GUIDE TO HOMEOPATHY FOR PREGNANCY

Full index of the Guide are available…here

SYMPTOMS THAT MAY BE EXPERIENCED DURING PREGNANCY

A

Abandoned feeling: Pulsatilla

Acne, with red, painful eruptions: Belladonna
Acne, on the chin and jaw line: Sepia

Abdomen, abdominal soreness, bruised sensation: Arnica, Sepia
Abdomen, bearing down type pains: Chamomilla, Pulsatilla, Sepia
Abdomen, bloated and hard: Ant tart, Arg nit, Carbo veg, China
Abdomen, bloated, better for belching: Ant tart, Arg nit, Carbo veg
Abdomen, bloated, not any better for belching: China
Abdomen, feels flattened: Pulsatilla
Abdomen, pains after grief: Arsenicum
Abdomen, pains, cramping and griping: Arsenicum, Gelsemium
Abdomen, tearing pain in one spot: Pulsatilla
Abdomen, tight, brittle, over strained sensation: Apis
Abdomen, spasmodic pains, with chills, perhaps after anger: Bryonia
Abdomen, walls feel bruised: Pulsatilla

Affection, loss of, for loved ones: Aconite, Sepia

Anger, irritability: Chamomilla, Ignatia, Nux vomica, Sepia

Ankle, pain with swelling: Lycopodium

Anxiety, general: Ant tart, Aconite, Ignatia
Anxiety, about domestic matters: Calc carb, Pulsatilla
Anxiety, intense, lasting 2-3 hours: Ant tart
Anxiety, with fear and restlessness: Aconite
Anxiety, after emotional upset: Ignatia

B

Back pain, general: Arg nit
Back pain,as if broken: Phosphorus
Back pain, lumbar: Belladonna, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla, Rhus tox
Back pain, burning, lumbar: Rhus tox
Back pain, dragging, lumbar: Belladonna, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla, Rhus tox
Back pain, rheumatic: Aconite, Rhus tox

Belching: Ant tart, Carbo veg, China, Lycopodium
Belching, after over eating: Bryonia
Belching, bitter, nauseating: Bryonia
Belching, gives relief: Ant tart
Belching, gives temporary relief: Carbo veg
Belching, sour: Nux vomica
Belching, sour and empty: Carbo veg
Belching, with heartburn: Natrum mur
Belching, sweet: Natrum mur

Bladder; cystitis: Calendula
Bladder; cystitis, after intercourse: Staphisagria
Bladder; cystitis, with intense burning before, during and after urination: Cantharis
Bladder, crampy: Lycopodium
Bladder; straining to urinate, with no success: Belladonna, Cantharis, Pulsatilla
Bladder, desire to urinate, with no success: Lycopodium
Bladder; frequent urge to urinate: Aconite, Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Sulphur
Bladder, frequent, urination at night: Phosphorus
Bladder; involuntary, urination: Arsenicum, Belladonna, Pulsatilla, Natrum mur, Sepia
Bladder; urination, painful: Pulsatilla, Nux vomica, Staphisagria, Sulphur

Bleeding, uterine: Apis, Chamomilla, Ipecac, Phosphorus
Bleeding, uterine, when first period would be due: Calc carb
Bleeding, uterine, in the third, fifth or seventh month: Sepia
Bleeding, uterine, after shock, fright or bad news: Ignatia
Bleeding, uterine, after over exertion: Arnica
Bleeding, uterine, after injury or physical shock: Arnica
Bleeding, uterine, better for lying down: Ignatia
Bleeding, uterine, painless, steady flow at sixth month, Phosphorus
Bleeding, uterine, threatened miscarriage: Phosphorus, Sepia

Breasts, abscess, painful: Hepar sulph
Breasts, mastitis, infection, painful, pale breasts worse any motion: Bryonia
Breasts, mastitis, infection, painful, hot, throbbing breasts: Belladonna
Breasts, pain: Belladonna, Bryonia, Calc Carb, Calendula, Pulsatilla, Sepia
Breasts, pain, hard knots in: Sepia
Breasts, pain, neuralgic: Pulsatilla
Breast, pain under nipples: Calendula

Breathing, asthmatic, wheezing: Carbo veg
Breathing, difficult: Lycopodium, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla
Breathing difficult, due to upward pressure from baby: Nux vomica

Breathlessness on exertion: Carbo veg

C

Chilliness, after broken sleep, anxiety: Pulsatilla

Clumsiness: Calc carb

Cramps: Calc carb, Mag phos, Phosphorus

Colicky pains, after emotional upsets: Arsenicum, Ignatia

Constipation: Sepia, Pulsatilla

Cough: Ant tart, Bryonia, Drosera, Phosphorus

Cravings for odd (indigestible) things: Sepia

D

Dandruff, with increased tendency for headaches: Calc carb

Delirium: Belladonna

Diarrhea: Apis, Chamomilla, China, Phosphorus
Diarrhea, anus feels open: Apis
Diarrhea with colicky pains: Chamomilla
Diarrhea with weakness from dehydration: China
Diarrhea, with burning: Phosphorus

Drinks, craves cold drinks: Phosphorus
Drinks, craves, alcoholic: Nux vomica
Drinks, increased thirst; Phosphorus

E

Eclampsia: Apis, Cantharis

Edema: Apis, Arsenicum, Natrum mur, Rhus tox

Esophagus, burning in: Arsenicum

Excitable, easily: Aconite, Gelsemium

Eyes, inflammation of the retina: Apis, Arsenicum, Cantharis, Gelsemium
Eyes, sunken and dim after broken sleep, anxiety: Pulsatilla
Eyes, visual disturbances: Calc carb, Gelsemium, Pulsatilla
Eyes, double vision: Belladonna, Gelsemium
Eyes, vision, misty: Calc carb

F

Face, blue discoloration: Phosphorus
Face, yellowish brown spots: Sepia
Face, pain in: Ignatia, Sepia
Face, pain in, with redness, after broken sleep, anxiety: Pulsatilla
Face; swollen: Phosphorus

Fainting: Arsenicum, Belladonna, Nux vomica, Lachesis, Pulsatilla, Sepia

Fears and phobias: Aconite, Arsenicum

Fear of drinking water: Phosphorus

Feet, cold: Lycopodium
Feet, cramping of the toes or soles: Calc carb
Feet, lame feeling: Silica
Feet, tearing pain: Phosphorus
Feet, shooting pain: Phosphorus

Fetal motion, early, causes heart palpitations: Sulphur
Fetal motion, mother is too sensitive to it: Sepia
Fetal motion, like a fist: Sulphur
Fetal motion, hurts mother: Arnica, Pulsatilla, Sepia, Silica, Staphisagria
Fetal motion, causes nausea and vomiting: Arnica
Fetal motion, violent: Arsenicum, Lycopodium, Silica
Fetal motion, like somersaults: Lycopodium
Fetal position, as if lying transverse: Arnica
Fetal position, breech: Pulsatilla
Fetal position, abnormal: Aconite, Pulsatilla

Fever, intermittent, in early months with threatened miscarriage: Pulsatilla

Fingers, tingling and numb: Lachesis, Lycopodium, Sepia

Food, aversion to: Ant-tart, Ipecac, Lycopodium, Natrum mur, Sepia
Food, aversion to bread: Ant-tart, Natrum mur, Sepia
Food, aversion to even the thought or smell of it: Sepia

Food, craves salty food: Natrum mur
Food, craves sour things: Sepia
Food, craves vinegar, pickles, acidic things: Sepia

Food, eating bread, aggravates: Ant tart, Sepia
Food, eating fruit, leads to gas: China

Food, loathing for: Ipecac, Sepia

Food, slow to digest: Nux vomica

Fright, ailments after getting a fright or emotional shock: Gelsemium, Ignatia

G

Grief bring on pains: Arsenicum
Grief, with weeping, yawning, sighing or hiccoughing: Ignatia
Grief, silent, stoical: Natrum mur

H

Hair, falling out: Lachesis, Natrum mur, Sepia.

Headaches: Belladonna, Bryonia, Calc carb, Chamomilla, Mag phos, Pulsatilla, Sepia
Head, feels enlarged, expanded: Arg nit

Head, feels it will burst: Lycopodium

Head pain, throbbing, with heat: Belladonna
Head pain, worse for least motion, even of the eyes: Bryonia
Head pain, tearing, stitching, right side: Sepia
Head pain, better for fresh air: Pulsatilla

Heartburn: Apis, Arsenicum, Carbo veg, Merc viv, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla
Heartburn, with palpitations: Natrum mur

Heart, anxiety felt in the region of: Aconite
Heart, palpitations: Natrum mur, Phosphorus, Sepia, Sulphur
Heart, palpitations, form first movements of the fetus: Sulphur

Hemorrhoids: Nux vomica, Sepia
Hemorrhoids, appear during first month: Lachesis

Herpes outbreak: Sepia
Herpes outbreak, after sun exposure: Natrum mur

Hiccoughs: Nux vomica, Ignatia
Hiccoughs, after emotional shock: Ignatia

Hot flashes, in pregnancy: Lachesis, Sulphur

Hunger, with no appetite: Natrum mur
Hunger, painful, with no appetite: Sepia

Hysteria: Gelsemium, Ignatia

I

Indignation: Natrum mur, Staphisagria

Insomnia: Aconite, Belladonna,
Insomnia, after a fright: Ignatia
Insomnia, due to leg cramps: Calc Carb, Chamomilla, Mag phos

J

Jaundice: Aconite, Nux vomica, Phosphorus
Jaundice, with anemia: Phosphorus

Jealousy: Apis, Lachesis

K

Kidney infections, with fluid retention: Apis

Kidney pain, shooting, during sixth week of pregnancy: Ipecac

L

Lameness, all over: Ruta

Legs, cramps: Calc Carb, Gelsemium, Mag phos, Sepia
Legs, cramps in calves: Calc Carb, Sepia
Legs, cramps in calves, third trimester: Sepia
Legs, heavy, varicose: Arnica, Arsenicum, Carbo veg, Pulsatilla
Legs, sciatica: Gelsemium
Legs, varicose veins: Arnica, Arsenicum, Carbo veg, Pulsatilla
Legs, weakness, thighs: Ipecac
Legs, weary: Pulsatilla, Sepia

Ligaments, weak or strained: Ruta

Lips, bluish: Phosphorus

M

Miscarriage, threatened, after:
Anemia: Carbo veg, China, Sepia
Anger,intense: Aconite, Chamomilla
Anger, suppressed: Staphisagria
Cold, becoming very: Aconite
Extreme exhaustion: Merc viv, Sepia
Falling: Arnica
Flu: Gelsemium
Fright: Aconite, Gelsemium, Ignatia
Grief: Ignatia, Natrum mur, Staphisagria
Grief, suppressed: Ignatia, Natrum mur
Hearing unexpected bad news: Gelsemium, Ignatia
History of miscarriages, Sepia
Injuries: Arnica, Rhus tox, Pulsatilla
Long term bleeding: Lycopodium
Over excitement: Gelsemium, Silica
Over exertion: Arnica, Bryonia, Rhus tox
Over heating: Bryonia
Physical trauma: Arnica
Prolapse of the uterus: Nux vomica, Sepia
Shock: Arnica
Vomiting, prolonged: Ipecac

Miscarriage, threatened, in:
First month: Apis
Early months: Apis, Sepia
Sixth week: Sepia
Second or Third month : Apis, Sepia
Third month: Merc viv
Fourth month: Apis, Sepia
Fifth – seventh months: Apis, Sepia
Fifth – sixth month: Arsenicum
Sixth month, with pains: Ipecac
Seventh month: Ruta, Sepia
Eighth month: Pulsatilla

Miscarriage, threatened, with:
Convulsions: Ipecac
Cough: Ipecac
Dilated cervix: Pulsatilla
Fear of death: Aconite, Arsenicum
Flow, worse at 3am: Nux vomica
Flow, dark, coagulated: Pulsatilla
Flow, bright alternating with dark, may have clots on motion: Chamomilla
Flow, stops but returns with twice the force: Pulsatilla
Pain, sharp, around navel: Ipecac
Pain, neuralgic: Sulphur
Placenta previa: Nux vomica, Sepia
Profuse bleeding: Ipecac, Phosphorus
Sensation everything would fall out: Sepia
Urinate, constant desire to: Cantharis

Morning sickness: Arsenicum, Ant tart, Ipecac, Merc viv, Natrum mur, Nux vomica, Sulphur
Morning sickness, constant vomiting with no relief: Ipecac
Morning sickness, vomiting watery fluid, frothy watery mucus: Natrum mur
Morning sickness, vomiting small amounts, watery, faint, sickish spells before noon: Sulphur
Morning sickness, vomiting with mucus: Ant tart, Drosera

N

Nausea: Ipecac, Nux vomica, Sepia
Nausea, after broken sleep, anxiety: Pulsatilla
Nausea, after ice-cream, fatty foods: Pulsatilla
Nausea, after over eating: Bryonia, Ipecac
Nausea, after rich food, coffee: Nux vomica
Nausea, constant: Ipecac, Sepia

Navel (belly button) protrudes at night: Sulphur

Neck, pulsating carotids: Gelsemium, Phosphorus

Nervousness: Aconite, Arsenicum, Gelsemium

Nails, bluish: Phosphorus

Nose, nosebleeds: Sepia, Phosphorus
Nose, nosebleeds, after injury: Arnica
Nose, oversensitive to smells: Sepia

O

Oversensitivity, generally to stimuli: Aconite
Oversensitivity, to smell of food: Sepia

P

Pelvis, bones feel loose, with lameness: Calc carb
Pelvis, bones feel loose, with stiffness on first moving: Rhus tox
Pelvis, bones feel loose, with pain between right illium and sacrum: Arnica

Pica: Sepia

Placenta, bleeding, after separation: Ipecac
Placenta, pains, as if ulcerated: Pulstilla
Placenta previa: Ipecac, Nux vomica, Phosphorus, Sepia

Pulse, small after broken sleep and anxiety: Pulsatilla
Pulse, small and slow: Gelsemium

R

Respiration, asthmatic, wheezing: Carbo veg
Respiration, difficult: Arsenicum, Lycopodium, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla
Respiration, difficult due to sticky, stringy yellow green mucus: Kali bich
Respiration, improves when sitting upright: Arsenicum

Restlessness: Aconite, Arsenicum, Merc viv, Rhus tox

Restless legs, when overheated: Sulphur

S

Sacrum, pains: Ledum, Hypericum
Sacrum pains, gnawing, stiff, extending down thigh, worse standing: Ledum
Sacrum pains, shooting along nerves: Hypericum

Sadness: China, Natrum mur, Pulsatilla, Sepia
Sadness, after dehydration, loss of fluids: China
Sadness, unexpressed about past events: Natrum mur
Sadness, better for company and fresh air: Pulsatilla
Sadness, with indifference to loved ones: Sepia

Salivation, increased: Ant tart, Merc viv

Sciatica: Hypericum, Mag phos

Sexual intercourse, intense desire for: Belladonna, Lachesis, Merc viv, Phosphorus
Sexual intercourse, painful: Staphisagria

Sinusitus with yellow bland discharge: Pulsatilla
Sinusitus with tough, stringy, yellow green discharge: Kali bich

Skin, yellowish: Phosphorus

Sleepiness: Carbo veg, Gelsemium, Sepia

Soreness, all over: Arnica, Ruta
Soreness of muscles, flesh: Arnica
Soreness of ligaments, connective tissue: Ruta

Stomach, empty sensation in: Ignatia, Natrum mur, Pulsatilla
Stomach, bilious: Nux vomica
Stomach, burning: Arsenicum
Stomach, burning, in pylorus with vomiting
Stomach, bursting with wind: Arg nit
Stomach, crampy: Lycopodium

Stumbling, increased: Belladonna

T

Thirst, strong: Bryonia, Phosphorus

Thirstless: Apis, Pulsatilla

Toes, cramping: Calc carb, Mag phos

Tongue, tingling, after broken sleep and anxiety: Pulsatilla

Tooth, abscess: Hepar sulph, Merc viv, Silica

Toothache: Aconite, Belladonna, Calc carb, Chamomilla, Pulsatilla, Sepia
Toothache, tearing pain: Sepia

U

Urine, protein in: Calc carb, Ipecac
Urine, protein in, late stage of pregnancy, Phosphorus

Urination, difficult: Aconite, Apis, Cantharis, Lycopodium, Natrum mur, Nux vomica
Urination, escapes too quickly: Sepia
Urination, frequent urging: Nux vomica, Phosphorus
Urination, involuntary: Arsenicum, Belladonna, Pulsatilla, Natrum mur, Sepia
Urination, must wake to urinate 12 – 3am: Aconite
Urination, inability to pass urine: Lycopodium
Urination, difficult, with constant pressure and tension in the abdomen: Pulsatilla

Uterus, soreness: Arnica, Pulsatilla, Silica
Uterus, feels like it will fall out: Sepia
Uterus, inflamed: Phosphorus
Uterus, pain, burning: Bryonia
Uterus, pain, rheumatic, disturbs sleep: Pulsatilla

V

Varicose veins: Arnica, Arsenicum, Carbo veg, Nux vom, Pulsatilla
Varicose veins, on the nose: Carbo veg
Varicose veins, inflamed: Lachesis
Varicose veins, painful on, legs, thighs, vulva: Lycopodium
Varicose veins, sore, bruised, may ulcerate: Arnica
Varicose veins, with burning pains, worse on thighs: Calc carb
Varicose veins, with stinging pains: Apis
Varicose veins, with stinging, bleed easily: Pulsatilla
Varicose veins, with swelling and itching: Carbo veg
Varicose veins, with swelling, burning, itching, ulcerated, bleeding, smelly: Sulphur
Varicose veins, with vertigo: Arsenicum, Gelsemium, Ipecac, Natrum mur, Phosphorus
Varicose veins, worsen during pregnancy: Sepia

Vagina, itching, during pregnancy: Aconite, Sepia

Vaginal discharge: Pulsatilla, Sepia

Veins, swelling at the ankles: Lycopodium
Veins, jugular, motion in: Phosphorus

Vertigo: Arsenicum, Belladonna, Gelsemium, Natrum mur

Vision, visual disturbances: Calc carb, Gelsemium, Pulsatilla
Vision, double vision: Belladonna, Gelsemium
Vision; momentary blindness: Silica
Vision, vision, misty: Calc carb

Vomiting, when fetus moves: Arnica
Vomiting, after over eating: Bryonia
Vomiting, alternates between food and mucus: Natrum mur
Vomiting, food eaten long before: Pulsatilla
Vomiting, long and continued: Kali bich
Vomiting, with deathly nausea, not relieved by vomiting: Ipecac
Vomiting, milky looking vomit: Sepia
Vomiting, with mucus: Ant tart, Drosera
Vomiting persistent: Ipecac
Vomiting persistent, late afternoon and evening: Ipecac, Lachesis
Vomiting water: Sepia
Vomiting water, at night: Phosphorus
Vomiting, with burning in the pylorus: Cantharis
Vomiting, with wrenching: Arsenicum, Cantharis, Ipecac
Vomiting everything, including water: Ipecac

W

Weakness: Sepia, Sulphur
Weakness, caused by vomiting, diarrhea, loss of fluids: China
Weakness after a short walk: Calc carb

Weepiness: Apis, Ignatia, Lachesis, Natrum mur, Pulsatilla, Sepia

Weight gain, extreme: Calc carb, Sepia

Whooping cough, take if you come into contact with it: Drosera

Y

Yeast infection, with lumpy discharge: Sepia

GUIDE TO HOMEOPATHY FOR PREGNANCY

Have the pregnancy you and your baby deserve.

© Mary Aspinwall, ISHom, PCH, Registered Homeopath
(Full color pdf version available to download at the bottom of the page)

Table of Contents

Finding the perfect homeopathic match
How to use this information
Your Deluxe Kit – not just for pregnancy
Using a repertory chart
Pregnancy Symptoms
Warning signs in pregnancy
Warning signs in general
What can you treat at home
When to get professional help
“ARNICA RULES, OK!” Especially in pregnancy

Suggested further reading
Great Expectations
Homeopathy’s role in pregnancy and childbirth
Your Childbirth Kit and Guide
Breast Feeding and Homeopathy
Breastfeeding symptoms
Birth Revisited

About Mary
Your Children – from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Homeopathy and Pregnancy

Finding the perfect homeopathic match for your symptoms

Each homeopathic remedy is tested on healthy, human volunteers to see what symptoms it is capable of producing. Whatever symptoms it can produce it can also treat those same symptoms in someone who is unwell.
This is the basis for all homeopathic medicine. Like is cured by like. In fact the Greek word Homeo-pathy literally translated means ‘similar suffering’.
For over 200 years homeopaths have carefully collected huge banks of information about the symptoms homeopathically prepared substances can produce. They have also noted which remedies have successfully helped their clients in all sorts of different situations, including pregnancy.

How use the information in this book

The homeopathic remedies in your Deluxe Kit are known as polycrests. Polycrests are homeopathic remedies that are capable of beneficial effects in a wide range of situations. The following is a list of symptoms that the 36 homeopathic remedies in your Deluxe Kit can help you with during pregnancy.
You’ll notice that sometimes more than one possible remedy is listed for a particular complaint. To find out which one would work best for you, quickly scan read all the complaints to see if one particular remedy keeps coming up as a good match for what you are experiencing.
When you think you have found one, or perhaps two, that sound like they match your symptoms and how you are feeling, please read up about them in the Pregnancy Materia Medica section at the end of this list of symptoms. This will be a big help in confirming your choice. Choose the one that seems the most similar to you and your symptoms overall.

Your Deluxe Kit – not just for pregnancy

Remember your Deluxe Kit is useful for your family and friends, too
Your Deluxe Kit comes with your Guide to First Aid and Minor Illnesses.
Use this Guide to Homeopathy for Pregnancy and your Deluxe Kit for issues related specifically to your pregnancy. Use your Guide to Homeopathy for First Aid and Minor Illnesses to look after yourself, your new born baby and your whole family, too.

The advantage of using a Repertory Chart

A Repertory is the name homeopaths give to books of symptoms and the remedies that have been shown to help those symptoms. We’ve created this handy PDF download of something called a Repertory Chart just for you.
https://www.homeopathyworld.com/repchart.pdf

A Repertory Chart is the easiest way for you to keep track of which remedies are likely to be helpful. Keep a downloaded PDF of it on the desktop of your computer so you can print one out whenever you need it. You write your symptoms on the left and tick off which of your 36 remedies are helpful for each symptom. Read up about the remedies that get the most ticks and see which one is the best fit for you in your Materia Medica.

Safety First

WARNING SIGNS DURING PREGNANCY

Trust your instincts and if you think something is seriously wrong seek trusted medical advice immediately.
Take your Deluxe Kit with you and try remedies on the way.

• vaginal bleeding

• abdominal pain

• back pain at the waist (may be kidney related)

• headaches, blurred vision, swollen hands or face, chest pain (may be pre-eclmpsia)

• persistent contractions before week 37

• significant changes in the amount of time your baby moves

• any loss of amniotic fluid

• unusual or inexplicable changes or symptoms

• anxiety or depression

It is important to have a proper diagnosis and, if necessary, have your condition monitored. The additional information this provides will help in selecting the correct homeopathic remedies.

Anemia
Anemia is more common during pregnancy, so if you get dizziness and headaches, feel short of breath and look pale, you may have anemia. Good sources of iron include red meat, fish, leafy vegetables, nuts and beans. You could also try an easily absorbed iron supplement like Floridex. If in doubt get a blood test done.

Bleeding
Many women have spotting during pregnancy, but if the flow is heavier contact your medical provider. They will want to know what color the blood is, how much you are passing and whether you have any pains.

High blood sugar
May mean you have gestational diabetes. You can ask to have a glucose tolerance test if you are concerned about your sugar levels.

High fevers
Are often related to an infection and it is wise to let your medical provider know if you are experiencing intense fever.

Itching
Rashes are not usually a problem but if you are itching without any obvious eruption check in with your medical provider.

Pre-eclampsia
Is the name given to a set of symptoms after 20 weeks gestation. Namely high blood pressure, protein in the urine and sometimes, fluid retention.

Severe abdominal pain
Always seek medical attention immediately to rule out the possibility of ectopic pregnancy or threatened miscarriage.

Severe headaches
These may be a sign that your blood pressure is too high. it is important to have your blood pressure checked as high blood pressure is a symptom of pre-eclampsia.

Severe vomiting
Nausea and vomiting are not uncommon in pregnancy. One of the main risks of persistent vomiting (or sweating, diarrhea) is dehydration. Make sure you are drinking enough fluids to make up for what you lose. If you show on going signs of dehydration contact your medical provider.

Severe swelling
In the hands, feet and face may also be a sign of pre-eclampsia so seek advice from your medical provider.

WARNING SIGNS IN GENERAL

In the following situations seek expert medical help immediately:

• backache, or fever, with urinary infection
• bleeding, heavy or unexplained
• breathing, rapid shallow or difficult
• burns, severe or larger than your hand
• chest pain, severe
• confusion, following trauma or over-exposure to sun
• consciousness, lost or impaired
• convulsions delirium
• dehydration, especially in babies, small children and elderly
• drowsiness, unexplained or unexpected
• fever, above 103.5F / 40C or persistent or with stiff neck
• fits
• fluid, watery / bloody, from ears or nose following
• headache, severe
• head injury movement, full range, lost or impaired
• puncture wounds, near vital organs
• speech, lost or impaired
• stool, pale or white
• streaks, red running towards body
• swelling, rapid or severe (especially of mouth or throat)
• thirstlessness, prolonged with fever or diarrhea or vomiting
• urine, profuse or scanty or bloody
• vision, lost or impaired
• vomiting, unexpected and repeated wheezing, severe
• yellowness, of skin or eyes

WHAT YOU CAN TREAT AT HOME

Provided there are none of the warning signs mentioned above you can treat:

Minor injuries e.g. cuts, bites, stings, burns, bruises.

Acute illnesses.
The definition of an acute illness is one where you have:
A prodromal (warning) period where you just don’t feel right and know that you are coming down with something, then intensified and clear symptoms develop. You recover within 7 days or you are so seriously ill you have to be hospitalized.
These stages take place over a matter of days.
Examples of acute illnesses are the common cold; coughs; flu; food poisoning; cystitis;
infectious childhood illnesses (mumps, measles, chicken pox etc).

WHEN TO GET PROFESSIONAL HELP

Never treat serious injuries or complaints without expert help.
Serious degenerative diseases; frequently recurring symptoms; skin symptoms (including warts); asthma; hay fever; persistent constipation or abdominal pain; ulcers; lumps and bumps (apart from bruises) all need constitutional treatment by a qualified homoeopath.

If acute illnesses recur frequently, this indicates you have an underlying susceptibility and you will benefit greatly from professional homeopathic constitutional treatment.

Thinking of having Constitutional treatment? A three month Constitutional Care Plan with Mary can help you return to health, rapidly, gently and permanently. You can either meet with Mary at her downtown office in Santa Barbara, California or work with her over the phone.

Your Deluxe Family Kit is loaded with great first aid remedies that you can safely use during your pregnancy without any side effects.

Next read this amazing article on the healing power of Arnica and another daisy family remedy, Bellis perennis.

“ARNICA RULES, OK!” Especially in pregnancy…

An article by Miranda Castro, FS Hom.
I was asked recently whether there were any circumstances where homeopathy might be ‘contra-indicated’ for pregnant women. The question centered on a woman in her first trimester (she was 3 months pregnant) who had been involved in a car accident and was in a state of partial shock. She had suffered some abdominal bruising from banging into the steering wheel and was bleeding from the uterus. She was hoping that she wouldn’t miscarry, and wondered if whether it was safe to take Arnica. This is definitely one situation where a little Arnica could go a long way!
Dick Moskowitz MD, in the introduction to his book Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth writes impressively:
“I have used homeopathic remedies since 1974 in more than 800 pregnancies. I have found them to be wonderfully safe and effective in many situations in which conventional drugs and surgery are not required.”
The safety of homeopathic medicines in pregnancy has been confirmed by 200 years of homeopathic clinical practice around the world, and although we don’t know what the unborn baby of a hurt mother is going through, exactly, we do know, that if the mother is in a state of shock then something of this will almost certainly affect her child. And therefore … anything that can help the mother to heal, to feel better in herself, must and will be of benefit to the baby.
I am a self-confessed Arnica fanatic. I have been known to wax lyrical about its miraculous properties to anyone who will listen. And this is why…Arnica works! On almost anybody. It is as close to a ‘specific’ as we can get … and we homeopaths don’t have many of those. A specific medicine is one that we can give for a complaint with a high degree of certainty that it will help.
Dorothy Shepherd writes in her exquisite little book The Physician’s Posy: “You may have heard it mentioned that there are no specifics in Homeopathy, a specific being a drug which, in a doctor’s mind, as well as in those of lay people, is associated with a certain disease …There is no rule without an exception, so we are taught in grammar, and even in Homeopathy you get exceptions to rules. The best specific I know is Arnica for injuries, falls and accidents of all sorts. In the German language it is called ‘Fall Kraut’ or ‘falling herb’, to show its main action.”

For many people Arnica provides incontrovertible proof that homeopathy works. Because at the end of the day homeopathy as a healing concept is fairly fantastic.
The idea that anything so small can have an effect is weird. We have to see it to believe it. And once you have seen it work you are hooked, as many of those (of you) reading these words will agree.

It is somewhat impressive to see that egg on your child’s forehead, caused by a nasty fall, reduce and disappear altogether, in front of your very eyes, within minutes … having given him or her a single tablet of Arnica (in potency of course). There is no further pain and no discoloration. The bruising is healed from the inside. A mini-miracle.
I remember the time I stepped out to cross a road early one morning without looking, from behind a large truck. In England we can cross a road anywhere; we are not limited to ‘official crossings’. We learn to ‘stop, look and listen’ before crossing a road and hammer this into our children. Myself included! This particular morning I neither stopped, looked or listened. I just stepped out, in front of a car traveling at about 30 miles an hour. The car ran over one of my feet (and its fender smashed into my leg). I was very shaken and hurt, but I found to my surprise and great relief, that I could stand on my leg and move all the toes of my foot and so I knew that nothing had been broken. The driver of the car (a pharmacist from our local hospital!) was shaken as well, and relieved that I only wanted him to drive me home. I wanted to get at that bottle of Arnica ASAP! I stood in my sitting room and surveyed my state! I was shaking uncontrollably and crying with relief. The words “I could have died” ran through my mind over and over.
Ah-ha! I recognized my old friend Aconite. I took a single dose and the shock and trembling melted away immediately. I turned my attention to my foot. It had swelled to twice its size in a short half hour and was incredibly painful. It was starting to go nasty shades of yellow, purple and black in a small area that I knew would spread to the whole foot and up my ankle and leg over the next few hours. My shin was also painful and swollen. The pain was intense, but more of a deep soreness-and this was unusual for me. When I get hurt I usually get sharp or unbearable pains. For example, after dental treatment or if I sprain an ankle Arnica never ever works, because I do not have the bruised soreness that guides us to Arnica … and I am never stoical! This time it was different … I heard myself telling a colleague (on the phone) “I’m OK really, it doesn’t hurt that much. It could have been much worse.” Yeah, right! I took Arnica in a high potency, because of the severity of the accident and because I wanted results (I was scheduled to be the best woman, maid of honor, at my best friend’s wedding the following day).

The pain eased up within minutes and I used it as a guide as to when I should take my next dose. Initially I took it every 15 minutes or so but was soon able to reduce that to every hour or two. The swelling reduced gradually until my foot was back to normal by that evening. The discoloration did not spread but reduced to an area the size of a quarter (and disappeared altogether within a couple of days) I was also fortunate in that an osteopathic friend of mine passed by my house and gave me an adjustment that helped my body rebalance after the jar it had received during the injury.

The next day I walked up the aisle easily-and my foot fitted in those beautiful shoes I had bought especially for the event! The word miracle comes to mind once again. Even I found myself saying “Well, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked.” Right! A whole (normal sized) car ran over my foot! Cars are heavy. Feet are not.

So, let’s return to the woman who had an abdominal injury, with bruising to her abdomen followed by a passive hemorrhage. While Arnica is always great for bruising, it isn’t the only remedy and there is another one that might have been better in this situation. Bellis perennis is a remedy for bruises, especially to the abdomen, with sore bruised pains (just like Arnica), but the pains are more severe. It is also helpful for complaints of the uterus with weakness and bleeding. It is a specific for bruised soreness after abdominal surgery, and for lumps and bumps that remain after bruising. I have used it for exactly this type of deep bruised soreness in pregnancy (where Arnica did not help) and after childbirth-again, where Arnica did not help.

People who need Bellis perennis have difficulty sleeping, typically after 3 am, and I have sometimes used this symptom to confirm the need for this remedy in women who are feeling sore and bruised after childbirth.

Those needing Bellis perennis tend not to be as stoical as those needing Arnica. The typical ‘Arnica patient’ always says they are OK when they plainly aren’t OK, and this symptom alone can guide you to a successful Arnica prescription … where there is bruising to soft tissues (muscles) with sore, bruised pains.
To bring this discussion back to keynotes, I have found Bellis perennis to be almost a specific remedy for women who experience severe pains in their groin during the last few months of pregnancy, pains which come on suddenly while walking, and which are severe enough to make walking impossible until they have passed. This is due to the stretching of the ligaments and nerves of the uterus and a single dose of Bellis perennis causes the pains to pass quickly this time and helps prevent their recurrence.
When a pregnant woman takes a homeopathic remedy we can assume her unborn baby receives something of the same remedy – even if it is a secondary effect. Logically speaking, if a woman is feeling unwell or is hurt, and the remedy stimulates her vital force, her inner healer, then this positive response can only be of benefit to her baby.
Arnica alone is a little wonderful remedy during pregnancy (for minor injuries, for discomfort with an active baby who kicks out causing some soreness); during labor (where it can speed labor and help the muscles to do their work with a minimum of physical stress and strain); and after the birth (with healing strained tissues). But don’t forget Arnica’s close friend, Bellis perennis, for when Arnica isn’t as helpful as expected. Learn your remedies and use them wisely and they will become like dear old friends you cannot imagine how you ever lived without!
Mary says: Bellis perennis is a wonderful third trimester and post-partum remedy and it is included in our Childbirth kit.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

Miranda Castro is the author of a really wonderful book called:
Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth and Your Baby’s First Year
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin; 2 edition (April 15, 1993) ISBN no 0312088094

Miranda’s Mother and Baby book is a treasure trove of practical, healing and homeopathic information for every parent. The layout is similar to Miranda’s earlier book “The Complete Homoeopathy Handbook” with separate sections for symptoms and medicines. It encourages a very individualized and accurate method of remedy selection and gives example cases. There are sections on preparing for life after birth; pregnancy; birth and the post-natal period. The latter has particularly helpful common sense advice with “dos and don’ts” for a wide-range of possible complaints.

I also highly recommend another Miranda best seller:
The Complete Homeopathy Handbook
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin; 1 edition (November 15, 1991) ISBN no 0312063202.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Mary’s personal story about the birth of her first child
Our first baby was to be born in London, at home in our bedroom, with a fire roaring in the grate. Lavender oil would burn soothingly in the background. There would be a constant supply of hot water for long luxurious en-suite baths. Homoeopathic remedies were all close at hand.
The bed was thrown out, in case anyone had the temerity to suggest that I lay down on it. This was to be an active birth. My head was full of well-rehearsed yoga positions and breathing, breathing, breathing.
Expecting, they say. She’s expecting. I was expecting…but, I wasn’t expecting to be ordered to hospital, to be sliding down the icy pathway in my dressing-gown and slippers, in the thickest pea-souper London had seen for decades, at five in the morning. To be sitting in the back of an ambulance, skidding hither and yon at ten miles an hour. To be taking great lung full of gas and air and to be, hush my mouth, enjoying it.
The Labor ward was on the thirteenth floor. The gas and air was working so well that I didn’t even fret about the tale I’d heard of the woman who got stuck between floors and was delivered by her husband’s best friend, whilst the husband ran about like a headless chicken trying to find them. Although I gave it a fleeting thought as the porter wheeled me out.
Seeing a mother holding her new-born to her breast, I pointed at her like a football hooligan, shouting, “I want one of them.” High spirits. Perhaps because I wasn’t expecting that having already been in labor for two days that there were still another six head-banging hours to go. Coming up for the sixty hour mark, I asked if someone could get the ventouse (a suction pump to lure the baby’s head out). I had decided enough already with natural child-birth! There was a ventouse somewhere, but no-one was quite sure how to use it. They had forceps. At the sight of them, suddenly my resolve returned and I finally remembered my homeopathic remedies . I took one Pulsatilla 200c because I felt so weepy and helpless and one Arnica 200c to give me second wind and to everyone’s astonishment a child was born within two minutes.
Admittedly a blue one with a nasty-looking ridge in its forehead, who was immediately whisked off to be sorted out, but… A GIRL. She came back to me from the ministrations at the stainless steel table to lie on my belly. Pink now, but the photo opportunity passed us by. The camera poised for action, sat at home on the shelf. She was named Martha after an old Tim Buckley song that I love, about an old flame that rings up his, by now, married ex and tries to entice her out for coffee with him:

“Those were days of roses,
Of poetry and prose,
And Martha all I had was you,
And all you had was me.
There were no tomorrows,
We packed away our sorrows,
And we saved them for a rainy day.”

Our days of roses had begun, Martha, although for a while I called you Marmoset, because it suited you better.

The delicious stew put into the oven, on low, with the first strong contractions, had now been cooking for a record three days and I was ready for it. The whole pot. I had missed lunch and turned my nose up at what passes for dinner in such institutions, because I had been expecting they would let me leave at any moment. Within the hour I would be up to my ears in that delicious gravy, mopping it up with chunks of crusty, old, reheated French stick.
I waited obediently for our permission to be excused. Permission denied. Surprise, surprise, I had a temperature. It might have been an infection or it might have been the fact that the place was heated to Finnish sauna level and that having run the equivalent of two full marathons, gynecologically speaking, I hadn’t had the strength to open the patient- proof windows. I pointed this out, but being on the verge of tears at the thought of my disintegrating stew, I sounded as weak as the proverbial kitten and did my case no good at all. I was to stay in, at least over-night.
I begged pathetically for food and they said, “Haven’t you just had dinner? “, but grudgingly rustled up two tiny packets of Special K low calorie breakfast cereal. It went against the grain to eat it. I munched glumly. All my life I had sought out maximum calorie content, for all I knew I might expend more calories chewing the stuff than I would actually gain.
Martha and I spent a fitful night in our own private oven. She in her little see-through plastic box, me precariously perched on my high narrow bed. Occasionally she would wake crying and I would put her tenderly to my breast, where she howled like a banshee. From nowhere, nurses sprang forth offering conflicting advice on how to “latch her on”; proffering bottles of formula; suggesting (horror of horrors) that they take her away to the nursery, so that I could get some well-deserved rest. I explained separation was not an option. We were an item.

At 6 am, just as deep sleep settled upon our weariness, we were woken by the breakfast trolley. Hunger wiped out irritation at the early morning call, but once breakfast had been devoured and temperatures checked, further sleep eluded us. Time crept along. Much later than expected our hero, Martha’s father, came to rescue us from the fog-bound tower, sheepishly carrying a white plastic laundry basket stuffed with a couple of old blankets.

“Sorry I’m late. Couldn’t find the Moses basket anywhere.”
So pleased was I to see our means of escape that I didn’t even snap, but beatifically bestowed my sweetest Madonna (and child) smile. Surely Martha was just as keen as I was to get home. We would both me more relaxed and then the feeding would just…happen. Cut to the living- room. A fire burns brightly in the grate. A mother rocks determinedly back and forth in her nursing chair, a thoughtful gift from her mother-in-law. As she rocks she weeps. From a far- flung corner of the house her daughter weeps too.
This feeding business. This basic, rudimentary feeding business had not just…happened. Martha had only to smell me and she screamed blue murder. When I put her to my breast she notched the volume up to double blue murder. When her Dad took her on endless circuits of her new home the wailing reduced to an almost tolerable level, at least from where I was sitting it did.

We endured this for three days.
I narrowly avoided mastitis with a timely dose of Bryonia and then “the milk came in” and saved our collective sanity. From that day forth Martha became a prodigious guzzler, the star turn of our breast-feeding support group. It was easy … no muss, no fuss, if she showed the slightest sign of discontent, I stuck her up my jumper.Some visitors were surprised by the choice of name. “You don’t hear that very often these days,” they said, then fearing I might take it amiss, added” Lovely old-fashioned name.” One said, “Mary and Martha … the two sisters who cared for Jesus. How biblical. I didn’t think you were particularly religious.”
It came to me from the mists of time that Mary was Mary Magdalene, whose poor sister Martha did all the cooking and cleaning only to be told (rather unfairly, I always felt) that she had her priorities askew. Sure enough when I checked it out in that (never once consulted) Book of Names I found to my consternation that Martha was indeed the patron saint of housewives. I comforted myself with the thought if ever a housewife needed divine intervention, ‘twas I.

The truly divine interventions of my earlier story “Great Expectations” of course, were those of the remedies. I designed my Childbirth kit to try to encourage more women to turn to homoeopathy to ease the often challenging passage of new lives into this world. I squeezed the most vital information into an easy to follow leaflet and stuck it in a box.

HOMEOPATHY’S ROLE IN PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

Constitutional treatment during pregnancy is of enormous benefit to both mother and belly- dweller. Having homeopathic childbirth remedies with you during and after labor is a wonderful way to be prepared to meet both your needs and your baby’s.

For the upcoming birth of your baby having yourChildbirth kit means you will have the main remedies you’ll need close to hand. Buy it at least four weeks before the due date to give you time to study the leaflet, ahead of the birth.

Your Childbirth Kit

BIRTHING ADVICE IN A NUTSHELL

Before the birth:
Practice breathing (claimed by many to be the most effective method of pain relief); relaxation; visualization; talking to the baby; birth positions; stretching; pelvic floor exercises. Attend a yoga class which puts emphasis on birth or buy The Active Birth Book by Janet Balaskas. Attend ante-natal classes together with your birth assistant. In late pregnancy (but not before the sixth month) try drinking raspberry leaf tea, which reputedly tones up the uterine muscles. Prepare a birth plan and write down any particular wishes you have for the birth, you can discuss this with anyone who will be attending the birth, but do so before labor starts, if at all possible.

First stage:
Characterized by low adrenalin. A time of waiting whilst the body does the work of opening up. Offer minimum resistance. Don’t make predictions about how far along you are or how long it will take to become fully dilated. Shut out your rational mind. Breathe in as the contraction comes and out during. Ask your birth assistant to remind you if they notice you are forgetting to breathe or holding your breath because of the pain. It may help if they breathe with you. Use a clock with a second hand to time the average length of particularly painful contractions; just knowing how long they will last helps you to pace yourself and to remember that they won’t last forever! Stay upright whenever possible. Keep moving. Minimum distractions and interruptions. Maximum comfort, support, encouragement and reassurance. Sip watered down fruit juice between contractions to keep energy and blood sugar levels up. Remember to take Bach Flower Rescue Remedy in water.

Transition:
Point where your cervix is fully dilated and nature of contractions begin to change to those which will push baby out. Potentially the most difficult time because of these conflicting messages. Many feel the need for pain relief at this time. Attendants should reassure; suggest a visit to the toilet (for a change of scene); help with breathing; encourage mother to visualize baby and talk to it. Remember Rescue Remedy.

Second stage:
Characterized by high adrenalin as mother takes a more active role. The pushing will just happen. If for any reason labor seems too fast, get down on all fours with bottom high as possible, head low; panting also helps slow things down. If contractions have many peaks divide your out breath; as if blowing out separate candles.

Third stage:
Particularly in hospital, Syntometrine is routinely injected into the mother to speed up the delivery of the placenta and Vitamin K is given to the baby. If you decide against either or both it is easiest to put it into a written birth plan. It is not unusual for contractions to stop for a while before pushing the placenta out naturally.

Medical Interventions:
Before the birth become as well-informed as possible about the pros and cons. For your own peace of mind, if for any reason intervention is suggested, rather than requested by you, ask for:

A clear explanation of the problem
Information about any possible alternatives.
A time limit on your decision that will not endanger either the baby or you.

BREAST FEEDING AND HOMEOPATHY

Safe, natural, effective medicine for when things go wrong.
Here is what www.kellymom.com had to say about breastfeeding and homeopathy:
“Homeopathic remedies are reportedly very safe for nursing moms and babies because the remedies (by definition of homeopathy) contain only very dilute versions of the active substances. Many lactation consultants have used or recommended homeopathic remedies to their clients”.

Mary says:
“Shortly after I gave birth to my first child over 18 years ago, I had a terrible attack of mastitis, which made breast-feeding excruciatingly painful for me. Luckily before the birth, I had studied Homeopathy and I took just one dose of Bryonia (made from a very diluted tincture of white hops) and the pain and swelling disappeared completely and normal service could be resumed without wincing.

At this stage in my life I have lost count of the number of times I (and my family) have had reason to be extremely grateful to Homeopathy. Here are some recommendations to help keep things flowing so that both mother and baby enjoy breast-feeding at its best.”

Mastitis
If your breast is hard, swollen, hot, red and throbbing and you feel feverish try Belladonna 30c. If it is hard, swollen and hot, but pale in color, rather than red and you cannot bear the slightest movement of the breast take Bryonia 30c.
If the pains radiate out from the nipple, Phytolacca 30c or 200c (in our Childbirth Kit).

Breast Abscesses
If there is smelly, burning pus take Merc viv 30c. If there is pus, the area is very painful and the mother feels chilly, Hepar sulph 30c will help. If the abscess has pus that is not smelly and strangely painless, but slow to heal, take Silica 30c.

Milk Production
If you are over-producing take one Pulsatilla 30c. If you are under-producing take Dulcamara 30c. If you are swinging between the two extremes take Urtica urens 30c.

Cracked Nipples
If you have a lot of soreness with pains radiating out from the nipple, take Phytolacca 30c or Phytolacca 200c (in our Childbirth Kit).

Vomiting breast milk
If a baby tends to vomit after feeding, the mother can try one dose of Silica 30c. It will go through her milk to the baby.

Your Childbirth Kit

BIRTH REVISITED

Mary’s personal story about the birth of her second child, in a water pool at home.
Our son Gabriel Luke was born at 11.14pm on Saturday 30th January 1999 at our home in West Cork, Ireland. He was delivered in a birthing pool after a fast and feral labor, most of which I spent howling at the (full) moon.
Whereas our daughter, Martha, took three days to labor into this world Gabriel came in only three hours. I knew at about 3:30pm that things were moving, although I had no pain, just regular tightening sensations. I drove into town to get some shopping and met a friend in a cafe for a cup of tea. I was feeling great and planned to take a long walk on the beach in the twilight with my daughter and her friend, but the heavens opened so we got some videos and headed homeward. I cooked up a huge pot of thick minestrone soup and lit some candles. We all had supper and then Martha (who was then seven) went to stay with our next-door neighbor’s home. She had looked at some birthing pictures and (despite her initial enthusiasm) had decided it was not, after all, for her.

The mild contractions were now coming every five minutes or so lasting up to a minute. We rang the midwife to put her on standby that we might need her as she lived one hour’s drive from us. Next we started filling the pool and then settled down to watch a movie. I assumed I was in for the long haul, but only five minutes into the film I got the first big contraction, swiftly followed by another. We told the midwife to come and my husband, began heating up enormous pans of water and kettles… as if we were in some old black and white melodrama.

Pools are great, but the average domestic water heating system takes two hours to fill one. To make matters more complicated our stove and the pool were a flight of stairs apart, so there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with steaming cauldrons.
During each contraction (every three or four minutes) I needed my husband to put very firm pressure on my back. He somehow managed to be in two places at once. Since nearly all the pain was in my lower back I was wondering if the baby might be in a posterior presentation. These labors tend to be long and grim. I took Kali carb 200c from my Childbirth kit. The contractions were by now thick and fast and painful, so although the pool was only half full I got in and went on all fours to try to relieve the pressure on my back. Around this time I switched from breathing through contractions to screaming through them. It felt like the only thing to do. In between I came back to focusing on my breath.
Our midwife, Elke arrived at about 10pm. She walked in on one of my banshee wails and said later she thought to herself: “That sounds good”. She took over back pressing duty so my husband was able to top up the pool with the various pans and kettles. Between contractions I was able to stand up briefly so Elke could check the baby’s heart once with a sonic aid monitor. It was hale and hearty. The contractions were growing closer and closer together so my breathing time was shorter and shorter. I felt everything was going too fast. It was something I had not prepared for. I took Aconite 200 to ease my rising sense of panic.

I had a list of acupuncture points for speeding up a stalled labor from Steve Gascoigne, a doctor and acupuncturist who had been treating me in the run up to the birth. I got my husband to ring Steve and ask if there was any way to slow it down. Steve asked “Why would you want to do that?” I answered “GRRRRRR” and thought uncharitable thoughts about the opposite sex. “You could go to hospital; that would definitely slow it down…”
Once or twice whilst this was going on I felt a fleeting urge to push, but just dismissed it. It just couldn’t be that time already, but the desperation and the out of control feeling was, in fact, transition. I felt the need to take a Pulsatilla, which seemed to help and in no time at all I was pushing.
My waters broke and unlike last time (when they were artificially ruptured) the water was clear and meconium-free. I noticed the water level had gone up in the pool, but it wasn’t until Elke said: “Use him” that I even realized that my husband had climbed into the pool with me. I hung on to his neck and the change of position and his calmness and strength helped me to bear down. Very quickly I could feel the head in the birth canal and put my hand down to help me gauge how hard to push. The water was great for giving a greater sense of control, as the force of gravity was so much reduced. Within ten minutes I was able to push just enough to deliver the head and next push launched baby into the water into the waiting arms of Elke who checked him over and swiftly passed my darling to me.
We both just stared in wonder at the wide-eyed beauty before us. For a while I didn’t even think to check whether it was “a boy or a girl”. It just was. I held the baby to my breast, but having just had three huge bowlfuls of minestrone in utero he wasn’t remotely hungry and was more interested in looking around him. Once the cord had stopped pulsing Elke clamped the cord and my husband cut it.
All too soon the third stage started and I passed our boy to his papa and got back on all fours to deliver the placenta. After that I was feeling a bit chilly and I wanted to get out of the pool.

Getting out was a real revelation of what the pool had been doing for me. As I stood the force of gravity almost pushed me back down. I felt weak and unsteady. Elke helped me out very gently. Our boy was still enjoying floating around on the palm of his papa’s hand. I put on a nice thick toweling robe and sat down on the bed and looked forward to being able to spend a bit of time with our son.
I had forgotten that there might be after-pains. I was stunned by the force of them. They felt exactly like the first hour’s contractions and once again I needed very firm pressure on my back. All the pain was in my lower back. I had to focus hard on my breath to stop myself from screaming. I took some Kali carb 200 and that worked beautifully. I had a shower aiming a very hot jet at my lower back and started to feel human again. So by 3am the placenta and my blood pressure had been checked and we said farewell to Elke. The three of us snuggled into bed together and slept for an unbroken, blissful four hours. Martha came over next morning to see her baby brother for the first time. She was a little underwhelmed when she realized he only had two modes: suck or sleep, but she got the hang of just gazing at him, as did we all.

ABOUT MARY ASPINWALL

• Designer of homeopathyworld.com’s bestselling kits

• Author of “Basic Guide to Homeopathy”

• Editor of “The Clinical Medicine Guide”

• Regular columnist for Homeopathy Today magazine

• Expert contributor for Homeopathy Radio and Natural News

• Over 16 years of full time homeopathic practice

I want to help you use Homeopathy effectively, stay free of Big Pharma and flourish.

My aim is to help you get the most out of your kit and to learn all about how Homeopathy can transform your life. Stick with me and you’ll get more and more sure of your own ability to deal with common pregnancy complaints, injuries and minor illnesses.
I’ll share my many years of expertise with you, so you can keep your family happy and healthy. Common side effects include: saving a small fortune in prescription charges, reducing your co-pays and your risk of toxic side effects. Not to mention feeling more vibrant and alive than you ever thought possible!

I can make this promise to you, because I have walked the walk and I’m happy to be your guide.
Homeopathy helped relieve my morning sickness and supported me during and after the birth of our first child. It was astonishing how safely and effectively it worked. I was left wondering, why isn’t everyone using homeopathic remedies? At that time, the truth about Homeopathy wasn’t widely known and most people just hadn’t experienced its gentle power first hand.

That’s what inspired me to design my own user-friendly Homeopathy kits.
Our family was raised homeopathically. Our daughter, Martha, is almost 20. She has never had any allopathic drugs or treatments and neither has Gabriel, our 12 year old son, apart from an operation to repair a congenital heart problem when he was one year old. So we know a Pharma free life can be an everyday reality. If you want a Pharma free life to be a reality for you and your family, get one of my kits and try Homeopathy for yourselves.
I love hearing from people who are making their first steps towards a more homeopathic life, so never be afraid to ask for help. Just e-mail me with your questions. I really want to make it easy for you to succeed and enjoy all the benefits that choosing Homeopathy brings.
Wishing you, your family and your friends well,
Mary Aspinwall, IS Hom, PCH
Registered Homeopath
Kit Designer & Founder of homeopathyworld.com

YOUR CHILDREN
From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

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