Aromatherapy: pregnancy and childbirth. What essential oils for a pregnant woman?

Aromatherapy jest recommended for pregnant women and during childbirth – why? Is it possible, and if so, how to use aromatherapy during pregnancy. Is it safe and effective? What oils to use during pregnancy for sleep, for a runny nose or nausea, and which essential oils should definitely be avoided during pregnancy? 

In this article, we present the most important information about what aromatherapy is during pregnancy and whether it is safe to use it.

What is aromatherapy: or is recommended Pregnant and during childbirth?

Aromatherapy is a branch phytotherapy (herbal medicine), which deals with aromatic plants, from which e.g. essential oils (condensed plant essences). They affect the body in a holistic way, for centuries supporting the treatment and alleviation of many ailments, not only in pregnant women.

Now that we know what aromatherapy is, it is worth looking at why it is used during pregnancy and during childbirth.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, many women complain of burdensome ailments, among others: nausea, sleep problems, fatigue or back pain. Aromatherapy for sleep, for a runny nose - why is it so willingly chosen by pregnant women?

It is observed that aromatherapy with the use of certified, proven quality essential oils (it is worth paying attention to the ISO standards that each of such oils should meet) can have the following effects: soothing pain and emotional tension, improving mood, reducing fatigue [1], nausea, back pain, or runny nose.

Birth

Aromatherapy is one of them methods of non-pharmacological pain relief. It has been noticed that the use of aromatherapy reduces the emotional tension of the woman giving birth and the stress associated with childbirth, which significantly contributes to reducing the perception of labor pain [1,2].

During the observations carried out in over 580 women giving birth in the maternity ward of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, as many as 62% of them indicated the effectiveness of essential oils[2].

Remember that aromatherapy should be used during childbirth only in consultation with the midwife. Some of the essential oils that are not allowed during pregnancy (e.g. sage, jasmine) may strengthen contractions during childbirth, while reducing pain sensations in labor [3].

Aromatherapy in pregnancy: how safely use essential oils?

Now that we know what aromatherapy is and know its most important, beneficial properties, another important question arises. If so, how to use aromatherapy during pregnancy to make it safe?

Methods of using essential oils

Two methods of using essential oils are recommended for pregnant women:

Diffusion

That is, the administration of essential oils by inhalation (inhalation). When we consider how to safely use aromatherapy during pregnancy, diffusion is the primary method. For this purpose, you can, among others:

• use special diffusers for essential oils;
• sprinkle some oil on a tissue or a cotton ball and put it in a bag/put it by the bed (aromatherapy for better sleep during pregnancy);
• prepare a spray of essential oil and water in a sprayer (for sprinkling bedding, spraying in the room);
• release the oils directly from the bottle.

Use on the skin

Always after dilution in so-called base mediumwhich is most often oil (pregnant women are most recommended for this purpose sweet almond oil or coconut oil). How to use aromatherapy for massage during pregnancy?

Due to the risk of an allergic reaction, it is recommended to use essential oils on the skin very carefully during pregnancy: there should be no more than about 1-5 drops of essential oil per tablespoon of base oil. However, due to the insufficient amount of reliable scientific research, pregnant women are not recommended to use essential oils internally, i.e. by consuming them.

Aromatherapy in pregnancy: selection of essential oils

Which essential oils are recommended for better sleep, for a runny nose, and which for morning sickness?

• Sleep aromatherapy and stress relief: a diffusion of lavender oil, Roman chamomile or neroli is recommended. A drop of lavender or Roman chamomile oil can also be mixed with base oil and rubbed into the skin of the temples and back.

In aromatherapy for a better sleep during pregnancy, sprinkling a pillowcase with a bit of essential oil will be great.

• Aromatherapy to improve mood during pregnancy: diffusion with orange, lemon, bergamot, lavender or eucalyptus essential oils.
• Aromatherapy for hangmanr, with a cold: diffusion with eucalyptus, geranium or tea tree oil.

Aromatherapy for runny nose and sinus pain are natural ways to relieve these ailments during pregnancy.

• Nausea aromatherapy: diffusion with ginger, lemon, orange or peppermint essential oil.
• Headache aromatherapy: diffusion with eucalyptus, peppermint or lavender oil.
• Aromatherapy for back pain: dissolve 2-5 drops of lavender or Roman chamomile essential oil in the base oil and rub the painful places.

Aromatherapy in pregnancy:kwhich essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy?

We already know how to use aromatherapy during pregnancy. However, there are many essential oils that should be avoided during pregnancy. These are oils from, among others: sage, clove, cinnamon, jasmine, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, tansy, anise and camphor.

Oils that are safe during pregnancy should be tested by using them initially minimum concentrations of essential oils. You can add one or two drops of oil to the diffuser and observe the reactions flowing from the body. 

Źródła:

Natalia Smolarek, Małgorzata Pięt, Joanna Żurawska, Ryszard Szpunar, Beata Pięta, Alternative ways to relieve labor pain, Polish Review of Health Sciences 1 (46) 2016;
About labor pain and methods of alleviating it, Edited by: Urszula Kubicka-Kraszyńska, Anna Otffinowska, Joanna Pietrusiewicz, Substantive consultation: Anna Litkie, Katarzyna Oleś, Warsaw 2006© Copyright by Fundacja Rodzić po Luzku ISBN: 83-920934-6-1: https ://rodzicpoludzku.pl/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/oboluporodowym-1.pdf;
Aromatherapy as a natural method of pain relief in childbirth (from 05.07.2023): https://www.szpitalzelazna.pl/blog/ciaza/aromaterapia-jako-naturalna-metoda-lagocenia-bolu-w-porodzie;
Robert Tisserand, Rodney Young, Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, Elsevier LTD, Oxford 2013;
Pam Conrad, PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP, Womens Health Aromatherapy. A Clinically Evidence-Based Guide for Nurses, Midwives, Doulas and Thera, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2019;