Whether you’re a seasoned or a first-time mom we can all agree a faster birth, less bleeding and a faster recovery postpartum are all on our ideal birth experience checklist.
Hey Mamas! It’s your CajunStork here, Midwife Kira, and I’m here to tell you how Red Raspberry Leaf Tea can increase your chances of having a smoother natural pregnancy, labor, and postpartum!
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Red Raspberry Leaf Tea in Pregnancy
Benefits:
As a midwife, I never thought I’d experience a birth with so LITTLE bleeding that I would think something was wrong! Turns out, I had mamas who were serious about drinking their Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. During the last two years of my practice, my mamas who drank the recommended amount of tea at the end of their pregnancy tended to have much less bleeding postpartum than those who didn’t drink much or none at all. In fact, when I deliver a baby I often can tell you which moms have been drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and which ones have not, based on how much bleeding they’re having postpartum! (Seriously, this is amazing stuff!) Less bleeding after birth can mean a quicker recovery and feeling better faster after having a baby!
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea offers a variety of vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to your overall pregnancy health including calcium, magnesium, iron and many other essentials such as Vitamin C, etc.... Also, let's not forget that drinking it in tea form can help you reach your hydration goals each day! Known as the women’s herb, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea is a powerhouse for reproductive health. It tones the uterus which prepares it for effective contractions and helps to shrink it back into place after birth much faster. Mamas who have stayed on top of their tea are less likely to need to be induced which means a lower chance of Pitocin and a higher chance of a trulynatural birth. (It can also help with those awful leg cramps that tend to come with pregnancy!)
When to start drinking:
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea is great for all stages of a woman’s life including before, during, and even after pregnancy. It’s not just great for women however, even your husband and your littles can enjoy the tea alongside you and reap their own health benefits from it such as improved prostate health or electrolyte replacement.
You can drink it before pregnancy to help tone the uterus and to help prepare the body for pregnancy. In fact, it’s also highly recommended by naturopaths as part of fertility treatment.
While Red Raspberry Leaf Tea is safe for most healthy pregnancies during the 1st trimester, I like to focus on the nutritional aspect of the mother’s health while baby is newly developing those first 12 weeks. Therefore, in my practice of healthy, low-risk mamas, we only recommend the tea in small doses in the first trimester. Many women prefer to take the direct advice of their doctor or midwife during this delicate time in pregnancy, and I would recommend that as well.
24-26 weeks is the sweet spot for starting your cup or two a day. The goal at this time is to start making daily tea drinking a habit and finding a flavor that you enjoy. Some ideas for you would be trying it hot, or cold; adding alfalfa for an extra iron boost; nettles for a nutrition-packed punch; or the way I prefer which is blending Red Raspberry Leaf tea with another flavor of a slightly sweeter tea such as Wild Berry Tea! For more tea ideas, scroll down!
At 34 weeks I bump my mamas up to 4 cups a day (or double the strength for less cups). Yes, that’s a lot of tea but you can check out how to make it in bulk and how to make a stronger batch at Red Raspberry Leaf Tea 101 Pregnancy Essentials.
For the birth I have my mamas make a special labor-aid we call “The BirthHouse Infusion”. The BirthHouse Infusion includes a Red Raspberry Leaf Tea infusion (double strength batch), coconut water, and honey…. A lot of honey! During labor mamas can sip on it for extra energy and hydration. Coconut water gives you not only a good flavor but also hydrating electrolytes, which means more energy in labor. Honey will also add some easily absorbable natural sugar which, believe it or not, actually increases your pain tolerance.
If you’re having a hospital birth you can make BirthHouse Infusion Ice Chips by making and freezing it in ice cube trays. Some mamas also like to premake popsicles with these molds here. Once labor begins you have nutritious and electrolyte-packed ice chips to snack on during labor that are even hospital-approved when it comes to the “ice-chips only” rule.
Head over to Red Raspberry Leaf Tea 101 Pregnancy Essentials for my labor day recipe and ice chips how-to.
Add some variety:
Drinking lots of the same thing every day can be hard even when there are major benefits. Here are some tips on how to switch up your tea and add some tasty variety.
Sweetener can be added if you don’t have gestational diabetes. Honey is my preference because it’s all-natural and a little goes a long way, but be sure to avoid artificial sweeteners during pregnancy. I add a bag of wild berry tea to my Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to tone down the earthy flavor and give it a little more sweetness but you can add any of your favorite teas. A few flavorful options are green tea, blackberry and actual raspberry tea, or if you really just need a little caffeine boost you can try this organic black tea to blend with it.
I did a taste test of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea mix-in recommendations. Out of the 6 recipes I’ve tried, I can recommend coconut water, blueberry wild child tea, and wild berry tea. *Check out the taste test video to see my reaction to the not so recommended options! Yuk!*
Don't like tea? Try these Other Options:
Most teas either come in bags or come loose leaf. There’s no nutritional difference so which one you use depends on your time and lifestyle. Red Raspberry Leaf Tea bags are more convenient and portable while loose leaf tea takes longer and isn’t as convenient.
There are other options for mamas on the go. These Traditional Medicinals Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Chews taste MUCH better than drinking the tea and do have benefits, but you need to see why I would still recommend the tea first in comparison in this video here: Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Chews vs. Tea
Even if you’re just not a tea drinker you have options too! You can substitute or supplement with Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Capsules. Just check to make sure the capsule mg match your tea mg. For example, tea has 1500mg per cup and most capsules have 900 mg so you would need two capsules to match a cup of tea.
There's also Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Concentrate available. It’s also pre-sweetened, so it is great for busy mamas who don’t always have time to stop and steep tea!
Whatever you try, don’t forget to send us your #RRLFACE taste test picture on our Facebook page.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you get the Red Raspberry Leaf Tea into your body, it’s more about how much you get into your body! At 34 weeks the goal is to get 6000 mg each day. You can spread it out all day long or lump it together in a few really strong cups. You can drink just tea, alternative between tea and capsules, sneak in a little concentrate or any other combination that helps you to reach your daily goal. Personally, I think tea is truly the easiest so HAPPY BREWING!
Disclaimer: The information shared in this article is for educational purposes only. The educational content in this article is directed towards HEALTHY, LOW-RISK PREGNANT WOMEN AND THEIR HEALTHY BABY. The information shared is not meant to replace the advice of your doctor or midwife. Medical advice will not be given so please consult with your provider regarding your particular situation.