do this ‘pregnancy thing’ right from the beginning! Sounds like a great resource for an up and coming mama.
my hubby and I have been thinking of expanding the family but its been 7 years since I had my last child and I’d love to have this package to get me thru it!
I would love to have this collection! We have one little one and are wanting to add to our family.
I’m always looking for information on better nutrition for my children, especially since I’m nursing and my boys have eczema.
I’m preparing to begin my family early next year and would love more information as a resource! This post in particular has been helpful for many of the new mothers I know. Thank you!
give him chance to help you get what you want in your family.prriest shadow is ever there for to get your solution of childlessness .i got my joy
when i met him on net after i explained my problem to him.he gave me the herbal medicine to reproduce and be productive in life.i followed all
that he instructed and gave me for three months.my husband was so happy when we went to hospital to confirm that am six months pregnant.
thanks to prriest shadow .i advice you to contact him :[email protected].
loveth paul… from spain.
i never thought that i can get conceive again after a series of miscarriage over ten years of marriage. i keep telling my husband to get another way out to restore his joy in life as for me i told him that am packaging out not to be a disburb in his life.just one day ,i saw this address:[email protected] from a testimony of mrs daniel prisca in london .so i gave it a try till i got some instruction and process on how to make use effectively the SHADOW TEA .i keep taking it for over a period of time up to 3weeks.to my greatest supprise, i could not see my period at appropriate so i told priest shadow and he told me to continue to take . i actually did.great to announce to you all that i had my first awaiting child .so glad and full of joy and happiness.nice thanks to priest shadow.
tonia vial from new york
hello friends i got my baby twin through the help from prriest shAdow.now am really so happy to know this great man and faithful priest that cleared offf my pains over two years of marriage.now am feeling a complete woman in my husband house that i belong to.***stella ,south africa. i encourage you to use him:[email protected]