Oils safe to use in pregnancy

[Tinesha</3]

Hi

I have recently found out that I am pregnant - I think I am about 7 weeks now but I am getting quite bad morning (or rather all day!) sickness and all the hormones are upsetting my IBS too! I'm going on holiday on Tuesday and are a bit anxious the idea of a 4 hour flight feeling so sick and without being able to take my usual medication to help the IBS.

I'm already wearing the travel sickness bands all the time which are helping to a degree, but I was wondering if there is an aromatherapy blend I could apply before the flight which would just help keep me and my stomach calm for those few hours! I have trained in aromatherapy though not to a clinical level or on the maternity side of things, and having read some of the previous posts along the same lines, some people say not to use oils at all, and some say they can be used . I've also looked in my aromatherapy books and even they contradict one another!!!!

Could anyone give me a bit of advice please?



Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[smilez]

peppermint and grapefruit may help, but during the first 4 months its always best to avoid any essential oil...just to be safe after that, lavender and chamomile can be used, as well as most citrus oils.

 

[ashh]

rather than use the oils in massage, and if for yourself, try a few drops of peppermint or ginger on a tissue and inhale during times of feeling sick.

ginger is good for morning sickness and motion sickness. the amount you would inhale would be fine during the early stages of pregnancy.

 

[gem]

Valerie Worwood recommends inhaling Spearmint - a few drops in a bowl of boiled water placed in your room at night. I haven't tried it though, so no idea if it truly helps. I set a bowl up in the living room for a friend of mine when I visited her in the afternoon - she said she didn't notice it taking the nausea away, but having something nice to sniff made her feel better in a general way.

As an aside, what does a pregnant aromatherapist do? Would you give up giving massage during the early months, then stick to the safe oils?

 

[xiafsxaa]

You certainly don't have to give up doing massages, but quite a bit is absorbed by the therapist through the hands, so I'd avoid using oils, but I'm trained in sports massage and aromatherapy so would be easy to not use them.

There are quite a lot of childless aromatherapists out there, and from comments I've heard there does seem to be a higher rate of miscarriages in aromatherapists than massage therapists that don't use essential oils and fall pregnant. That is VERY anecdotal evidence, no scientific study to back it up, and I am sure there are many aromatherapists that have children. It also depends on how many treatments they do - the miscarriages I've heard about are with aromatherapists that are pretty well working full time, not just a few treatments a week.

I'm one of the ones that says don't use essential oils in during a pregnancy, unless there is a condition to treat, and not because the oils are dangerous per se, just that there are so many chemicals around these days that have to be broken down, why add to it unless you really need to? Having said that, I think inhaling oils is less of a concern about the chemical burden than applying the oils on the skin, so if inhaling the oils helps, do it.