Red Raspberry leaf tea for birth?

[PeterPan]

I know y'all have mentioned using this. Is the tea more effective than the capsules? Any tips on how you brewed it?

[Diannab]

bump for you :)

[Gailmegan]

I've never tried the capsules.

 

I drink Raspberry Leaf Tea regularly throughout pregnancy as a uterine tonic. I drink Nettle tea too, especially near the end, since it is high in Vit K, which helps with clotting - and passes to the baby which makes me feel even more confident rejecting the Vit K shot.

 

I use the tea bags like any other tea, but I let it steep in the boiling water for at least 30 min. I add a touch of honey or agave nectar to sweeten.

[KS_]

Well, at some point I did read that teas were more effective for many herbs because the many of the components of the herbs are water soluble, and you release them when you brew the tea. I drank a pregnancy tea throughout my pregnancies that contained raspberry leaf (among some other herbs), so I'd just mix the herbs and brew my tea with them. With my first pregnancy, I preferred the tea hot - but with my second, I brewed a concentrated version hot, then diluted it and drank it cold. And I can't stand sweetened tea of any sort, so have never added sugar to mine.

 

And I'm not sure how I came up with the amounts. . .I bought the herbs in bulk and mixed my own up with some recipe I found online (it was a long time ago, lol, and the details are fuzzy at this point).

[Guest 4boys]

As far as I know, it is most effective when you make tea using loose dried leaves instead of a teabag. Then you just have to strain it before you drink it. It actually has a nice flavour, I like sugar and I didn't have to add much. I did one heaping tbsp of leaves in one teapot (about 4 cups boiling water) then let it steep about 15 minutes.

[PeterPan]

Well now I don't know what to think. I brewed some tonight pretty strong (like I had read online), drank 2 c., and an hour later threw up everything! Yuck. So now I'm not sure what to think. It sure is potent stuff. :(

 

That was only tea bags. I don't know if I'll try again with a much weaker brew or just be chicken and give up...

[Once]

Actually Elizabeth, it is something you may want to build up to. I totally reccommend it for improving the uterine health but 2 cups of very strong tea all at once would be hard to take.

I do not find the taste displeasing but it is definately tea. Maybe dilute it at first or add a little sweetener? It really helped me for all of my pregnancies but it will bring on strong Brackston Hicks contractions.

 

Hope you find a balance that works.

[lighthouseacademy]

Raspberry leaf was my Master Herbalist thesis... :001_smile:

 

So, rule of thumb is 1 tsp per cup of water of dry bulk leaves. I wouldn't use the teabags. They are expensive and they are weak and you never know how long they were sitting on the shelf. Instead, I would visit Mountain Rose Herbs and order 1 pound (it will last you 1-2 months) for $8 plus shipping...

 

As for how to brew- again, rule of thumb is to never boil leaves or flowers because you let all the essential oils out and you pull out too much of some things you might not want like lots of tannins which can make you throw up. Raspberry leaf is generally an anti-nausea though.

I boil water and then pour over the leaves. I cover my cup with an upside down plate and let steep 20 minutes. If you do it this way it won't be too strong but will be potent if that makes sense. If, however, you steep until cool, then it will be very strong and taste a bit like black tea. BTW you are using raspberry LEAF teabags not raspberry flavored right? I would suggest one of the tea baskets available at Mountain Rose Herbs. They work wonderfully and are super easy to clean. The celestial tea basket is really nice. Then there is no straining the tea later!

 

You can take the capsules, but they won't be nearly as effective. That said, IF you really want to take the capsules, I would be taking 2 3xs per day or as needed and I would be sure to take them on an emptish stomach with 12-16 ounces of water. If you want to read more about red raspberry leaf, you can read my thesis on Herbal Legacy.

[PeterPan]

Ok, then it looks like what I read online (infusions, stronger is better, longer the steep the better, etc.) was off. At least for *my* body it was off! So can you tell me, is the whole point of the red raspberry to bring on BH? Let's just say it was succeeding last night! And if it's not bringing on BH, then it's not working? But I've been having plenty of BH without it, mercy, and all it did was up the ante so much they were painful and unpleasant. I can't figure out why anyone would want to take that during labor! Of course I threw up 3 times, all the way to dry heaves, and was left with painful BH for several hours. Today I feel like junk, probably from throwing up so much, and I'm just not sure I want to try the RRL again. I just wanted a fast, less-painful birth, which is what I heard it could do, lol. Instead I got made sick and am wondering if it would do the same thing to me no matter what the dose!

 

So I don't know. Is the "toning" effect they attribute to RRL that it increases BH? I was already having plenty of those. I don't know, just had a really bad experiece, and left my dh a mess to clean up this morning to boot! :(

[Once]

I'm sorry your having such a hard time Elizabeth. I am hoping that Lighthouseacedemy will find this and help out too. It sounds like she is very knowledgeable.

 

Yes, RRT will bring on very strong BH....mine seemed like labor sometimes. If they change when you move around they are probably BH but if you are close to your due date you might want to call your mw. However, when they got too hard I would lower the tea amount and drink less. In my third pregnancy I had a sensative uterus and only drank a very little amount of tea. Stop drinking it now until you are back to your normal self.

 

There are other reasons for drinking RRT. It helps with all smooth muscles - so it helps with constipation, reducing swelling in your feet and spasms during labor. If you find that these things are not a problem for you then stop drinking it.

 

These are a few other things that I thought of that may be causing your distress. Perhaps you have a blend with cohosh tea. Cohosh made me throw up the same way. I would avoid it if cohosh was in the tea bag. You might also just have a flu bug that needs to run it's course.

 

Hugs to you Elizabeth! Put your feet up and take a break (from the tea and otherwise!) That babe will be in your arms soon enough.

[lighthouseacademy]

Red raspberry is known for quelling braxton hicks contractions. However, if you go and drink 2 strong cups of an herb you have never taken before, you may have a strong reaction to it. If it were me, I would drink 1/2 cup brewed the way I brew it. See how you feel. It should not bring on lots of braxton hicks. I have tons of braxton hicks with all my pregnancies. Sometimes they are stronger than others, but that is my body. Lots of throwing up will also bring on braxton hicks contractions and since you are already sensitive in the abdomin that could make them more painful. RRL is full of calcium so it lessens cramping etc. In my experience RRL is a very mild nourishing herb and is not harmful in any way. That said, it is not a good idea to take mega doses of herbs you have never taken before. Herbs WORK. They are powerful and amazing. They need to be respected (note I did not say be scared of though- those are very different things).

 

May I ask, what kind of tea bags were you using? How did you brew them? How many bags in your cup? What are you usually eating?

 

Also, another property of RRL that comes to mind that might have played out for you- RRL cleanses mucus membranes. It is also known to thin mucus. So, if you ate foods that caused a buildup of mucus or things were not digesting right in your stomach, even though it is an anti-nausea, it could easily have given the body the nutrients it needed to clean out. If you want to share more info on the background of all this, I can try to venture a few more guesses.