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is it just placebo? and should we even care?

1
When I got pregnant with my 4th human, I was older, I was wiser and I was much more curious about the use of natural aids for healing and so I started venturing into unknown territory of what felt like a world of witch craft and out there hippy shit. And, before I knew it I was having my never before acknowledged chakars realigned and  a 4 weekly appointment with a kineseologist.

I remember the first time I went to see the said kineselogist, the very lovely Louise from 2 Evolve ,  I would stumble up onto her table, back breaking under the sheer

SelfishMother.com
2
weight of carrying a human around with me all day. Some-days it would actually feel like my spine may just snap under the pressure, I had tears in my eyes, a woeful look of sheer desperation and a in fair amount of pain, I handed myself over completely to her, knowing that at the very least I’d get an hour of uninterrupted peace (4th kid remember, peace felt like a holy grail). Within the hour of my appointment, whatever witchcraft she had done, had worked. I sat up on her table feeling strong and flexible. My pains had all but gone and I felt
SelfishMother.com
3
weightless. It was magical. After 1 hour and some hot hands, I was fixed!

She explained to me that whilst my practical mind had gotten used to the idea of my being preggo (I was 39, it was a ‘surprise’ pregnancy) my body still couldn’t come to terms with the changes and was just shutting down, she needed to feed energy back into my body by the power of Reiki, and boy did she ever.

From that point on I was open to the idea of holistic healing and any kind of natural approach that would help keep my head above water during pregnancy and birth

SelfishMother.com
4
(and as I soon found out, way beyond).

On my last appointment at her treatment room, she gave me a piece of malachite. A crystal which is described on this great website Crystals and Gemstones for Childbirth, Postpartum and Beyond as;

Malachite.  A powerful emotional cleanser helping to remove past traumas and negative emotions. Known as the “midwives stone” as it helps to stimulate contractions, ease labor pains and facilitates a safe childbirth.

I had this crystal with me the whole time I was in labour, it became my talisman, my healing

SelfishMother.com
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anchor. And when it was time to get into the pool, my clever doula, prized it out of my sweaty palm and tied the velvet bag that carried it onto the handle of the birthing pool. I was so panicked that I couldn’t hold it, she became (even more) god like for her totally brilliant idea!

When I returned the crystal post birth, Louise said that it had reduced by half the size, I’d literally drained it for all it was worth!! So much love I have for this crystal now, I must talk to my clients about it so much that at a birth I was supporting recently

SelfishMother.com
6
there was an amazing malachite lion stood proudly on the side watching over the birthing mother. The very mother (who totally rocked her home birth) gifted me the lion at the post natal visit. He now stands proudly at my kitchen sink (amongst some irrelevant odds and sods) reminding me every day of the strength and adaptability of women and how far we’ve come (the positioning of the lion at the kitchen sink is post ironic obvs)!

And of course I done the voodoo that is hypnobirthing. I entered into a world of relaxation I never knew existed, I learnt

SelfishMother.com
7
to trust in a process that had failed for me 3 times before, and I totally handed myself over to the process of natural birth with my trusty doula by my side and my malachite hanging off the pool in my kitchen (my husband was the designated DJ and videographer).

Then came the totally out there idea. I handed my placenta over for encapsulation. My darling doula would take it home, steam it, dehydrate it, grind it up and fill a 170 capsules full to the brim with my own  natural healer. I got the pills back and necked them happily, completely at ease

SelfishMother.com
8
with my new found craziness.

As a parent, having benefited myself so much from these natural remedies it’s spilled over onto my children. They’ve had reiki and taken natural pro-biotic for stomach complaints, natural Vit C following a low immunity after an infected insect bite, aloe gel for psoriasis and acne in my teenager and even my hypnobirthing scripts on all the kids when we’re playing ‘sleeping lions’ (kids learn about the importance of relaxing and mindfulness and I think that’s a massive shame), homeopathics and amber

SelfishMother.com
9
beads (from my friend Marie from Love Amber) for teething and Eczema!! And I can tell you, all this shit worked!!!

I came from working in accounts for a swanky advertising company believing that vodka cured all, to being a hypnobirthing doula with a malachite lion for company! You could say I am now completely sold on all things holistic! *still partial to a bit of vodka though 😉

And so my question to you is, as there is no scientific evidence to support these natural remedies, and all this birthing witchcraft IS it all just a placebo effect?

SelfishMother.com
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Would it matter to you if it was all just mumbo jumbo and simply a trick of the mind? If it’s working, should we even bother to question it or should we keep an open mind to the idea that stuff outside of the (incredibly ridgid) ‘norm’ may just be what’s best for us?
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- 29 Feb 16

When I got pregnant with my 4th human, I was older, I was wiser and I was much more curious about the use of natural aids for healing and so I started venturing into unknown territory of what felt like a world of witch craft and out there hippy shit. And, before I knew it I was having my never before acknowledged chakars realigned and  a 4 weekly appointment with a kineseologist.

I remember the first time I went to see the said kineselogist, the very lovely Louise from 2 Evolve ,  I would stumble up onto her table, back breaking under the sheer weight of carrying a human around with me all day. Some-days it would actually feel like my spine may just snap under the pressure, I had tears in my eyes, a woeful look of sheer desperation and a in fair amount of pain, I handed myself over completely to her, knowing that at the very least I’d get an hour of uninterrupted peace (4th kid remember, peace felt like a holy grail). Within the hour of my appointment, whatever witchcraft she had done, had worked. I sat up on her table feeling strong and flexible. My pains had all but gone and I felt weightless. It was magical. After 1 hour and some hot hands, I was fixed!

She explained to me that whilst my practical mind had gotten used to the idea of my being preggo (I was 39, it was a ‘surprise’ pregnancy) my body still couldn’t come to terms with the changes and was just shutting down, she needed to feed energy back into my body by the power of Reiki, and boy did she ever.

From that point on I was open to the idea of holistic healing and any kind of natural approach that would help keep my head above water during pregnancy and birth (and as I soon found out, way beyond).

On my last appointment at her treatment room, she gave me a piece of malachite. A crystal which is described on this great website Crystals and Gemstones for Childbirth, Postpartum and Beyond as;

  • Malachite.  A powerful emotional cleanser helping to remove past traumas and negative emotions. Known as the “midwives stone” as it helps to stimulate contractions, ease labor pains and facilitates a safe childbirth.

I had this crystal with me the whole time I was in labour, it became my talisman, my healing anchor. And when it was time to get into the pool, my clever doula, prized it out of my sweaty palm and tied the velvet bag that carried it onto the handle of the birthing pool. I was so panicked that I couldn’t hold it, she became (even more) god like for her totally brilliant idea!

When I returned the crystal post birth, Louise said that it had reduced by half the size, I’d literally drained it for all it was worth!! So much love I have for this crystal now, I must talk to my clients about it so much that at a birth I was supporting recently there was an amazing malachite lion stood proudly on the side watching over the birthing mother. The very mother (who totally rocked her home birth) gifted me the lion at the post natal visit. He now stands proudly at my kitchen sink (amongst some irrelevant odds and sods) reminding me every day of the strength and adaptability of women and how far we’ve come (the positioning of the lion at the kitchen sink is post ironic obvs)!

And of course I done the voodoo that is hypnobirthing. I entered into a world of relaxation I never knew existed, I learnt to trust in a process that had failed for me 3 times before, and I totally handed myself over to the process of natural birth with my trusty doula by my side and my malachite hanging off the pool in my kitchen (my husband was the designated DJ and videographer).

Then came the totally out there idea. I handed my placenta over for encapsulation. My darling doula would take it home, steam it, dehydrate it, grind it up and fill a 170 capsules full to the brim with my own  natural healer. I got the pills back and necked them happily, completely at ease with my new found craziness.

As a parent, having benefited myself so much from these natural remedies it’s spilled over onto my children. They’ve had reiki and taken natural pro-biotic for stomach complaints, natural Vit C following a low immunity after an infected insect bite, aloe gel for psoriasis and acne in my teenager and even my hypnobirthing scripts on all the kids when we’re playing ‘sleeping lions’ (kids learn about the importance of relaxing and mindfulness and I think that’s a massive shame), homeopathics and amber beads (from my friend Marie from Love Amber) for teething and Eczema!! And I can tell you, all this shit worked!!!

I came from working in accounts for a swanky advertising company believing that vodka cured all, to being a hypnobirthing doula with a malachite lion for company! You could say I am now completely sold on all things holistic! *still partial to a bit of vodka though 😉

And so my question to you is, as there is no scientific evidence to support these natural remedies, and all this birthing witchcraft IS it all just a placebo effect? Would it matter to you if it was all just mumbo jumbo and simply a trick of the mind? If it’s working, should we even bother to question it or should we keep an open mind to the idea that stuff outside of the (incredibly ridgid) ‘norm’ may just be what’s best for us?

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I’m Lauren, mum of 4 humans, each with their very own birth story. Red wine drinker, keen blogger, trash tv watcher and pretty hard core potty mouth! But, with a good heart and a passion for setting lovely women like you onto a path towards a positive birthing experience, and we’ll have fun doing it; always a bonus! I teach The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme and am a Doula Uk recognised Doula

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