Amanda Rayment works as a herbalist in the arena of the parent and child relationship. She is also the tutor for the training programme Birth and loving Relationships. Her website is http://www.welcomeworldcafe.com
The arrival of a child in to our lives offers opportunities to awaken tenderness and love within us. A baby listens to his mother’s heartbeat while he is in the womb from very early on in the pregnancy. We could say his mother’s heart is singing to him continually. This sound becomes familiar and reassuring to the baby. Isn’t this wonderful? That no matter what is occurring in the mothers daily life her heart continues to sing to her child. After the child is born this familiarity and reassurance of listening to his mother’s heartbeat continues through being held close to the mother’s body and with breastfeeding. This tenderness begins to be expressed in other ways such as caressing, speaking soothing words to the child and of course with eye to eye contact between mother and baby. This eye to eye contact also encourages the release of the wonderful hormone of love Oxytocin, which is of great assistance with breastfeeding and bonding. Through all these actions tenderness begins to arise in the mother which is naturally extended to the child. So how do we continue to nurture this contact with what is real what is natural? How do we directly experience the truth that in the giving we receive? What does it mean to give of ourselves? To include ourselves in the giving and receiving, these are questions I invite mothers to ask themselves inwardly. So this period of time in women’s lives while they are breastfeeding the focus is on relaxation, nourishment and nurturing. When we view breastfeeding in this way it sounds so simple but of course it may not always be easy to rest back into what sounds simple and natural. So how does a mother include herself in the nurturing and tenderness she is offering her child?
For most of us sometimes we can rest back in the flow of harmony of what is natural and effortless. Other times it seems as if that flow is a distant memory and everything feels tiring. Those moments of not knowing how to respond are opportunities to stop for a moment and to ask inwardly to be shown, to acknowledge to ourselves we have become confused as to what the communication of love is. To recognise that love is not sacrifice in any form no matter how we try to disguise it. To ask love to reveal itself, to show us how to give to our child the nurturing and nourishment we want to know and receive for ourselves. Then we have come back to our true nature of recognising tenderness, happiness and nurturing is shared. That love includes everyone. My encouragement to breastfeeding mothers alongside these inner practices is to ask yourself what makes your heart sing with joy, to give yourself the time to offer this gift of love to yourself, to include this in your life no matter how busy it seems right now .Again I recognise resistances my come forward that it isn’t always easy to include ourselves. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t give it ago and see what occurs as the outcome of being kind and gentle with our selves.
My craft is herbal medicine and producing herbal tea formulas makes my heart sing. On my website I offer different tea formulas for mothering. The website has lots of information about herbs and mothering. There is a cafe area where you can ask questions. The tea Mamas Nursing support is available which many women have found helpful while breastfeeding. This is a formula i have used for years with breastfeeding mothers both in my clinic and in the welcome World tea range. This tea is formulated with herbs that nourish on many different levels and also gently stimulates the blood supply to the mammary glands ensuring a healthy flow of breast milk.
http://www.welcomeworldcafe.com Herbs that assist with breastfeeding are Red raspberry leaf ,fennel seeds ,nettles, holy thistle, fenugreek seeds , goats rue.“
The following herbs may also be helpful to have in your kitchen cupboard or medicine bag.
Marigold flowers; useful for any inflammation of breasts when feeding e.g. with engorgement or mastitis. This plant is also wonderfully soothing for cracked nipples. Again go to http://www.welcomeworldcafe.com for information about marigold {look under notes from Amanda in cafe area }
Ladys Mantle;A wonderful plant that can be used as an external compress for sore or inflamed breasts. Use the leaves to make a paste with a little oil i would choose castor oil, although olive oil would be fine. Again check http://www.welcomeworldcafe.com { look under writings 3 herbs I would always have in my apothecary in cafe area}
There are of course many plants i could list here , my feeling is to keep it simple ,make friends with a few plants ,get to know their benefits, keep them in the kitchen cupboard and make nurturing cups of herbal tea. Use the plants as compresses and washes when assistance is needed. Enjoy and happy mothering.
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