Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (Wise Woman Herbal Series, Book 1)

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Summary: Info packed guide to herbs during and after pregnancy.
Review: I bought this book after I had my baby for the information on herbs and lactation. After reading it, I wish I had heard of it sooner. It is full of information on safe herbs that can be used during pregnancy and a terrific guide on how to prepare them in different ways. The guide alone is worth buying the book. Susun Weed puts everything in a simple, easy way - from beginning to end. Her writing has inspired me to find the wise woman in me. The herbs she writes about aren't uncommon and the recipes aren't complicated. I can't wait for my next pregnancy so I can put this book to better use. It does have good info regarding lactation although I would like more. However, I have had a hard time getting a hold of any at all.

Rating:
Summary: dissappointing
Review: 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.

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Summary: Whew! This book became essential to me
Review: 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.

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Summary: The Herbal guide helped me throughout pregnancy and after
Review: I followed many of the recommendations for herbal relief of symptoms and found great relief in them. I believe the herbs and tinctures recommended in this book helped me achieve my goal of a non-medicated labor and delivery, and my post-partum was eased as well. It is my #1 favorite pregnancy book and I give it to all my friends with a bag of red raspberry leaf for their own infusions and uterine toning routine!

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Summary: FROM A MAN'S POINT OF VIEW......
Review: I found this book when my wife and I were first trying to have a baby. It has proven wonderful time in and time out; It contains more insights and knowledge than other books much larger and less well written. Susun's approach seems to be one of intuitive knowledge, rather than merely intelectual smarts, and that serves we readers so much better. Her explanations of tincture, syrup, and salve preparations are the simplest yet most effective I've found. I wish there was a "wise man herbal" out there, well maybe I'll have to write it for all us guys lacking M. Weed's way.A must for every pregnant woman.Realise that every drug is herbal based!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Summary: Herbal for the childbearing year
Review: 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.

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Summary: consumer beware
Review: 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.

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Summary: an indispensible guide
Review: I used this guide through two births, and I only wish I'd known about it for my first one. It proved invaluable for remedying problems during pregnancy, making childbirth much easier, and alleviating colic in newborns. Most of the herbs are easy to find for purchase and simple to prepare. I have lent it to friends who also found it wonderfully helpful.

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Summary: New to herbalism
Review: Last night I bought this book, along with another herbal guide, as my first real entrance into the study of herbs. "Wise Woman" is well organized, practical, and extremely easy to read for the uninitiated. I praise Ms. Weed for this invaluable resource and expect to refer to this book frequently in my upcoming pregnancy.

Rating:
Summary: New to herbalism
Review: Last night I bought this book, along with another herbal guide, as my first real entrance into the study of herbs. "Wise Woman" is well organized, practical, and extremely easy to read for the uninitiated. I praise Ms. Weed for this invaluable resource and expect to refer to this book frequently in my upcoming pregnancy.