4 Jun 2022 What situations would you usually encounter after labour? Besides aromatherapy, are there any other methods for dealing with the conditions? I am breastfeeding. What kind of essential oils should I avoid? Or are there any kind of essential oils that can promote lactation?
Conditions appear after labour
Lower Limb Swelling (Postpartum Oedema)
Due to an increase in progesterone, we will experience vasodilation particularly at lower limbs, although you may find it at other parts of our body, for example hands, arms and abdomen. However, since you may need to breastfeed, not much essential oils could be used in this case to avoid reduction in the production of breast milk and do harm to infants’ liver and kidney functions.
To alleviate the swollen feet without / with limited side effects, we can adopt 0.5 - 1% grapefruit / lemon and frankincense essential oils or even adding none and then simply massage from dorsal to thigh. Remember to elevate your legs during sleep.
The reason of using these oils is that they are comparatively mild for both the mother and the infant, as lemon and grapefruit are fruit originally. As for frankincense, it exerts potential in the prevention of DNA damage, since it can upregulate EGR-1 gene expression, which is associated with DNA repair.
Postpartum Perineal Pain / Surgical Wound Pain
No matter whether you are experiencing natural spontaneous vaginal delivery or Caesarean section, you would experience wound pain. Some researchers worked on how aromatherapy aids in pain relief and brings to better postpartum experience.
A randomised controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Iran (2011) separated participants into 3 groups. The mothers were using sitz bath by adding 10 drops of lavender essential oil (approximately 0.5 mL for 20 drip factor)/ olive oil / distilled water in 5 liters of warm water twice a day for 10 days. At 2 hours after administration, there were no significant differences among the 3 groups. On Day 5, olive oil group worked better than the other 2 groups. Subsequently on Day 10, olive oil group had a lower pain score compared to the other 2 groups; as for REEDA score (Redness, Erythema, Edema, Discharge, and Approximation), lavender group did the best among 3 groups, although the result was found to be similar to that of olive oil group.
There were another similar study (2012) required participants to take a 30-minutes warm sitz baths with 10 ml Betadine 10% per 4 L water or 0.25 ml Lavender oil essence per 5 L of water twice each day for 5 days. Significant differences were noted in REEDA score and the consumption of pain killers.
Such variations could potentially be due to the amount of lavender used. A 2004 research showed that if the concentration of lavender oil is high than 0.125%, cell viability of HMEC-1 endothelial cells, HNDF fibroblasts and 153BR fibroblasts could drastically decrease due to cytotoxicity. Thus, higher concentration does not mean better to our skin cells.
In another Iranian RCT study (2017), researcher added 5 drops of lavender essential oil on a cotton ball. The participants were then requested to inhale the oil for 10 - 15 minutes and 20 cm away from their nose. The perineal pain score was found to be lowered significantly by the next morning when comparing with sesame oil group.
Although I cannot conduct a meta-analysis at this moment, apparently it seems lower concentration of lavender essential oil contributes to lower pain score. Or we can solely instill olive oil to sitz bath.
If you are interested in learning more about pregnancy / postpartum massage technique, please call your husband to join our MVP PAPA workshop ;)
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