Drops Of Freedom

Choosing oils to have on hand for labor and delivery can be a bit overwhelming.

These are the top 4 "Birth Kit" Oils that I recommend to all of my clients.

PEPPERMINT
Peppermint can be useful for mothers when in labor as it can help relieve
mild nausea, head and neck tension and mild muscle aches.

CLARY SAGE
Clary Sage’s calming aroma helps to balance our emotions. It can be used
when you want to increase surges and to help readiness for labor. Apply to
lower abdomen, the back of neck and inner ankles to relieve mild aches.

FRANKINCENSE
Frankincense is one of the most precious essential oils and often sought out
to strengthen our resolve, stay focused through surges/contractions.

LAVENDER
feelings, relieve tension, and lighten the emotional intensity. It has been
found that lavender was most effective to calm down surges if the mother is
exhausted and requires some sleep.

Which oils did you have in your birth kit?

Want customized help with Oils for pregnancy, birth, and beyond? As a Midwife, this is one of my passions and I would love to help! Email me at [email protected]

Want to get a little nerdy 🤓 and talk about how the Limbic System actually works?

Well, let’s dive in!

As a person inhales an essential oil, the molecules of the oil go into the back of each nostril to the epithelium patch where the molecules attach to receptors on the cilia hairs. These convert to nerves that send the odor information to the olfactory bulb in the brain. This bulb communicates directly with the amygdala, hippocampus, and other brain structures.

Still with me? 🙃🙃🙃 Good! Getting to the good stuff - promise!

The amygdala is the center for emotions in the limbic system and it links our sense of smell to our ability to learn emotionally. (Hello👋 EMOTIONAL BRAIN)

The ability to link information and emotions is why essential oils are a powerful partner in creating and maintaining emotional health.
The capacity to link information and emotions is why essential oils are such a powerful partner in creating and maintaining emotional health.

This is EXACTLY why smells will trigger memories more than seeing an image, tasting food, or even listening to music!

☀️Some of the most popular oils to start to anchor your emotional brain are citrus oils, as they provoke happy, uplifting, and supportive emotions in most people.

Using oils during pregnancy, birth and beyond is a powerful way to care for you and your babies emotional health.

What are your favorite oils to use and how do they make you feel?

Essential oils contain massive concentrations of powerful plant chemicals and can stimulate the subconscious with their scents bringing feelings of alertness, happiness, calm, relaxation, or sleepiness.

💫 These aromas can elicit powerful physiologic, mental, and emotional responses.

By using aromatherapy to keep negative states of being, such as stress, tension, and sleeplessness, at bay, we can boost our overall health.

👋 Hello Lavender and Wild Orange! Where have you been all my life? 😍😍😍

Did you know that inhaling your essential oils was an excellent way to support your emotional AND physical health during pregnancy, birth, and beyond? ...our bodies are SO incredible!

Okay, I want to know...what is your favorite diffuser blend?

We love essential oils!

Here are some of our favorites that are great during pregnancy and the postpartum period:
💜 Whisper: Supports hormone balance. Great throughout pregnancy, the beginning stages of labor and postpartum
🧡 Wild orange: Helps energy, lifts mood, and helps with fluid retention. Drop a few drops in water and drink away!
💚 Fennel: Promotes milk production
💛 Ginger: Great for morning sickness and nausea during labor
💙 Deep Blue: Soothes sore muscles

These are just a few of the many great oils and blends! What are some of your favorites?

Have you ever noticed that newborns have a unique, almost intoxicating smell?

Did you know that your baby's scent has an essential biological function?

Bonding:

Moms and babies are wired by nature to recognize each other's smell. These smells cause the two of you to bond strongly, right away. Nuzzling your baby's head feels natural because it is essential to bonding, breastfeeding, and a safe third stage.

Safe third stage:

During the third stage, the olfactory system expects certain cues – these cues are supplied by the smell of your baby's head as you snuggle with him or her after birth. It's an even stronger cue than breastfeeding.

This trigger to your olfactory system and limbic system cues a massive rush of oxytocin, the "mothering hormone." Oxytocin causes your uterus to contract, which shears the placenta from the uterus wall and forces an instant constriction of the blood vessels running to the placenta. This means a safe, effective third stage of labor for you (ODent, 2013).

High levels of oxytocin are also crucial for your mental/emotional well-being and for your baby. Your high levels of oxytocin increase your baby's levels of oxytocin, which causes a stronger bond. It's what's responsible for the euphoria felt after natural childbirth. All this is triggered by snuggling and smelling your baby.

God's built-in safety and reward system.

There is so much skepticism surrounding the usage of essential
oils during pregnancy. Are they safe? Will they harm my baby?

These are all excellent questions that need to be asked! And answered!

So, are essential oils safe during pregnancy? Yes. And No

There are many factors we must consider. The safety of essential oils lies in the purity, the growing/harvesting process, distilling, and testing.

Here's the problem. Essential oils can be contaminated or adulterated. Contamination is unintentional and usually happens when there are inexperienced personnel and insufficient equipment being used. Adulteration is intentional, lowering the quality of a substance by adding another substance to it.

Experts estimate nearly 80% of all essential oils on the market are adulterated in some way. Companies will adulterate essential oils because it's an easy way to increase profits and save on resources. But when essential oils are adulterated, and substances are added, they become fabricated and even harmful. This is a huge concern for everyone, but it is especially concerning during pregnancy.

I like to compare it to an infant car seat: the amount of time and testing standards that go into creating a safe seat for your baby is very important. Just like we would never use a non-tested unsafe car seat, we should never use unsafe oils during pregnancy.

As a Midwife, I have spent many hours researching which oils I feel comfortable recommending, and doTERRA wins every time.

So to answer the question above, no, not all oils are safe during pregnancy.

However, ALL the doTERRA oils are safe during pregnancy, birth, and beyond when diluted and used as directed.

Stay tuned to this page to learn more about which oils I recommend and how you can use them safely and effectively during your pregnancy and birth.

Now, I want to hear from YOU! Tell me what you would love to learn more about when using oils during your pregnancy, birth, and beyond. 😊

There are so many great dōTERRA products that we can stock up on at this time of year and in my opinion, the Breathe Respiratory Drops are a must-have for sure. The Breathe drops are infused with select oils from the popular blend Breathe, and they provide quick relief and cooling benefits to help maintain easy breathing.

👏 For your older kiddos, pop a few drops in their backpack and they can use them to support mental clarity as well!

Advise them to pop one during a quiz or test and they will be breathing easy and thinking clearly in no time.

Do you love Breathe drops as much as I do?

Hands down, (pun intended!) the On Guard Hand Sanitizing Mist as well as the On Guard Hand Sanitizing Wipes are probably two of my most favorite and most used dōTERRA products of all time!

👉 They are both ideal for on the go situations, so throw one of each in your child’s backpack and they are all set!

The sanitizing mist can be spritzed on hands to keep them clean and the wipes can be used when soap and water are not available and (BONUS!) are biodegradable.

Did you know these 2 products will kill 99% of germs? With everything kids seem to bring home with them, that is a statistic I can get behind.

🧐 What would you put in your kids backpack, the mist or wipes?

We are going from the best part of the school day, to possibly the worst: homework.

UGH.😫😫😫

While children and parents alike fight against homework, oils are here to make it a bit easier.

To set the mood for a study session or for time to get down to business give this a try!

Diffuse:
💧2 drops Rosemary
💧2 drops Peppermint
💧2 drops Wild Orange

What helps you and your family focus? Share with us below!

Ah, the best part of the school day: lunchtime.

What’s in their lunchbox?

🚀 Well if you are a dōTERRA parent or guardian, then there is probably a PB Assist Jr. sachet in your child’s lunchbox. If not, then there should be! Your kids will love to take this Probiotic powder that tastes like a pixie stick without the j***y ingredients.

PB Assist Jr. includes 5 billion live cells of a blend of 6 different probiotic strains that were specifically chosen for their benefits among children. With a natural Strawberry Melon flavor, you can bet your child will love to take it and you can feel good about all of the numerous benefits of maintaining a healthy GI tract in your little one.

Mom Tip: If your little one doesn’t like to shoot it down the hatch, mix with 4 oz of water, juice or beverage of choice or in yogurt, smoothies or breakfast cereal.

Do your kids take probiotics?