Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (1)

This is a wonderful book... it's concise and to the point... true, it doesn't go into a lot of detail about why things are or aren't good to take, but that info is easily researched... I like that it tells you what to do or not to do in short simple ways... makes it SOOOOOO much easier to find the information I want and need. Throughout this pregnancy my blood pressure has been on the high side... after only a few days of following the cream of tartar protocol (pg 47) my blood pressure is now down to PERFECT!!! This book has greatly improved my health... I recommend it to EVERYONE!

I came to my midwifery career (see my memoir, BABY CATCHER, Scribner 2002) via the traditional route of nursing school, working in hospital delivery rooms and alternative birth centers, then going to midwifery school, graduating as a CNM. Nowhere along the way was I taught anything about herbs. When I found myself doing home births in Berkeley, CA, many of my clients assumed I was an herbalist. Although I never once claimed to have a knowledge base in that field, I learned enough from Wise Woman Herbal to talk intelligently on the subject. Many women who choose home birth shun not just hospitals but also traditional Western medications. Wise Woman Herbal was always the resource to which I turned when I needed to know if a particular herb a woman wanted to use was safe and/or efficacious in pregnancy. And eventually I carried and recommended certain ones with confidence, especially blue and black cohosh, ginger, and oil of evening primrose.From me and from all midwives when they were new: Thank you, Susan Weed.

Really great book for people into alternative medicine and herbs. Full of lots of hard to find information about herbs and remedies to take and not take while pregnant. Also good pre and post pregnancy and baby info!

I got this book in my last month of pregancy. My hopes where to find some help in getting labor started. My first child was two weeks late and it drove me nuts. I loved it I also had a problem with infertility and this gave me some good ideas to try next time. I loved it and the labor tips and herbal healpers worked well to ease the labor and seem to be much calmer than the first. Even if you don't think the herbal way is best this book is a must read for the pregnant woman/ couples. And the after care info is a goddess sent book of gold. The diaper rash treatments really work. And the nursing fourmla kept my milk flowing even when I had to go back to work and could not pump that much. Hope everyone enjoies the book as much as I did.

You've heard of the "For Dummies" books? This should have been called "Herbal Medicine for Pregnant Dummies." The Wise Woman Herbal: The Childbearing Year is an excellent resource for any pregnant women, whether she has never considered herbal remedies before, dabbles in them occasionally, or is a full-fledged herbal practitioner, but it is very friendly to the newcomer to herbal medicine. The book includes simple prescriptions for those who don't want to get deeply involved in herbal medicine, such as drinking raspberry leaf tea daily throughout the pregnancy to strengthen the uterus. However, for those who are interested in more complex remedies, the author explains in great detail how to make infusions, tinctures, oils, etc., more so than any other herbal medicine book I've read. This is very helpful to people who have dabbled a little in herbology but have not found a mentor to teach them the ropes. Included in the book is everything from herbal birth control to remedies for the newborn. Especially helpful is the listing of teratogens, or substances that can cause birth defects -- unlike other books on pregnancy, this book lists some common cooking herbs that should be avoided. Appendices include a listing of herbal sources for vitamins and minerals, and recipes for herbal tonics and medicines. A glossary is also included. The author's interesting New Age spirituality and suspicion of technology (such as ultrasound) does not detract from the practical aspects of the book, but adds a sort of charm to the whole process. If asking a plant's permission before picking it isn't your cup of tea, just read those paragraphs with a grain of salt and take the information you need from the book.