Childbearing Year

Blue Cohosh

Q: Dear Susun,
I am currently six weeks pregnant and I don't wish to have a child at this stage in my life. However; I can not bring myself to actually go get a clinical abortion. I have heard that blue cohosh is effective in causing natural miscarriage. However the natural store in my area only had the pill form in 500mg,will that still be effective? If so how much should I take and when? If you could please get back to be ASAP, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank You

 

A: I hear you do not want this pregnancy. The information Susun has written on the topic can all be found in her Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (some of it here). For women as far along as two and up to four weeks past their expected bleeding time, she suggests Uterine Contractors and writes "If your period is no more that two weeks late, you can probably abort by using a uterine contractor alone or in combination with a strong emmenagogue. Some women report success even when four weeks late." You are on the very far end of this. For the Blue Cohosh root she suggests infusion but does not elaborate further. I am sorry I do not know more. I do know she suggests possible better success if used in conjunction with Pennyroyal.

While I support whatever you choose regarding carrying your pregnancy or not, after hearing you and from my learning with Susun, I am concerned that you are very far along and would need to do you much harm with herbs in order to abort, if you could even be successful. I can relate to the aversion to surgical abortion, but this may actually be less harmful to your body, with higher chance of success. Perhaps too the pills you can take to abort at home may feel less invasive then the suction (not sure what it is called).

We have an online forum you can join and post at. There you will find a "Wise Woman Birth Control" forum to explore. If you do a search there for "blue cohosh" you will find at least 15 threads with its mention. You will likely glean more information there, and do not even need to register to search, if you are not wanting to post.

I am thinking of you, imagining how you may be feeling six weeks into a pregnancy you do not want, facing the choices, all of which may not feel too good for various reasons. I wish you lots of love, and am here if there is anything further I can do.

Blessings,
Karen Joy
wisewoman@herbshealing.com
www.wisewomanweb.com

Herbal Abortion while Nursing

Q: Susun: I have a 9 month old baby and had not a period until last month (January). It was very spotty. I' ve heard there is no normal first period after birth and several women in town said they had the same spotty peroid for their first after giving birth. I've had several cravings as I did when I was pregnant the first time so my husband and I are a little concerned that we may be pregnant again and we don't want to be. I was given one of your books, Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, but the pages about herbal birth control were ripped out, so I ordered your books Wise Woman Herbal Series, and then saw the excerpts online. Your book may go into this, but until they arrive my husband and I had a few questions. In the case that I am pregnant and I do any of the suggested herbal remedies, if they don't work will there be any harm done to the fetus? Also, I am still breastfeeding and I wanted to know, is there a method I shouldn't do while I am breastfeeding? I know you are a busy woman, but I would appreciate a response. Thank you, A.

 

A: Hello A., thank you for writing. Susun does not have internet in her home so is not able to correspond through email. I am glad you have one, and maybe soon, all of her books. I am also glad you found the ripped out section on our websites. I assume this is the section you are talking about: Wise Woman Birth Control?

If I understand you correctly you are concerned you may be pregnant and do not wish to be. So you would like to try the herbs mentioned in the article/book to end a pregnancy? Is this right? You are nursing now too? And you have not and do not intend to take a pregnancy test to determine first if you are pregnant? Is all this true?

About potential harm to the fetus, anything you do to attempt to abort will harm it, possibly in small enough ways to be able to heal simply, but possibly in more serious ways. In any case the energy and intention will likely have some effect. I know someone who was concerned about being pregnant so took rutin from ovulation to menstruation date. When menstruation did not come she did large doses of vitamin C hoping to induce the menstruation. This did not work and she eventually went for a checkup and found the fetus was weeks larger than was possible. This signaled possible molar pregnancy. She aborted, and I think likely the intention and supplements are what did the abnormal damage and wonder what would have happened then if she had not gone through with the medical abortion.

It is always your choice of course, but I believe if one wants to abort, it is best to be willing to follow through with a medical abortion if the herbal abortion does not work. If the latter does not work there is possible damage to the baby, that may not even be detected until later.

For the future, if you don't already practice some kind of pregnancy protection, perhaps you would be interested to explore Fertility Awareness using temperature, charting, cervical fluid and cervical position to help you determine if you are ovulating and when.

Regarding these herbs and nursing, my first thought would be concern that if you are taking them at a dose to affect a child growing inside you have the potential to affect the child you are nursing. I do not know for sure however and this would be specific to what herb you choose.

I realize you sent this 4 days ago, and wonder if you have already made some decisions, and if there is anything further I can help with. We are happy to help in any way we can. I would also like to invite you to our online forum where people from around the world come to share life experiences and questions. You are welcome to read and/or post at our "Wise Woman Birth Control" section (or any other of course :)) to help you sort through your choices and wants.

Blessings,
Karen Joy
wisewoman@herbshealing.com
www.wisewomanweb.com