Time to bloom - sneak peek

Spring is in the air, each bird is competing for the loudest song and lambs are scampering across the fields. It's at this time of year that our thoughts turn to new life and new beginnings. To this end, we asked our experts - herbalist Jill Davies, homeopath Claire Zarb and aromatherapist and herbalist Alex Martin - to give us their advice on how to keep pregnancy as calm and happy as possible.


Extract from Issue Three

Finding out that you’re expecting can bring up a number of different emotions and physical ailments, many of which you might never have experienced before. Whether the pregnancy was planned, is your first or your fifth, there is no doubt that making a baby can put an enormous amount of pressure on a woman’s body, resulting in all sorts of weird and wonderful symptoms. Unfortunately, during pregnancy, too many of us suffer the discomfort of minor complaints rather than seek treatment because we are concerned about the side-effects of many conventional drugs. However, it is not always necessary to suffer through pregnancy, as homeopathic medicines and other natural methods are available to relieve symptoms and best of all they are safe for you and your baby.

See Harvest Issue Three for full article. You can subscribe to Harvest magazine here.

Tips to help with morning sickness

As the world rejoices at the news of a new addition to the Royal Family, we are probably all sharing a thought for Kate Middleton right now, who not only is suffering from morning sickness, but is doing so under the watchful gaze of the world.

The hormones' fault
If you are pregnant or thinking of starting or expanding your family, you may be interested to know that it is thought that 50% of pregnant women suffer with morning sickness. There are different views of the cause of morning sickness, but it usually starts in weeks 4-6 and lasts until weeks 14-16. During this time hormones are produced by the corpus luteum (a yellowish tissue which surrounds the egg after it is released from the ovary) until the placenta matures around weeks 14-16 and takes over hormone production.

Pointers for the first few weeks 
Many therapists and practitioners do not treat pregnant women until after week 12. So here are some safe tips we suggest for those early weeks:

• Keep hydrated with plenty of fluids – even sipping water when you can will help.
• Keep blood sugar levels balanced – not easy with morning sickness and weird cravings! Try to keep away from large amounts of sugary foods; helped by eating good quality protein and fats. Small amounts of dark chocolate may help.
• REST! Your body is going through huge changes in the first 12 weeks. If you feel tired listen to your body. Is Mother Nature telling you to slow down?
• Chew your food as poor digestion is thought to be another cause. One very simple tip is to chew your food really well as this will stimulate a sluggish digestion, calm mum down and can really help. 

There are a whole range of wonderful natural remedies such as herbal teas, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture and nutritional supplements, but it is always best to contact an experienced practitioner who can look at you as an individual. If your morning sickness continues after 14-16 weeks you should seek further professional help.