Pregnancy and postpartum periods are associated with significant physical and emotional stress for a woman. A woman usually feels emotional and exhausted during pregnancy and in the weeks and months following the birth of a baby.1 Aromatherapy and massage therapy with essential oils can go a long way in relieving the physical and emotional stress during pregnancy and postpartum.

Therapeutic massage during pregnancy can reduce anxiety and depression, improve mood, improve sleep and reduce back pain.2,3 Postpartum therapeutic massage is linked with hormone regulation, reduction in swelling, improved sleep and improved breastfeeding.4 Aromatherapy can be used to relieve several ailments such as depression, indigestion, headache, insomnia, muscular pain, respiratory problems, skin ailments, swollen joints, etc.5 A study revealed that postpartum aromatherapy for perineal care appeared to be effective in healing the perineum.6

Vetiver (khus) grass is known for its skin soothing properties. Vetiver oil is used in aromatherapy, owing to its sedative qualities and its balancing/regulatory activity on skin. It has antiseptic, tonic and detoxifying effects on the skin. This oil replenishes the moisture in dehydrated and dry skin and is known to prevent stretch marks.7 Aromatherapy as well as massage therapy with vetiver oil are beneficial.

Lavender essential oil is commonly used as a complementary medicine and has been shown to have sedative, carminative, anti-depressive and anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects.8 Lavender has calming properties and its odor has been shown to reduce anxiety.9 Lavender oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties against many species of bacteria, especially when antibiotics fail to work.5

Essential oils can have many beneficial effects relevant to pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. For instance, inhaling peppermint, spearmint, lavender, and ginger can relieve nausea. Lavender, frankincense, and rose may relieve anxiety in labor. German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Immortelle (Helichrysum italicum) have anti-inflammatory and healing effects. Rose (Rosa damascena) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) can relieve anxiety and depression in the postpartum period.10 A recent study revealed that aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil could significantly decrease stress and improve immune function in pregnant women.11 Lavender essence aromatherapy also seems to be an effective therapeutic option for pain management for women in labor.12 Rose oil can diminish pregnancy-related low back pain intensity without any significant adverse effect.13 Inhaling the scent of lavender for 4 weeks has been shown to prevent stress, anxiety, and depression after childbirth.14 A study found aromatherapy-massage to be a potential intervention for postpartum mothers to improve physical and mental status and to facilitate mother-infant interaction.15

Therefore, there are several essential oils with proven benefits in a myriad of conditions associated with pregnancy and postpartum that can be put to use while caring for women during these two critical periods of their lives.

References

1. Emotional changes during pregnancy and following childbirth. Available from: https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n1351.pdf&ver=2068.
2. Field T, Hemandez-Reif M, Hart S, et al. Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology 1999;20(1).
3. Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M, et al. Pregnancy massage reduces prematurity, low birthweight and postpartum depression. Infant Behav Dev. 2009 Dec;32(4):454-60.
4. Available from: http://americanpregnancy.org/first-year-of-life/postpartum-massage/.
5. Ali B, Al-Wabel NA, Shams S, et al. Essential oils used in aromatherapy: A systemic review. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2015;5,(8):601-611.
6. Hur M-H, Han S-H. Clinical trial of Aromatherapy on Postpartum Mothers Perineal Healing.  Taehan Kanho Hakhoe Chi 2004;34(1):53-62.
7. Burger P, Landreau A, Watson M, et al. Vetiver Essential Oil in Cosmetics: What Is New? Medicines (Basel). 2017 Jun; 4(2): 41.
8. Cavanagh HMA, Wilkinson JM. Lavender essential oil: a review. Australian Infection Control 2005;10(1):35-37.
9. Koulivand PH, Ghadiri MK, Gorji A. Lavender and the Nervous System. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013; 2013: 681304.
10. Buckle J, Ryan K, Chin KB. Clinical Aromatherapy for Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum. International Journal of Childbirth Education 2014;29(4):21-27.
11. Chen PJ, Chou CC, Yang L, et al. Effects of Aromatherapy Massage on Pregnant Womens Stress and Immune Function: A Longitudinal, Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2017 Oct;23(10):778-786.
12. Yazdkhasti M, Pirak A. The effect of aromatherapy with lavender essence on severity of labor pain and duration of labor in primiparous women. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2016 Nov;25:81-86.
13. Shirazi M, Mohebitabar S, Bioos S, et al. The Effect of Topical Rosa damascena (Rose) Oil on Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Jan;22(1):120-126.
14. Kianpour M, Mansouri A, Mehrabi T, Asghari G. Effect of lavender scent inhalation on prevention of stress, anxiety and depression in the postpartum period. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2016 Mar-Apr;21(2):197-201.
15. Imura M, Misao H, Ushijima H. The psychological effects of aromatherapy-massage in healthy postpartum mothers. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2006 Mar-Apr;51(2):e21-7.