As a child of the former East of Germany I grew up drinking tea. Tea was served for breakfast and dinner and throughout the day at either kindergarten or school. I have always enjoyed teas, however my interest into herbal instead of fruit teas, being more aware of added aroma’s, and organic quality herbs has increased since I became a mother.
Many mama’s now know the health benefits that come with drinking teas during pregnancy or herbs like fennel, anis, and caraway that help with your milk supply after birth.
In the last few months, inspired by my third pregnancy, I researched, foraged and preserved many herbs for women during pregnancy. I picked herbs in the meadows near our country home and purchased a book specifically about women’s healing herbs by Heide Fischer. I enjoy reading her approach to women health not only with suggestions to herbs but also lifestyle choices to heal many of the common ailments like ovarian cysts, bladder infections, or migraine in women by using herbal teas, tinctures or washings with herbs.
Here Eva Maria Smith a photographer and blogger for House of Smilla captured me near the fields of our home with a fresh harvest of chamomile.
For my pregnancy tea this year I enjoyed picking and drying yarrow and nettle leaves. I summarized a few of my favorite tea mixes during pregnancy below. I hope you can give the meadows around you a try in foraging for herbs for women. If you are unsure consult an herbalist before you venture out or choose the forests to ensure no chemical residue in your herbs. Frontier sells many of the herbs I use in 1lb bags – enough to mix a tea for you and the mama’s in your community. If you are local to the KMC please inquire with me to be part of our co-op.
Here are some of my favorite blends of tea’s.
The mixes are equal parts. I store them in a large mason jar and use according to taste in either a cup or pot of tea.
Anticipation Tea:
Ladie’s Mantle
Lemon Balm
Nettle Leaf
Yarrow
(you can add smaller portions of rose, rosehip, silverweed, peppermint, or lavender) research which herb fits your specific ailments. for me it was adding silverweed suggested by my midwife that helped with relaxing and cramping)
Four weeks before birth I will drink around 2-3 cups of this mix a day:
Birthing Tea:
Ladie’s Mantle
Lemon Balm
Red Raspberry Leaves
Nettle Leaf
After Birth to help with healthy hormone balance, milk production, and healthy shrinking of my uterus I will drink this tea:
Post-partum Tea:
Sheperd’s Purse
Ladie’s Mantle
Common Horsetail
Daisy
Lemon Balm
(optional: Fennel – to aid with digestion)
Women who’ve inspired my journey with herbs this year were my friend Eva of Picky Redhead. She introduces herbs in a very artistic way via her Facebook page, grows lavender at her Georgia home and uses her herbs in beauty products. My friend Eva Smith who writes about Simplicity on her blog wrote a post with great detail about many of the herbs I mentioned in this post. I hope you enjoy their knowledge as much as I do.
Good News. If you live in Germany they blend the very teas I mentioned for you directly at the Apotheke. Just tell them you want equal parts of the above herbs and the total amount and you don’t have to buy the herbs separately.
Thank you for reading
xoxo,
Sabine.
About the Author: Sabine Bryant is the designer and creator of Kinderbonnets. She currently resides in Germany with her family of 5. Aloha Werkstatt Blog shares her inspiration for Kinderbonnets, environmentally friendly life choices, and creative craft projects inspired by the simplicity of nature, and love for gathering amongst women and families of young children – to inspire a sense of self-sufficiency, creativity, and less materialism.
