Customer Reviews

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

I like the idea of having access to this kind of information - and I do believe some of it has helped me through my pregnancy. But I would be cautious about which advice you choose to follow, verifying the information in other sources. For instance, the text suggests that Vitamin C may mitigate an Rh- condition. An entire study was done on this in the 1970's and it is not true. However, through this book and others, I was able to determine a few items (cucumbers, beets, calcium supplements) I could safely add to my diet to help keep my borderline high blood pressure from turning into pre-eclampsia. I personally would not be mixing the herb formulations myself. But it is a nice reference to talk things over with my midwifes.
2004 - Well, I have had my baby and have a retrospective look.
Late in my pregnancy I decided to use more herbs for the hypertension. I ended up developing a severe form of pre-eclampsia called HELLP syndrome. Now my view is this...maybe if you are entirely healthy you can get away with using herbs in your pregnancy. I couldn't. My liver became overloaded and could not handle it. I think that it is interesting that most of the women who would try herbs are women interested in natural childbirth, myself included. What I found was that these herbs can be worse in the end because they are untested and not for everyone, even tho you can take them without a prescription. If you do use herbs during pregnancy, use them sparingly, and only a very few at a time, with the direction of mulitple practitioners who agree...not just from the advice of this book.

I am totally in love with this book. My partner and I are currently trying to get pregnant, and this book is an excellent resource! It tells you all about the plant, what it does, and what Susun's personal favourite remedy is. I plan to eventually own all of Susun Weed's books.

The Childbearing Year contains a wide range of resources for woman pertaining to their reproductive health. This information includes activities, foods, and herbal supplements that can benefit woman hoping to conceive, who are pregnant, or who have a newborn child. These topics range from increasing fertility health for better odds of becoming pregnant and things to stay away from to reduce the likelihood of miscarriage through safe remedies for morning sickness and ways to alleviate late pregnancy back ache to herbs that will reduce the intensity of post partum depression and safe remedies for colic.

I recommend this book to any woman who is thinking of having a child, is pregnant, or has a newborn. Not only does this book give the reader a clear idea of activities, foods, and herbs that she can use for common reproductive related ailments but the author also explains the safest ways to use these remedies. Moreover, the author also includes foods and herbs that can actually make the situation worse or that can even be hazardous to the baby's health so that the reader is forewarned about such potential dangers.

While Susan Weed covers a great many topics and remedies in this book, she doesn't cover any of them with enough detail. She leaves out warnings, indications and rational for many of her reprinted remedies. This book is only150 pages, but should be 3 times that considering the number of topics that she covers. For example she says that "excess vitamin C" is a Teratogen. Well, how much vitamin C, when and why? Things listed as teratogens are listed as cures later in the book (ex. caster oil). Overall, this book left me confused and frustrated with more questions than answers. This is the kind of book that gives herbal self-medicating a bad name.

THis is a fabulous book that I always run to for my herbal advice while pregnant, nursing or even for my sickies. It has herbs listed to help out with many needs durring pregnancy, after pregnancy, with the baby and I even run to it for fevers and such. THe information in this book is beyond helpfull, and right now I am finding a second and 3rd copy so that I can lend out my books without risking being without it when I need it myself. I have done that twice. I advise you to get this book...

I bought this book, based on the good reviews. However, I was dissappointed by the impracticality of some of the advise, e.g. St. Joan's wort. To have this oil, you are supposed to pick the flowers in June, store them for months, prepare them and then you have the oil to use! Also it advises stretching, exercising etc. that is all very well if you have a "normal" pregnancy. I enjoy living a healthy organic lifestyle, however, this book is too "mother-earth" for me.

This was a great reference book during my second pregnancy. I used a few herbs during the pregnancy which I believe helped me have a quick VBAC. I would recommend this book to anyone considering using herbs during their pregnancy (pre-natal and post-natal too).

Susun Weed's book about herbs and the "Childbearing Year" left me with more questions than answers. I feel that it is not for someone beginning to take an interst in herbs in pregnancy.

My midwife recommended this book and it proved to be my favorite book during pregnancy. It was easy to read and offered advice in many issues of pregnancy and childbirth from fertility issues to infant problems. I was new to herbal medicine and found Weed's guidance easy to follow. This book, along with some raspberry leaf tea, would make a great gift for your pregnant friends.