Homeopathy is appropriate in healing both acute and chronic illnesses. Examples of acute illnesses are morning sickness, colds, flus, and sore throats. Chronic illnesses include asthma, migraines, and depression, to name a few. Broadly speaking, homeopathy is most well-known for treating symptomatic conditions.
For example, a bee sting may necessitate Apis as a remedy that swiftly alleviates burning pain, redness, and swelling. A particularly hard fall can benefit from a timely dosage of arnica to reduce subsequent soreness and discoloration. This direct application of a homeopathic remedy is considered acute prescribing. Unquestionably, acute remedies play an important role in pregnancy care.
In each trimester’s section about unpleasant symptoms, we reference the homeopathic charts that outlined the most common homeopathic remedies associated with each symptom; these suggestions are acute prescribing. We are obviously firm believers in the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and although they are amazing and quick-acting, sometimes the solution you really need is as simple as avoiding a certain position, slowing down, hydrating, or adding or eliminating a certain food. (Note: If you can’t find a homeopathic remedy match that is working, please consult a homeopath for assistance.)
However, going beyond the symptoms and getting to the root of a deeper series of issues generally requires a constitutional remedy. It strengthens the immune system, alleviates physical symptoms, and balances the emotional and mental sphere. A constitutional remedy requires an in-depth consultation with an experienced homeopath and can be used in conjunction with other therapies. Expect a consultation to take one to three hours and possibly more than one visit.
Constitutional homeopathy affects the body on multiple levels because it treats the unique inner imbalance of your system, which dictates a unique pregnancy and birth for every woman. Whatever inner imbalance your body carries will express itself through these differences, so an individual assessment will help you determine which remedy is right for you.
Your imbalances also manifest themselves in secondary reactions—or the responses that emerge from the initial reaction to a situation. The magnitude of these reactions is heightened during stressful times and the rapid changes that take place during pregnancy are fertile ground for increased stress that heightens these physical, mental, and emotional reactions.
For instance, while driving on the freeway, someone cuts you off, and you may tighten up, become more alert, get a sinking feeling as your stomach drops, grip the wheel, and get angry, or experience shock or fear. These varied reactions are completely normal and usually a coordinated product of your unique nervous system and way of experiencing the world.
But did you notice the secondary reactions that were spawned from these initial ones? Do you feel and act upon the urge to speed up and cut off this person in return? Do you fearfully exit the freeway and lament that this always happens to you? Is your stomach and body tight the rest of the day, or even week? Are you left in a shocked state of mind well after the incident has passed? Or do you just shake it off and go about your day? This is just one example of how secondary reactions can manifest and stay with us beyond the situation itself. And when you are pregnant, long-lasting secondary reactions can add stress to your body and your baby. Constitutional homeopathy allows the body to have its initial response, while toning down or dissipating the intensity of disproportionate reactions, and lowering stress levels, one of the best ways to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
We think constitutional treatment before conception is valuable for many reasons, but probably the most significant use is helping a woman curtail or end pharmaceutical dependency. With the right homeopathic remedy, a woman can stop using pharmaceuticals daily (anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, ADD medications, pain medications) and achieve long-lasting or permanent relief.
In Willow’s own practice, she has seen women who wanted to discontinue certain medications during pregnancy but were scared to quit cold turkey. Homeopathy was the perfect replacement because it rebalanced their systems. The positive effects they experienced with their remedy allowed them to safely wean off their dependency and confidently—and safely—choose to end pharmaceutical use.
Now that you are ready to use homeopathy, we have laid out the top remedies for each ailment below. You’ll find under each ailment a list of the most common remedies used to treat that particular ailment. Read through each remedy description and decide which one most closely matches the symptoms you are currently experiencing. Then, either grab the remedy from the homeopathy kit you have already purchased, or go to your local health food store and buy it there. If you do not have a kit and are not near a health food store, balancingyourhealth.com can direct you to where to buy these remedies online. Enjoy reaping the benefits of this two-hundred-year-old natural medicine.
This remedy is for the fight-or-flight panicked state, where the heart is pounding and symptoms might resemble a panic attack, especially if it doesn’t go away. Symptoms may include a very dry mouth or very dry skin. Use this remedy when anxiety is sudden and intense, such as when hearing bad news or being involved in an accident or natural disaster, such as a fire. Also for use when you have a lot of fear and worry that you or your baby or a loved one might die, even though the reality of this happening is far from the situation. Aconite is also great to use during birth if you get overwhelmed and scared about your ability to continue with labor, or become fearful for the health of you or your baby.
This is for a type of anxiety that involves security and safety as well as health. Most often this remedy is needed if worries are about the future. The worries and fears will be about health, finances, and losing money or wondering where it will come from if jobs are lost. It’s often useful for the perfectionist type that is overly neat and tidy, or even a bit OCD or borderline hypochondriac.
This remedy is for the mom who is generally overwhelmed, easily stressed, and easily frightened. For use when you have the fear that a nervous breakdown is close or are consumed by the general fear that something bad is going to happen. If you need kali phos, you likely are oversensitive, easily exhausted, and irritable due to all this worry and fear. This remedy is great in the form of a tissue salt, aka cell salt. In this form it is great to take daily, following the directions on the bottle.
Great for anticipatory anxiety and when worry revolves around what might happen or not happen: thoughts about what it’s going to look like when baby comes, who is going to do the laundry, etc. A telltale sign that you might need lycopodium is that you will be calm in front of the doctor, but at home you can’t hide your anticipation and anxious behavior. If you need lycopodium, you generally have gut issues with a lot of gas and rumbling in the stomach.
This is a go-to for all general acute anxiety. Whether your anxiety is from trauma, bad news, an accident, or a difficult situation, take this remedy. It’s also a great remedy to give during labor if there is any fear and anxiety.
This is good for pain that comes on quickly and leaves quickly. Most often this type of pain is worse from sudden jarring movements, pressure, or touch. The body is restless but at the same time exhausted—there will be no prenatal massages for these backaches because pressure and touch make it so much worse. Generally there will be cravings for sour and sweet citrus like lemonade.
For pain of the sciatica or any region of the groin that extends down the legs, take this remedy, especially if the pain is shooting down the leg from the sacrum or lower back, or is so intense it is hard to walk.
This remedy is for when pains are sudden and sharp, and go up and down the back, buttocks, and thighs. Often in between the sharp shooting pain is a bruised feeling in the same region. The pain is ameliorated by hard pressure on the painful area. For example, if you notice you feel better from a deep tissue massage, then this might indicate kali-c is for you.
Sepia is used to treat aching in the lower back, which is often worse on the left side, or a sensation of heaviness or a “bearing down” feeling in the pelvis. It can feel so heavy (like a prolapse) that you might say “It feels like all my organs are going to fall out.” Along with the physical symptoms, you’ll likely have a disinterest in sex and your partner during pregnancy. Emotionally, the symptoms resemble PMS, but there is no outward weeping or crying; being alone would ameliorate the emotions.
This remedy may be for you if your stools are a yellowish, mustard color, or even whitish; hard, difficult to expel, and dry; or there is a lot of straining in the beginning of a bowel movement followed by the stool gushing out. You might also notice you crave sweets, even if you don’t indulge, and that you are sensitive to dairy. In general there will be gastrointestinal problems with a lot of bloating and gas. In fact there is so much gas that your appetite, although ravenous, may be satiated quickly because there is no room from the gas. Symptoms are usually worse from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Lycopodium is a great remedy if constipation arises while traveling, as it also helps alleviate anxiety tied to anticipation, such as having to travel for work.
When the stool is almost as loose as with diarrhea, and then followed by constipation, nux vomica may help. Other symptoms include severe flatulence, which is ten times worse during pregnancy, and a lot of urging with little to no success (an “unfinished” feeling) when going to the bathroom. Indulging in rich foods and overeating or overworking are common habits of people who find nux vomica helpful. Type A personalities often benefit from this remedy if the rest of the physical symptoms match. Symptoms can be ameliorated from warm drinks and warm baths.
This remedy is for when symptoms are constantly changing: constipation one minute and diarrhea the next. When constipated, the stool is hard and difficult to expel and there is urging without success. Your mental state may be less irritable and more weepy, clingy, and overly emotional. Symptoms are ameliorated by consolation and people, or by being outdoors. In fact, being inside will aggravate the body and the emotions.
Peristalsis slows down due to low muscle tone and relaxed muscles due to hormones, so that the small intestines have more time to absorb all the super nutrients to nourish mom and baby. Pretty amazing process, as long as you don’t suffer from constipation as a result. Symptoms that indicate you should use sepia include days passing without any urge to go to the bathroom, or a sensation of a ball in the rectum when passing a stool, a feeling that is often a result of all the straining. Symptoms are ameliorated with exercise and keeping busy. You may have cravings for pickles and sauerkraut and other fermented, sour, and vinegar-tasting foods.
Offensive-smelling gas and bowel movements are a sign a sulphur remedy should be considered. The stools will be hard and knotty and there will be a lot of rectal itching. The urge to go will be frequent but very little will pass, and it will feel unsuccessful. When the stool does finally pass, it is very painful. Another symptom is if you are extremely aggravated by heat, especially in the feet at night. The feet can feel so hot that it’s a must to stick the feet out from the covers at night.
Belladonna should be considered for sudden, violent, throbbing pains that are aggravated by everything. It’s needed when there is sensitivity to light, noise, touch, and strong smells, and motion or being jarred can make it worse. The pain will pass as quickly as it starts usually and is at its worst in the afternoon. Sitting and applying pressure to the area in pain ameliorate the symptoms. The location of the pain is typically the forehead, although it may extend to the back of the head. The face is likely flushed or hot to the touch, even if the hands and feet are still cold. Remember the words hot, red, flushed, and throbbing for this headache or migraine.
This remedy is key if any type of motion, no matter how small, aggravates the pain. Even the slightest movement of the head or eyes can intensify the pain. This pain is often centered over the left eye. These headaches are induced from nausea and morning sickness and can be worse in the morning while getting out of bed. Emotionally, you may be irritable and prefer to be left alone.
You will feel as if there is a band bound tightly around your head. The pain begins at the back of the head and then extends upward or to the forehead and is often right-sided. Head pain treated with gelsemium is usually preceded by an aura of blurred or double vision and is aggravated by any light or noise. The headaches may leave you feeling dull, tired, and forgetful. Emotionally, you’ll prefer to be left alone but unlike a headache treated by bryonia, you won’t be irritable. A strange symptom of this type of headeache is that the pain will feel momentarily better when you urinate, as if the pressure from the band around your head is released as the urine is released.
For pain that is usually in the forehead on the right temple and associated with nausea and vomiting, try iris versicolor. If you need this remedy, you will always have visual disturbances and the pain will be preceded by blurred vision. You may also feel nausea, from morning sickness or from a flu.
This remedy is for head pain that feels like an enormous hangover, either from alcohol or from too much rich food and poor food combinations. You will have a general sick feeling and might have gas, constipation, bloating, and gurgling in the stomach as well. The pain in the head is worse in the morning and improves throughout the day. Symptoms are worse from rich, fatty foods, overeating, lack of sleep, or doing excessive mental work. Those who need nux vomica will also be more type A personalities and will be more irritable from overworking.
Headaches benefiting from pulsatilla are usually located in the forehead or on one side, but will change in location repeatedly. Definitely use pulsatilla when the symptoms and their location are constantly changing. You could be getting headaches from a suppressed menses at the beginning of pregnancy or during the period after your first menses postpartum. You will feel better from applying pressure to the painful area. Your mental state will be weepy and overly emotional, which is ameliorated from being consoled and doted on.
Typically for migraines, usually located over the left eye. The pain is worse from a change in barometric pressure, such as just before a thunderstorm. Your mental state may be sensitive and irritable, and you may prefer to be alone, but you likely won’t be weepy like the type of headache that pulsatilla treats. If you have a headache that needs sepia, you likely never had headaches before pregnancy, or if you did, they were related to your menses.
If you feel as though your intenstines are about to burst from an intense cutting and cramping pain in the stomach, you may need colocynthis. There could be a bitter taste in the mouth and likely the symptoms are worse if you are emotionally upset. The pain can be ameliorated from hard pressure on the stomach or by bending over (doubled over).
For a sour taste in the mouth, sour eructations (burps), or a burning sensation from the stomach up to the throat, take lycopodium. Often the burning is so violent that it takes the breath away or stops in the pharynx and leaves the throat burning. The smallest of meals can leave you feeling full and bloated, and you’ll likely crave sweets and not be thirsty. Heartburn is worse late in the afternoon and early evening
This remedy is used to treat heartburn or acid reflux that usually arises after indulging in rich foods. You may also have constricting or cramping pain in the stomach, where you might feel the need to vomit or make a bowel movement, but neither brings relief. Mentally, you may feel more irritable, either from the heartburn or just in general. You’ll feel better from exercise and keeping busy.
The key sign to needing this remedy is if you feel a sensation of a lump or pulsation in the stomach. Your stomach will feel empty with a rumbling and gurgling, and there are pressing pains. The heartburn comes on at different times during the day and is constantly changing. You may have a bitter taste in your mouth and sour eructations (burps). Pulsatilla is a good choice if you feel immediately better after going outside and inhaling some fresh air, or you notice that you feel worse in warm, stuffy rooms. Your mood may also be ever changing—despondent and sad one minute, and happy the next.
For sore, burning, and bleeding hemorrhoids that are purple and protrude like a bunch of grapes, reach for this remedy. Low energy and feeling exhausted are also key symptoms. The stool is loose to the point that you are worried you don’t have control over your bowels; that you’ll have an accident from just passing gas. Avoid this catastrophe and take this remedy.
The arnica of the rectum, this remedy is for hemorrhoids that make the rectum and anus tender to the touch and hurt while wiping. Consider this remedy when there is bleeding and protruding hemorrhoids that are bluish in color. There might be a large amount of dark blood and many varicose veins as well. You may also feel worse from heat and prefer a cold pack, or have ankles that are so swollen that it hurts to walk.
For hemorrhoids that are not protruding outwardly but are inside, creating bumps around the anus. There is burning in the rectum after a bowel movement. If you experience many gastrointestinal symptoms, including an upset stomach from dairy or a craving for sweets, then consider this remedy.
The symptoms are all over the place when someone needs pulsatilla: bright blood when wiping one day and nothing the next; sharp pains one day and throbbing the next; constipated one day and then not the next. You may notice a lack of thirst as well, or cravings for butter, ice cream, and other creamy foods. Emotionally, you lean toward the weepy, clingy side. Symptoms are generally alleviated by lying down, going outdoors for the fresh air, or being around company.
If you’ve never had hemorrhoids before or until pregnancy, and there is a sensation of a ball in the rectum with protruding hemorrhoids, highly consider sepia. Other symptoms include craving vinegar, sour foods, and sweets; an aversion to your partner or sex; or feeling overwhelmed in general during pregnancy. You feel better from exercise.
Use sulphur when the anus is inflamed and red with a lot of itching and there are many exterior hemorrhoids that are raw, tender, and oozing. You may also experience frequent urging to pass a bowel movement but are unsuccessful, or when the stool finally does pass, it is very painful. There is often a feeling of fullness and pressure in the abdomen, and the gas and bowel movements smell like sulphur and you have hard, knotty stools. These types of hemorrhoids are made worse from heat and are aggravated by standing. Another symptom may be the soles of your feet burning at night, where you must keep your feet out from under the covers. Emotionally, you may have a lack of concern for hygiene ranging from wearing the same clothes for a few days in a row to not showering or brushing your hair for over a week.
This remedy should be taken before bed, and should be considered when you can fall asleep but you wake up and can’t go back to sleep because of anxious fears. You may have restless sleep with vivid and frightening dreams, the kind that wake you up with heavy breathing because they feel so real. You may have many fears, especially of yourself or your baby dying during labor and childbirth.
When you can’t sleep because of excitement and a rush of thoughts from an overactive mind, try coffea crudum. The excitement could be from good news, like finding out you’re pregnant, or you might be uptight and extremely sensitive to the slightest pain, as well as feeling anxious, energetic, and tired all at the same time. The feeling is similar to someone who drank too much coffee and just can’t fall asleep, and your senses are acute and you may wake up at the least sound. This remedy should be taken an hour or so before bed.
For those of you who are sleepless because of an emotional upset, grief, disappointment, unexpressed feelings, or shock, try ignatia. This type of insomnia tends to affect people who hold things inside to the point where they can’t stop thinking about it, even to sleep. Take this remedy anytime.
Nux vomica is used when you have no problem falling asleep, but if you wake up, you’re doomed. You may be sleepless from overwork, mental stress and strain, and even from overindulgence in rich foods or unfavorable food combinations, which you also crave. You will have a rush of thoughts, like the coffea cruda treatment outlines, but if you need nux vomica you will generally be very type A, competitive, and organized. It all comes back to work with you: Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a top executive, the work is important. Take this remedy anytime.
If you need cocculus indicus, you’ll have an extreme aversion to most foods and you’ll be worse from any kind of motion. The feeling of nausea is like seasickness or any motion sickness, often with vertigo. Therefore you feel much better when lying down; in fact, when the wave of nausea hits, you must lie down. Nausea can be sparked from just the sight or smell of some foods, and might be accompanied by headaches and vomiting.
Those who might gag or even vomit at the very thought of food, and are intensely worse from the smell or mention of food, should consider this remedy. There is severe vomiting and retching. You might notice undigested food after vomiting, a further indication for colchicum. Additionally, you are hungry, but get sick as soon as you smell or eat the food. You will be very thirsty. In general you are better resting in a fetal position because symptoms are much worse if you are standing or stretching your abdomen. While lying in this position, you stay very still because you are worse from motion and get sick if you move your head the slightest amount.
A common household remedy to induce vomiting will benefit nausea that is not relieved by vomiting. Symptoms include a lot of saliva and spitting to remove the excess saliva from the mouth; a lack of thirst; and nausea that’s constant and all day long. A stark difference from symptoms for other remedies is that you might vomit from lying down. A warm room, warm application, warm drinks, warm bath/shower may make symptoms worse. You may experience a desire for fresh air. This remedy works best if taken before you get out of bed.
Use kreosotum when there is extreme salivation, and this excess saliva is swallowed and feels like the cause of the nausea. Vomiting may occur, but only several hours after eating. You may have a craving for smoked foods, and warm and spicy foods ameliorate the symptoms temporarily.
Symptoms treated with lacticum acidum include voracious hunger and thirst that helps you feel better after eating, especially after breakfast. You may also have increased salivation but here you’ll have water brash (acid reflux) that is burning hot gas from the stomach to the throat. In general you might be pale and anemic and perspire on the feet. Nausea is present on waking before rising, and therefore taking this remedy before you get out of bed is also recommended.
The symptoms treated by nux vomica are similar to a hangover (whether from food or alcohol). The nausea is strong and you are extremely hungry, but feel worse after eating because it causes indigestion and cramping. Although vomiting sounds appealing, you are unable to vomit. In general you’re irritable, oversensitive to noise and light, and feel like everything is a lot of work. This might cause you to be more snappy than usual. Constipation is likely experienced, too.
There is no thirst with the type of nausea treated by pulsatilla. Overeating of fatty foods like butter might be a daily occurrence for you, and your symptoms are worse after eating. Although your symptoms are worse in the afternoon, you might feel sick all day. Being outdoors in fresh air immediately brings relief and you are worse in a warm or stuffy room. In general, your emotions are changeable: clingy, weepy, and desiring consolation. You might be very needy while sick and ask your partner or family or friends for help with the slightest things. The symptoms will also change, nauseated one day from one type of food and then not the next.
Sepia is used when your symptoms are worse before eating and nausea occurs from the sight and smell of food but is not as severe as when colchicum is recommended. You might notice a craving for vinegar and pickled foods and sweets. There is an empty feeling in the stomach, a sinking feeling that is not better from eating and can make you feel faint. If there is vomiting, it often is after eating. There is a sensation that the uterus will fall out while vomiting as well as a general sensation of heaviness and sagging in the pelvis. You might feel this so much that you choose to wear a girdle or belly support. Your symptoms may be worse when lying on your side. You might have an aversion to your partner or sex, with no sexual energy because you feel exhausted. In general, you feel irritable and overwhelmed, but there is no crying and you prefer to be alone.
Tabacum helps when there is violent vomiting from the least bit of motion. When you have a sinking feeling in the stomach, symptoms are relieved in cold, fresh air. You may also have an extreme aggravation from the smell of tobacco.
The following seven remedies make up your well-rounded post-delivery arsenal. With them, you should be able to handle whatever comes your way. You can purchase your own kit at momandbabyhomeopathykits.com.
If arnica is homeopathy’s number one trauma remedy, aconite is homeopathy’s number one shock remedy. By shock, we mean emotional, mental, and even physical shock. The kind one would experience if they were in a car accident, or had just heard overly exciting or terrible news. In this case, it could be after experiencing an extremely fast labor or birth, or the opposite, one that is arduous, long, or didn’t go as planned. In any of these cases, aconite should be given immediately every fifteen minutes for two hours or until the “shock” has faded.
After taking the aconite it was as if someone had given me a valium. I could breathe, relax, and be present.
—KRISTINE, AFTER SHE GAVE BIRTH UNEXPECTEDLY WITH ONLY 2 HOURS OF LABOR AT 33 WEEKS. WILLOW WAS HER DOULA.
Homeopathy’s number one trauma remedy, arnica should be routinely given after birth to alleviate any bruised feelings in the uterine area, or to treat actual bruises you acquire during labor or birth (such as from awkward positioning). We think this is a must-have remedy for every mom.
This remedy works exceptionally well to heal deep-tissue bruising and soreness. It is particularly useful after a cesarean section or delivery with forceps. We recommend 200C potency taken once a day for a few days. If you only have 30C available, take two times a day for a few days.
Think skin and all injuries skin-related, including cuts, abrasions, wounds, lacerations, and rashes. Postpartum, it’s a wonderful remedy for natural tearing of the perineum, from an episiotomy, or from a cesarean birth abdominal incision. You can use a salve or ointment on the skin and apply as often as you like. Check with your doctor if you have stitches to make sure the skin is healing appropriately. We also like a calendula tincture. You can add it to a sitz bath or a regular bath to soak the healing skin or apply it to a soft paper towel and lay it on the affected area until it dries. Manuka honey or Manuka Therapy Cream does wonders, too.
A note about episiotomies: Natural tearing is better, mamas—believe it or not. Episiotomies are for emergencies only. Ask any nurse or doctor and they will concur that a mom will heal faster if she tears naturally instead of being cut. Natural tearing takes place between the cells where the skin is the weakest. With an episiotomy, however, the skin is cut through the cells, which takes much longer to heal.
This remedy is known to affect the nerve-rich areas where you experience intense, shooting pains. It is most useful after any delivery, but especially after C-sections, epidurals, episiotomies, and forceps delivery. Willow recommends taking 30C two times a day for a few days, depending on the severity of the procedure.
This is a remedy for incisions, cuts, and lacerations in addition to calendula. However, unlike calendula, it heals more deeply than skin-deep. It is excellent after a cesarean birth, when pains are sharp, or if any stitches were given, either internally or externally. Take 30C, three times a day for a few days.
We think phytolacca is the best breast remedy! We mentioned it in our section about mastitis (in addition to other great treatments for mastitis)—30C should do the trick.
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These remedies are intended for the alleviation of symptoms and to speed up recovery time. If, at any time, you experience something you are unsure about, please contact your health care provider.
EMOTION: Fear of the upcoming birth or of death in general
REMEDY: Aconite
EMOTION: Anticipatory anxiety: What is going to happen when? How is (blank) going to happen or work?
REMEDY: Lycopodium
EMOTION: Anxiety about anything and everything
REMEDY: Calcarea carbonica
EMOTION: Depression that feels like a black cloud is looming constantly
REMEDY: Cimicifuga
EMOTION: Feeling snappy, depressive, and irritable, especially with family; PMS-like symptoms without crying; preferring to be alone
REMEDY: Sepia
EMOTION: Feeling depressed and weepy and clingy; PMS-like symptoms with crying; wanting company
REMEDY: Pulsatilla
EMOTION: Feeling depressed or sad, but not wanting to share feelings with others; feeling grief, sadness from loss
REMEDY: Ignatia
EMOTION: Feeling stubborn, irritable, and competitive
REMEDY: Nux vomica