The Womb Garden
Herbal Allies for Fertility & Pregnancy Preparation
Plants are not "pills" that we take to fix something "wrong" with us, and I would never approach them that way. We're composed of overlapping, interdependent systems, and when thinking about fertility I consider ways to support and nourish those systems holistically.
Plants offer one kind of medicine, food another. Sleep medicine. Friendship medicine. Hiking in the mountains medicine. Talk therapy medicine. Self-forgiveness and self-acceptance medicine. Movement medicine. Love medicine. Sometimes, surgery medicine. And so on.
What systems need to be nourished? As a general approach to prepare for pregnancy, we want to support the liver, bring our cycles into balance, reduce stress, and, yeah, maybe throw some aphrodisiacs and fertility herbs in there. Each of these systems can be approached with the other forms of medicine. Consider how you can balance your rest with activity, periods of fasting with nourishment, time for self and time for others. You likely already know what you want and need to find balance.
Stress & Rest
Ashwaganda is one of my favorite herbs. It's an adaptogen, meaning that it helps our bodies navigate, tolerate, and heal from stress. It promotes restful sleep, balanced hormones, libido, supports the thyroid, as well as supports breastmilk production postpartum. This is ideal for someone who is stressed out and tired, who is finding TTC a stressful experience, or where there is hypothyroidism.
Ashwaganda milk: This is my preferred way to take ashwaganda, ideally before bedtime so that we receive the nerving benefits of this herb. Add the powdered ashwaganda root and spices to milk and heat gently, turning off the heat when it starts to steam. Take off the heat, cover, and infuse for 15 minutes. Strain herbs, and add honey and rosewater if using.
1 cup milk or milk substitute
1 tsp powdered ashwaganda
Pinch ground pepper
Honey to taste
Optional: 1 Tbsp rosewater, ground cardamom or cardamom pods, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Milky Oats are the tops of the oat plant, and they make a nutrient-rich restorative tonic. It's great for the nervous system but also for PMS, mood disorders, and just general weakness. I don't recommend oats for people who have celiac disease (although you can purchase GF oats commercially for oatmeal, which is another great way to take oats!).
Nourishing Infusion: A nourishing infusion (coined by herbalist Susun Weed) is a many-hours infusion of usually a good amount of herbal tonic. I take a big handful of milky oats (you can throw in red raspberry leaf, alfalfa, or nettles as well!) and steep it in boiling water in a quart size jar overnight. The quart of tea is then consumed over the course of the next day or so.
Uterine Tonics & Blood Movers
Red Raspberry Leaf (RRL) comes to us from the Native American tradition and is an important uterine tonic, working to tone the muscle layers of the uterus, making it a more efficient muscle. It's often mislabeled as an emmenagogue (a substance that brings on menstruation). It doesn't, nor does it cause abortion or preterm labor. What it does is tone the uterus, making menstruation and childbirth more efficient processes, and has been shown to reduce postpartum bleeding.
RRL nourishing infusion: I recommend creating your own blend of herbs, buying them in bulk and then making nourishing infusions. I like to add a little peppermint or spearmint to RRL teas to temper some of the astringency. It makes an excellent iced tea in the summer.
Rosemary Gladstar combines RRL with peppermint, nettle, lemon balm, chamomile and oat straw as a nervous system tonic.
Dong Quai is a Traditional Chinese Medicine female tonic that is especially indicated when there is sluggish, clotty, dark menstrual flow. Periods often feel heavy, like someone's womb is a heavy stone. DQ helps move blood and regulate the cycle.
Dong Quai decoction: 1 tsp DQ root per cup water simmered for 10 minutes. Optional: add a pinch of grated ginger or cinnamon.
Castor Oil descends into our tissues and breaks down what shouldn't be there while also stimulating circulation. While it isn't a tonic, castor oil helps to clear the space and allow tonics to do their work of building and renewing. It helps to detoxify the reproductive organs and remove blockages, such as post-cesarean scar tissue. The ideal time to do a castor pack is after menstruation and before ovulation, and it should not ever be used in pregnancy. If using a castor oil pack after a cesarean, wait until at least four months postpartum. I recommend using a food grade, cold pressed, hexane-free organic castor oil.
Liver Support
Some herbs that support the liver include dandelion, yellow dock, burdock and blessed thistle or milk thistle. Also, add bitter foods to the diet (bitter salad greens and radishes are ideal), and take a digestive bitter 15 minutes before eating. This supports and stimulates both the liver and gallbladder, and help us assimilate nutrients from our food, as well as process out hormones we no longer need circulating in our body (which helps to balance our hormones!). Anyone with funky periods, acne, PCOS, PMS, and other signs of hormone imbalance will want to love their liver. Lots more on the liver and preconception here.
Herbs that support the liver also help with constipation, and healthy poops are a critical means of bringing hormonal balance (it's one of the main ways we move toxins out of our bodies, and when we're constipated it means we're reabsorbing substances back through the colon!). Drink plenty of water, and consider adding psyllium husk (which adds bulk) or flax seed. For gnarly constipation, take 1 Tbsp liquid calcium-magnesium citrate at bedtime (bonus--it promotes restful sleep).
Hormone Balancing
Vitex is a great herb for people with irregular periods, spotting before their period, coming off of hormonal birth control, and PCOS. It stimulates and regulates pituitary secretions and is especially supportive of the second half of the cycle (ovulation through menstruation), while normalizing estrogen levels throughout. Rarely, it can worsen depression, so discontinue using it if that happens to you. I recommend discontinuing using it in early pregnancy (typically where there's low progesterone) unless working with an herbalist.
Vitex tincture, 5 mL (1 dropperful) in the AM
Fertility Promoting Herbs
If someone is having trouble conceiving, then fertility promotion is only part of the picture (and sometimes isn't the issue). So I'll keep it simple and recommend just one, but know that there are other herbs out there that might be appropriate depending on the person.
Shatavari is my favorite for women's fertility promotion. It's an Ayurvedic herb used as a primary female fertility and sexual tonic. It supports breastmilk production, cleans the blood, and balances estrogen.
Try powdered shatavari in place of ashwaganda in the ashwaganda milk recipe above.
Additional Resources
For an excellent and accessible nutritional approach to hormonal balancing (written by someone who took control of her PCOS), I love Alisa Vitti's Womancode. The food plan she includes in the book helps to reset our bodies, bring energy and vitality, and promotes fertility.
If you're an herbalist interested in working with women's reproductive health, I strongly recommend purchasing Botanical Medicine for Women's Health by Aviva Romm MD. It's an excellent investment, and I use it frequently.
If you'd like to bring more energy to your sexuality and healing, I cannot recommend Emily Nagoski's Come as You Are any more enthusiastically. This is a book that changes lives.