Having had a dog give birth thrice at my house before I myself had a child, taught me more about giving birth than all the books and videos on the internet, not to mention the hush-hush births I’d been around in human hospitals.
Dogs approach birth without the trained tension and worry humans go through.
The first time a dog in my care was pregnant, she got a terrible stomach infection and couldn’t keep anything in. I dutifully took her to a vet, “just to be on the safe side”. The vet ordered an xray.
I was amazed. Here was an exhausted pregnant dog in distress and he was ordering an xray?
“That’s the only way to know what’s happening,” he said. Apparently he couldn’t even tell if she was pregnant or not without an xray.
Now there are times when xrays are helpful and I’ve been fascinated now and again by xrays of the human body on Pinterest. But no one should be exposed to radiation because of a stomach infection, least of all a pregnant dog.
So I took the dog home, and never crossed the threshold of a vet again.
She thrived on my herbal medicine recovered from the stomach infection, and gave birth naturally and without drama at home. She weaned her dogs when she felt like it and they went off to new homes quite prepared for life ahead.
I used a mix of herbs for uterine strength and recovery in breeding dogs with some extra herbs added just for her needs – because every dog is different. Some doggie mothers need more nervous support, some need kidney support, some need help to stimulate the mammary glands, some just need a little more vital energy.
A few years later when I gave birth to my son, through the process of labor, all sorts of fears hit me. I realized how very fear-filled nearly all published information about the human birth process is. If that wasn’t enough, the process of looking after a new born, establishing feeding, and all that, they’re topics touched upon with so much fear and political correctness.
The joy of having a child gets worn away by all the fear mongering.
At about thirty hours into labor that didn’t seem to be progressing at all, I realized that and decided to throw everything I’d read about human birth right out of my mind.
People don’t sit around telling people exactly how to make a baby. Sure there’s the birds and the bees talk maybe once or twice before you’re an adult and you figure things out after that.
Giving birth is as natural as making a baby, and looking after the baby comes naturally too.
I remembered the grace and simplicity with which animals give birth when they’re allowed to be healthy and natural.
Once I began to throw the fear mongering out of my head, labor progressed pretty quickly and my son was born.
I carried and gave birth to my son, and cared for all his baby needs without any allopathic drugs.
The big part of pregnancy, birthing and post partum recovery, is having enough good oil in your diet.
After that, comes herbal support. My Herbal Medicine for Pre and Post Natal, Labor & Birthing Support usually has Vervain, Rosehips, St. Mary’s Thistle, Yarrow, Saw Palmetto, Cactus, Black Cohosh, Agnus Castus . I add other herbs depending on the mother’s needs – often using the good old combination of Pulsatilla and Phytolacca for uterine relaxation and lymphatic stimulation.
Vervain is for nervous support.
Rosehips is for vital energy.
St. Mary’s Thistle helps the mother’s liver deal with the rushes of hormones flooding her body through the birth process.
Yarrow supports tissue healing and recovery as well supports the cessation of heavy bleeding.
Saw Palmetto supports the heart, the uterus and the muscles all over the body is recovering from the strain of giving birth.
Cactus is a wonderful nervine to maintain calm through it all. I don’t know why mothers aren’t given more HEART and CARDIAC support, when so much about birth – I would say everything – is about the heart.
Black Cohosh is pure immediate strength for a uterus at its most strenuous time of life.
Agnus Castus helps maintain hormonal calm through what can be a turbulent time.
For emergency use – the painkiller herbs White Willow Bark, Ruta (for tearing pain), St. John’s Wort should be at hand, as should a powerful pain relieving oil – these same herbs in an oil will do a good job.
