Essential Oils in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
So you found out you’re pregnant, but you don’t know how that ties into the aromatherapy world and what is safe. I can help, as someone who successfully used essential oils through breastfeeding my first baby, through my second pregnancy and now with my second baby and breastfeeding, I have a lot of experience in this area. While I don’t recommend someone go the trial and error part, I have already experienced these things and can shed some light on how to appropriately use essential oils in pregnancy, even to help support your labor and all the way through breastfeeding- even with your baby.
First I want to say I already touched on this subject in a blog post addressing wether essential oil usage is safe in pregnancy. So check that out if you haven’t and decide if you feel using essential oils is safe in pregnancy and something you want to do. Since there is a lack of research on essential oils and pregnancy, this is a personal choice that someone needs to make after doing some research. But please be aware, while it is considered safe to use essential oils in pregnancy, there is a lack of research and there are essential oils to avoid as well.
Discovering your pregnancy:
So once you discover your pregnancy, immediately discontinue use of essential oils. Wether it’s topical or inhalation, stop using them. Absolutely never ever ingest essential oils in pregnancy, even if you do so in a proper manner. If you work with an aromatherapist who encourages ingestion in pregnancy, find another aromatherapist. While I discourage use in the first trimester, as do many other aromatherapists, and advise others to wait until the second trimester to utilize essential oils, there may be a few things that someone might turn to essential oils for. Morning sickness being the main reason. Please find alternative methods however before using essential oils, again do NOT ingest essential oils and if you find that you need them to help curb nausea then inhalation is your best bet with this. Ginger or Peppermint in your diffuser or in a personal inhaler would be acceptable to use here.
Try other methods however and use essential oils as a last resort! There are many other natural ways to help curb nausea. Ginger either in a tea or a ginger candy or infused with some honey can really help. Peppermint tea is useful for nausea as well. If you find you need some aromatherapy consider using a hydrosol instead. A peppermint hydrosol is a much safer option and can be ingested to help with morning sickness. Try those options before attempting to use essential oils, and really stick with not using essential oils the first trimester unless nothing else is working for you.
Second trimester:
Once you enter the second trimester essential oils use is acceptable. It is believed that some essential oils do cross over the placenta, so it’s important to keep dilutions low and only use pregnancy safe essential oils. Some essential oils that are safe to use in pregnancy (and breastfeeding) are:
Basil
Bergamot
Cardamom
Cedarwood
German and Roman Chamomile
Cinamom Leaf
Clary Sage
Clove
Copiaba
Cypress
Dill
Eucalyptus
Fir
Frankincense
Geranium
Ginger
Helichrysum
Ho wood
Jasmine
Juniper Berry
Lavender
Lemon
Lemongrass
Lime
Mandarin
Marjoram
Neroli
Orange
Patchouli
Pepper
Peppermint
Pine
Rosalina
Rose
Rosemary
Sandalwood
Spearmint
Spruce
Tangerine
Tansy, Blue
Tea Tree
Vetiver
Ylang Ylang
This is by no means a complete list, and I did not list Latin names simply because I have already done this list and to my knowledge nothing has changed. So if you’d like to see the complete list than feel free to check it out here.
But please know which oils are safe, and which ones are unsafe. You can check out a list of unsafe essential oils to avoid in my first post I linked above about pregnancy and essential oils. I really hate having to just link or redirect but a lot of work goes into each post and I cannot repeat that for every post that references a complete list. These sources I did are certainly worthing checking out just to be sure that you are being safe.
So what ways can we use essential oils in pregnancy? Two main ways, inhalation and topical use. As I stated before do not EVER ingest essential oils in pregnancy. It is extremely dangerous, especially ingesting essential oils that are unsafe in pregnancy. Essential oils are so potent and ingesting them in pregnancy can cause many problems for you and for your baby.
Inhalation: diffuse essential oils for emotional issues, nausea, headaches or congestion problems.
Topical: Apply topically for sore muscles, aching bellys, pelvic problems or skin problems.
Also remember to only use a .5% in pregnancy. As I mentioned before, it is believed that essential oils do indeed cross over the placenta so it’s important to keep dilutions low. If you find that you need a higher dilution for targeted issues I wouldn’t go much higher than a 1% dilution. It might seem silly to take such precautions but it’s much better to be safe than to have something happen.
Also limit your essential oil use. I know with the day and age of easily accessible essential oils for purchase, alongside bad advice, people are prone to using essential oils all day long. Please do not do this in pregnancy, please don’t do this ever but especially in pregnancy be aware of how much you use essential oils. Limit your use to a few times a day. Have a purpose when you are using essential oils. Do you need emotional support? Muscle ache aids? Then use essential oils if you want. But don’t pop on your diffuser for the heck of it and diffuse all day long. You are more prone to reactions the longer you expose yourself.
Reactions?
Things get a little weird in pregnancy, so it’s entirely likely that you could have a reaction to an essential oil that you have never had any issues with before. If this happens discontinue use, wash the area thoroughly and gently and don’t go back to that essential oil until after pregnancy. Be aware that this could be a life long reaction from here on out. I used to be lactose intolerant but after my pregnancies I was no longer. Things can really change when you get pregnant. Don’t let this discourage you however, there are many great oils even if you aren’t able to use one anymore.
Do not apply more essential oils over a reaction. And if you are unsure of the cause stop all essential oils usage. Your body is not detoxing if you have a reaction, and you could cause more stress in your pregnancy by continuing to use the essential oil (or oils) and it’s just not worth the risk. It’s also important to note that pregnancy is not the time to try new essential oils, if you are just getting into oils in pregnancy start slow but if you have already been using essential oils use what you have and try to avoid introducing an oil you have never used before. Consider working with a professional if you have never used essential oils before and would like to use them in pregnancy.
Using essential oils in place of mainstream items:
I also want to touch on this because often we replace many things in our daily lives with essential oils. Such as our daily face routines, cleaning products and even bath/beauty products as well. Many companies also turn to essential oils to scent their products, and we can not be too sure of the dilutions in those products. I know that Lush uses essential oils quite a bit and never share safety information regarding them or how high of a dilution they are using in them. As well as many other natural minded/branded items use essential oils as well. We can kind of gauge what kind dilutions are used in pre-bought items by seeing where the essential oil is on the ingredients list but that’s a far from perfect system.
hBut is it unsafe to use these items if they contain essential oils? Honestly you guys, I’m unsure. Especially with a store bought product. So my advice would be to use make sure the product you are using contains pregnancy safe essential oils. I am less concerned with using products that wash off than something that is like a lotion or a chapstick, however it is still important to remember that there are not a lot of studies (if any) done on the use of essential oils and pregnancy and that the recommendation does still stand to abstain from essential oil use in the first trimester. But ultimately do what you are comfortable with, to an extent. Is using a product containing a minimal amount of essential oil going to cause an issue? Most likely not, especially considering we live in a world that is obsessed with synthetic fragrance and very readily okays the use of such products in pregnancy. So is something with essential oils going to be worse for us than spraying ourselves down with fragrance our entire pregnancy? I do not believe so, and I can understand the want/need to find more natural alternatives. The rules of safety however do still apply and there are essential oils that need to be avoided in pregnancy. So I don’t recommend buying or making products with wintergreen, still don’t recommend ingesting essential oils and topical maxes for pregnancy should still be respected.
In the end though, when it comes to pre-made products it is entirely up to you and what you are comfortable with. Personally, I would probably abstain the first trimester using products like that. Partly because I don’t want to overwhelm myself and partly because I tend to be too sick in pregnancy to even care. But if you feel it’s okay to use facewash with some essential oil in it than there isn’t much more I can say. Just be aware, be informed and be safe.
Labor Support:
This section is pretty straight forward as far how to safely utilize essential oils. Same rules apply however there are some essential oils that are not baby safe that are safe in pregnancy. Peppermint for example, I highly recommend not diffusing that or using that around a newborn baby. In fact, I would encourage women to avoid diffusing anything at all once the baby does come. Newborns are fresh and sensitive and can be easily overwhelmed. Leave that time for bonding with your baby and save the oils for another time. Oils are not needed once labor has passed, unless you are using them for healing and in that case your baby should not be smelling those essential oils anyways.
You can utilize essential oils in a variety of ways for labor, by diffusing to create the atmosphere you desire, picking scents that are calming or stimulating to help relax and encourage labor. Using massage oils with your partner to help ease the aches and pains of labor. The possibilities are endless when it comes to helping aide labor. I would like to note that however that if you are planning a water birth to please avoid the topical use of essential oils and then getting into the water. There is a chance that you could leave some oil floating in the water and it could react with your baby once you birth them into the pool. If you don’t plan to birth in a pool then free game, apply topically, but if there is even a chance of a pool birth be mindful of that. If using topically and getting into the pool, make sure the oil is totally soaked in or gently wipe it off.
Same rules also apply as with using oils in pregnancy. Respect the topical max, use safe oils for labor. Also be mindful to not leave the diffuser running for hours either. 30 minutes on, 1 hour off. Give yourself a break, too much diffuser use can actually stall out labor and lengthen your birth time. And when picking essential oils for birth, there are a list of oils that are great for birth and labor support but it’s really also whatever you like. So long as an oil doesn’t have a contradiction to something, if it helps you then use it. I personally loved having rose, neroli and clary sage for my birth. I also used a little mandarin and peppermint as well in my diffuser. Different oils can help for different times during your labor. So let’s break them down:
Basil: Anxiety
Bergamot: Anxiety, blood pressure, child birth pain, transition
Virginian Cedarwood:Anxiety
German Chamomile: Back labor
Roman Chamomile: Anxiety, blood pressure
Clary Sage: Blood pressure, child birth pain, contractions, transistion
Cypress: Anxiety, child birth pain
Eucalyptus: Back labor
Frankincense: Anxiety, child birth pain
Geranium: Child birth pain, contractions
Ginger: Back labor
Grapefruit: Transition
Helichrysum: Blood pressure
Jasmine: Anxiety, child birth pain, contractions, transition
Juniper Berry: Back labor
Lavender: Anxiety, blood pressure, child birth pain
Lemon: Anxiety, blood pressure, transition
Lime: Anxiety, transition
Mandarin: Transition
Marjoram: Anxiety, contractions
Melissa: Anxiety
Neroli: Anxiety, blood pressure, contractions
Orange: Anxiety, blood pressure, child birth pain, transition
Palmarosa: Anxiety, blood pressure
Patchouli: Anxiety, transition
Pepper, Black: Back labor, contractions, child birth pains
Peppermint: Back labor
Pine: Back labor
Rose: Anxiety, blood pressure, child birth pain, transition
Rosemary: Back labor, transition
Sandalwood: Anxiety
Spearmint: Transition
Vetiver: Anxiety
Ylang Ylang: Anxiety
While you certainly don’t need to utilize this entire list there are some great oils to pick from. Use your favorites and let this list be a guide. You do not necessarily have to use these oils for this intended purpose. If it works for you than awesome. Diffuse oils to help support your emotional health in labor, to help calm you down and to help get into the mindset to deal with the pain. Use oils topically to help with labor pains, contractions and any other pains along the way. Again, if you are planning a water birth do not use essential oils and then get into the tub, this could taint the water and react negatively as your baby is born. Wait until the oils are absorbed into your skin or gently wash them off before getting into the water.
Also remember that public spaces like a hospital, or even some birthing centers, might not allow you to diffuse in the room. Bringing a personal inhaler of some sort can be super helpful in these situations. Diffusing at home before heading to your birth place, if you are like me you don’t really want to use oils in active labor and might only use them in early labor. Pre-Making topical applications can help as well, make a massage oil for your partner to use on you or make a lotion to help with contractions. There are many ways to use oils that don’t necessarily involve diffusing directly. It’s important to be mindful of policies, and make sure to ask before diffusing (and definitely ask before you go into labor as well) just to be sure.
Breastfeeding:
A lot of what I have already discussed ties over into breastfeeding as most rules still apply in breastfeeding. But there are also some things to consider; your new baby. I recommend not using oils on or around your baby until at least 3 months. No diffusing, no topical use that would interfere (where they could be exposed to it, smell it or have it rub off on them) and be aware that essential oils do have a possibility of crossing over in our milk so keep topical applications .5%-1% still. If you do feel you need a higher dilution for targeted issues here however, there is some grace and for one time uses you could go as high as 5%. But I don’t recommend using a 5% dilution often, make it a rare occurrence.
You can check out a complete list of breastfeeding safe essential oils here and you can see my guide on using essential oils with babies and children here for more information. But for some quick basics children under 1 should use a .2% dilution, children over the age of 15 months can use a .5% dilution. Refrain from diffusing around your baby, using a personal inhaler instead or diffusing in another room away from the baby. Do not use topically on your baby until they are over 6 months (unless you absolutely need to, and do not use topically ever under 3 months) essential oil use should be rare in infants and you can always use a hydrosol instead of an essential oil. You can begin to introduce diffusing slowly after 3 months in a large ventilated room. Watch for reactions however and stop use for any fussiness/reaction that occurs. Again this is covered in far greater detail in my other post, so that is definitely worth checking out.
Keep from applying essential oils to the breast, if you do chose to make sure to wash off gently before feeding. A large part of the bonding in breastfeeding is smell and too much essential oil use can interfere with that. I personally waited the 3 months to use essential oils myself but you do not have to do this as long as you are keeping them away from your baby.
Resources:
Books were a huge help to me in my pregnancy, although it can be hard to discern what is correct information even from aromatherapists themselves. Since advice varies so differently from person to person, it’s important to know the safety information and do what you trust is best. Here are some of my favorite books I used to help guide me in my pregnancy:
Pregnancy, birth and baby care with essential oil by Rebecca Park Totilo:
This was one of my all times favorites, with a complete guide to using oils, a list of pregnancy safe oils and recipes for certain ailments I used this book the most. Some advice I would caution on, as there is internal use recommended. Not something I agree with, and if you do choose to do these then please seek professional help. But I advise strongly against internal use of essential oils in pregnancy. There are also some essential oils labeled as pregnancy safe, that I personally wouldn’t consider pregnancy safe so it is important to be confident and know what is safe. Oils like fennel and nutmeg come with heavy warnings and honestly should be avoided in pregnancy.
Essential oil Profiles by Lea Jacobson:
I love this book because it covers which oils are safe in pregnancy/breastfeeding as well as their therapeutic properties and it even has section on how to utilize essential oils in pregnancy and which ones are actually safe in pregnancy and which ones to avoid. This is one book I can 100% trust.
Essential Oil Safety Tisserand and Young:
This one is a bit harder to read but I love this one for the profiles on each oil, it goes over safety and even potential studies that have been done for essential oils and pregnancy. It’s definitely helpful, especially in the debate on wether or not some oils are safe in pregnancy. You don’t have to have this one but it really helps if you are the kind of person who needs to know the details of why certain oils are unsafe.
Whether you are looking for some natural remedies or already use essential oils in your life, aromatherapy is a great way to get some help and support in your pregnancy. Knowing how to do so safely is vital, and hopefully this blog post sheds some light on just that. It’s important to be informed on what essential oil usage looks like, and how to achieve the desired results. When in doubt, reach out to a professional. But make sure you know how to appropriately use oils in pregnancy and be confident. Know the risks, and make the best informed decision for you and your family.
