Tea and pregnancy - a great combination

One of the nutritional recommendations of hypnobirthing is to cut down on caffeine and pop, which for some is easy but for others is part of their routine and a difficult habit to break.

When I'm working with clients I suggest alternatives and have been researching many different options.

When I was pregnant I steered clear of caffeine but being a big tea drinker I missed my cuppas and used it as an opportunity to seek out other types of tea. It was a real journey of discovery and not only did I learn about what teas I could drink safely, but what different cultures around the world used for certain ailments during pregnancy.

My favourite was honey bush as you can drink it with milk ( very British I know) and it is full of antioxidants. I also loved rooibos or red bush as it's otherwise known, and I know a wonderful shop called The General Store in Nottingham which stocks a mouth watering range of rooibos infused with different flavours, such as blood orange and vanilla. They are lovely warm in the winter and in summer I would make up iced jars of them in the fridge. For mums that love fizzy drinks you can mix these with soda water and a little brown sugar.

I began to learn more about the medicinal qualities of tea and have now put together a range of teas that can be drunk at different stages of pregnancy. The best thing about working with the General Store is that its teas are top quality so that drinking Raspberry Leaf tea became a joy rather than a bit of a chore.

I've started to work with a tea consultant at the moment to put together a set of teas and visualisations for pregnancy, combining natural approaches through the mind and body to help ease niggling symptoms of pregnancy.

I learnt some amazing facts and realised that the use of teas has been used by different cultures for thousands of years. The Chinese have revered the peach tree for its medicinal value since the fifth century, when Confucius mentioned the tree in his writings. The Chinese use the leaves of the peach tree to make a tea that relieves morning sickness. Europeans use pieces of the tree's bark to make their version of this morning sickness anecdote. They claim that tea made from the bark is stronger and more effective than the tea made from the tree's leaves.

If you want to try some teas, get them from a good source as there really is a difference in taste. Teabags from the supermarket of Raspberry Leaf Tea taste pretty vile compared to fresh leaves. The General store sells online and is the best tea, coffee and chocolate place I have come across. Make sure you take advice if you are not sure, some teas such as Sage should not be drunk later in pregnancy as they can reduce your milk flow.

Always check the label and if you are not sure google the ingredients or ask a professional.
In the meantime here are some of my choice teas for pregnancy:

• Morning sickness - ginger tea
• Heart Burn - peppermint tea
• Sleeplessness or anxiety - camomile or Lemon Balm
• Energy - rooibos
  
• Water retention - dandelion
• Strengthening the uterine muscles (after 36 weeks only) - Red raspberry leaf tea

After the baby is born the following teas can help - the tea makes it into the baby if you are breastfeeding and can help with all sorts of things such as milk flow and colic

• milkflow - fenugreek and Fennel
• colic - fennel or camomile
• postnatal depression - Jasmine
  

So get drinking and enjoy it knowing that it's doing you and your baby the world of good!