Essential Oils in Pregnancy: A Trimester by Trimester Guide

Questions about using oils in pregnancy or with littles ones are by far the most frequently asked questions I get regarding essential oils.  Since I’ve been either pregnant or breastfeeding and had newborns/toddlers the whole 5 years I’ve been using essential oils, this is kind of my wheelhouse.  I’m certainly not saying I’m an expert, but it’s what I’m surrounded with on a daily basis so having just finished my third pregnancy I wanted to write up some of my own personal thoughts and experiences.  I hope this will be helpful to you as you navigate oil safety, all the information out there, and how to use products to support your pregnancy!

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My story

I just wrapped up what was *technically* my third oily pregnancy.  I say technically because I got my starter kit of oils just 6 days before my first baby was born.  So while yes, technically I had oils for those last 6 days I can’t really consider it an oily pregnancy because I was brand new, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with them, and it was just for that last week.

However, I have since then had two more fully oily pregnancies, and all three of my babies have been oily since birth.

Disclaimers and all that stuff

A disclaimer before we start: I am not a doctor, nurse, midwife, or any other medical professional.  I’m not certified with any special aromatherapy degrees.  But I’m a mom who cares greatly about what I put on and use around my children and I’m also a researcher by nature.  These recommendations are what *I* personally feel comfortable with based on my own experiences and research but by all means I encourage you to research for yourself, talk to your trusted health care provider, and do what feels comfortable for you.

Also, these recommendations I’m giving today are ONLY for Young Living Essential Oils.  They’re the only brand I trust to use on my family.

Safety concerns

Let’s start off with the thing people are typically most concerned about…essential oil safety in pregnancy.  Mainly, what (if anything) needs to be avoided in pregnancy.

It actually kind of cracks me up how concerned people get about using oils in pregnancy.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that people are cautious and want to make sure they are doing things safe…HOWEVER, so much of the time they’re asking “is it safe to use XYZ oil while pregnant?!?” while at the same time drinking their Diet Coke, eating a candy bar, slathering themselves with scented lotion, burning candles, and scrubbing their bathrooms with toxic cleaner…and I’m just like “I mean…I think you’ve got bigger fish to fry in the safety department, friend”.  So much fear about these oils that come from plants and not enough concern about alllllllll the other things we use that are very harmful to us.

That being said, I totally get it.  When I was pregnant the first time I had certain things I was concerned about (household cleaners and personal care products were the main ones) while there were other things I didn’t even give a thought to them being harmful until much later.  So I realize that sometimes we just don’t even see it until it’s pointed out to us.  And I’m not trying to be snarky (ok, maybe a *little*), I just want to try to put some things into perspective as far as fear of oils versus other things we might use.

So all that to say, let’s talk about some common oil safety concerns.

For years I’ve heard about specific oils being no-no’s and I’ve seen “The Lists” floating around Pinterest and such, but didn’t really know WHY those oils made it on the Naughty List.  So I did some investigating and here’s what I found: most of the recommendations of oils that should not be used in pregnancy are based off of studies that, in my opinion, are not an accurate depiction of oil usage.

For example, some of the “studies” involved taking a pregnant mouse, opening her up, and dropping a drop of essential oil on her exposed uterus.  The uterus contracted and therefore the conclusion was made that XYZ oil can cause contractions and should be avoided while pregnant.

Let’s unpack that a bit…

1. No pregnant women are dropping essential oils onto their exposed uteruses
2. Using one drop of oil on a mouse would be like using 2,000 drops of oil on an adult woman (doing some rough math and ratios, but you get the picture…it’s a MUCH larger quantity on an adult)

In my personal opinion, that’s a huge stretch to take the results from the mouse and apply that to a much larger woman who would using just a drop of oil her skin (not 2,000 drops straight on her uterus)

Some of the other oil cautions are not based on studies like with the mouse but instead on situations where huge quantities are used (i.e. a woman drank 7ml of an oil).  We’re talking gross overuse here, something that no one in their right mind would ever do.  And so I have a hard time with the “don’t use this oil while pregnant” guideline when it’s based off of using WAY too much and not based on using a moderate, normal amount.

Now let’s look at a few specific oils that are often on the naughty list

• Cassia, cinnamon bark, and other hot oils.  The best main reason these are on the list is because they’re hot.  Which, duh, we already knew that.  The main concern is that some women have more sensitive skin when they’re pregnant and these oils may irritate their skin.  Again, draw your own conclusion but personally I feel like that’s not so much a safety thing that needs to be avoided and just a cautionary thing that should be noted.  Cassia and cinnamon bark make my skin temporarily red and hot when I use them (pregnant or not) so I choose to dilute when I use them.  But I still use them, I don’t see a reason to avoid.
• Wintergreen.  The argument here is that people feel like it has blood thinning properties and should be avoided in pregnancy.  My personal opinion: 1) they are looking at one constituent in wintergreen as being a blood thinner, which behaves very differently from how the oil as a whole behaves. 2) Again, this is one of those that is based off of using large quantities (which, again, people aren’t going around drinking bottles of wintergreen…very different from just using a drop of two!).  If I were on blood thinning medication I would use with caution (i.e. moderate, normal amounts, not overuse…which is how we should be using it anyway)
• Peppermint.  The concern with this one is more with breastfeeding versus pregnancy.  It would be lumped in with the hot oils in pregnancy, which I already addressed.  But I OFTEN hear people say “Oh you can’t use peppermint while breastfeeding because it’ll cause your supply to disappear.”  Ok, so that is actually true for SOME people, but definitely not all.  I have used gobs and gobs of peppermint while breastfeeding my first two (17 months with one, 23 months with the other) and it did not impact my supply one bit.  I also know loads of other oil-using, breastfeeding moms and while I haven’t taken an official poll, I would say unofficially that the women who can use peppermint with no issues while breastfeeding FAR exceeds the number of women who have to avoid it.  Personally I tend to be of the mind to try it first, see, and then adjust, rather than avoid just because.  I mean, some nursing moms also have to avoid dairy, soy, citrus fruit, etc. but I don’t know any who avoid those right away just because there *might* be an issue.  I’m the same with peppermint.  So, yes, realize that it could be an issue but I personally would recommend to try it, see how your body reacts, and then go from there.  If you are one of the ones who can’t use peppermint while breastfeeding then you’ll know and can avoid it (and thankfully Young Living has tons of other things you can use instead) but if you’re like me and it has no impact then you’ll know and can continue on your merry, peppermint-using way.
• Estrogenic oils like fennel and clary sage.  Fennel and clary safe have some estrogenic properties which some people think could cause your body to have contractions and/or go into labor before it’s time.  Personally, I think it would be highly, highly unlikely for your body to go into labor if it’s not ready.  I’ve talked to midwives who have used fennel and clary sage to try to start labor and they basically say if the body is ready it’ll help start labor and if the body isn’t then they don’t do much of anything.  So I really don’t think a drop of clary sage is going to put anyone into labor if they aren’t already almost there.  However, because I don’t use large quantities of these on a normal basis anyway (pregnant or not) it’s easy for me to avoid these while pregnant just in case.  I still use blends that contain fennel (like DiGize) since it’s such a very small amount and I have no concerns doing that, but I don’t use blends like Dragon Time or SclarEssence that are heavy on those two oils.

OK!  Thanks for hanging with me there!  I really hope that helped ease some of your concerns or at least gave you some reasoning behind the cautions so that you can make informed decisions for yourself and your own pregnancy.

Now we’re going to dive into some of the specific oils and products I use in each phase of pregnancy.

Preconception

Let’s assume you aren’t pregnant yet but hope to be in the near future.  Some of the things I’d recommend doing:

• Work on balancing those hormones!  We sadly live in a society where just about everyone (it seems like, I don’t have hard data on that) has hormones that are out of whack.  Between being on hormonal birth control (ugh…I wish I’d known not to do that!!), using personal care products that disrupt the hormones, and so many other things.
• Endoflex is one I’d definitely recommend for supporting your endocrine system – it works to bring all hormones into balance.
• SclarEssence (or a combo of fennel and clary sage) would be great to support healthy estrogen levels.
• Progessence Plus helps to support healthy progesterone levels.  The majority of women are deficient in progesterone and you need progesterone to sustain a healthy pregnancy (ProGesterone is Pro-Gestation) so this is one I highly recommend
• Ditch the toxic junk.  Cleaners, soap, shampoo, lotion, makeup, candles, birth control…get them out of there!  The chemicals we use in and on our bodies transfer to our babies to before you get pregnant is a great time to switch to natural, safer options.
• Take a good, whole food prenatal vitamin.  Let me be totally honest with you…those vitamins that are sold at the grocery or that the doctor gives you as a sample?  They’re mostly junk that your body is going to pee or poop out.  Don’t waste your time or money.  You want a good quality vitamin that is actually going to provide your body with something good.  Look for one that is whole food based and has folate, not folic acid.  Folic acid has been one of the buzzwords in years past of things that are really important in pregnancy, but more recent research shows that synthetic folic acid (which is what is in most commercial vitamins) is not helpful (and in fact for those who have the MTHFR gene it is harmful for them); natural folate is what is needed for baby’s development.  Personally I use a combo of Young Living’s Master Formula multivitamin and Super B to cover my main prenatal vitamin bases.  I’ve also used Garden of Life Raw Prenatal if you want another alternative.

(Just another reminder, these recommendations are based off of my own experiences and research and apply to my own pregnancies which were fairly standard, no issues of miscarriage, fertility problems, etc.  If you are in one of those categories you may need to use more or less and of course should be consulting with your health care provider)

Prenatal vitamin/supplement routine

My personal prenatal supplement line up is:

• Master Formula (as my main multivitamin)
• Super B (natural folate – very important for baby’s development as well as my own energy)
• Ningxia Red (an absolute MUST for me, for energy, for immune health, for healthy blood glucose levels, extra nutrients, for a healthy placenta – more on that in a bit)
• Multigreens (another good energy booster plus while I try to eat very healthy I also know I’m not perfect and I like getting another source of greens)
• Sulfurzyme (supports healthy tissue development for baby as well as healthy tissue for mom as there is/will be a lot of stretching going on)
• Alkalime (helps to alkalize the body, especially in the stomach which can sometimes be more needed while pregnant)
• Life 9 (digestive health is so important and a good probiotic is a must!)
• OmegaGize (great for your brain health as well as that of your growing baby)

A couple of others that I’ve used while pregnant that weren’t necessarily pregnancy-specific:

• BLM (I trained for a 5k while pregnant and ran it at 22 weeks, I took BLM to support my bones, ligaments, and muscles while I trained, but it’s also great for the bones, ligaments, and muscles of your growing baby)
• MegaCal or SuperCal (MegaCal is a calcium supplement that also contains magnesium, which can be helpful with regular bowels while pregnant, SuperCal is a calcium supplement that is also very calming for your uterus if needed)

And one that I didn’t take but think it would be a fantastic addition is Mineral Essence – most of us are mineral deficient and need this one!

Regarding Ningxia Red…I had heard midwives say that they could tell a big difference in the placentas of their Ningxia Red drinking moms versus their moms who didn’t drink Ningxia.  I filed that info in the back of my head – after my second delivery I heard one of the nurses say “Wow!  That is a beautiful placenta!” and in my mind I was like “Yup, I bet it was all that Ningxia!” (mind you, I had not mentioned anything to them or asked them to look, they just made that comment and it reminded me of what I’d heard about Ningxia Red)

First trimester

Personally I am very sensitive to smells during the first trimester of pregnancy.  All smells, including my beloved oils, are just too strong for me.  Because of that, I use less oils in general during the first trimester.  Please note: it’s not because I’m fearful of using them or think they need to be used less, it’s only because of my own aversion.

Other than avoiding some or not using as much because of the strong smell, I just continue oiling as normal without any drastic changes.

The main pregnancy-specific oil suggestions I have for the first trimester are peppermint, AromaEase, and/or lemon to ease the stomach and peppermint and/or Alkalime to help with the occasional acid increase in the stomach/throat.

What about Progessence Plus?  A lot of people want to know if they should continue using it while pregnant.  I use it when not pregnant and what I personally do when I become pregnant is to continue using it through my first trimester.  With the way a healthy pregnancy works your progesterone levels will rise through your first trimester but I feel like it’s a good idea to help supplement that.  Then by the end of the first trimester your body should be producing plenty of progesterone on its own and there’s no need to continue using Pro+.  So as I get to the end of the first trimester I begin to taper off my Pro+ usage.  I don’t stop cold turkey (that seems unwise to me), but I back off on the number of drops I’m doing a bit at a time until I’ve quit using it altogether.

Second trimester

Typically by this point in my pregnancy I’m back to feeling like my normal self (no smell aversions, nausea, etc.) so I return to using my oils as I would any other time.

I don’t really have any second trimester specific suggestions for you other than if you haven’t already started ditching and switching toxic products in your home for natural alternatives, this might be a good time!  Thankfully Young Living has just about everything you need: laundry soap, household cleaner, hand soap, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, lotion, face cleansers, makeup, and more.

This is also a good time (well, ANY time is a good time, but since I didn’t have a lot to write about the second trimester this was a good spot to stick it) to work on your emotional health as that plays a lot into your pregnancy, labor, bonding with baby, etc.  I am not going to go into oils and emotions in this post as it is a large and involved subject, but I highly recommend the book Conquering Toxic Emotions as a place to start.

Personally, I needed to do a lot of work in my second pregnancy.  I had a very hard labor/delivery and then postpartum experience with my first.  Because of that I went into my second pregnancy with a lot of fear of labor, a lot of guilt towards myself and my body feeling like I’d “failed” in my first labor, like I hadn’t done enough to have the delivery I wanted, etc.  Just a lot of negative emotions.  So during my second pregnancy I used a lot of the oil Forgiveness, along with prayer, to try to forgive myself for those perceived failures.  I also used a lot of Valor leading up to labor to deal with the fear.

Leading up to my third labor I didn’t have any specific issues that I wanted to deal with like I’d had in my second so what I did that time was make a roller with all of the oils that come in the Feelings Kit.  I used that frequently to help me stay overall balanced emotionally.

Some others you might find helpful include Release, Joy, Stress Away, or others recommended in the books.

Third trimester

The home stretch, mama!  Now it’s time to be prepping for birth!  Some recommendations:

• Ditch the drugstore baby wash and lotion that you were gifted at your showers…that stuff is full of junk that you do NOT want to put on your baby.  Yuck.  Instead, I highly recommend Young Living’s Seedlings line: baby wash, lotion, baby wipes, baby oil, linen spray, and diaper cream that are made with natural, safe ingredients including a calming blend of essential oils diluted appropriately for babies.
• If you haven’t already, increase the amount of Ningxia Red you’re drinking!  I usually double my amount in the third trimester.  Not only is it helpful for your energy levels as you near the end but like I mentioned before it’s fantastic for a healthy placenta.
• Claraderm spray.  Use it on your perineum in the month or so leading up to delivery to help it prepare for stretching (and it’s fantastic to use afterward as well)
• Make sure you order the things you want to have on hand for labor and after so that it doesn’t sneak up on you!
• If you haven’t already been, now is a great time to be supporting the immune system with things like ImmuPro, Inner Defense, Thieves Vitality, etc. You definitely don’t want to be getting sick close to delivery or after being in the hospital!
• You may want to use some oils that are great for circulation like lavender, AromaLife, marjoram, and/or tangerine mixed with coconut oil or one of Young Living’s lotions.  You can rub those into your hands, feet, or legs if needed.
• As your belly grows you may want to rub some of my DIY Preggy Belly cream on.
• A couple of non-oily suggestions as well: I drink raspberry leaf tea to help strengthen the uterus and prepare it for labor.  I also eat 6 dates as day for the last month as it supposedly helps you to have a quicker labor.  No idea if that’s true but I figure it can’t hurt to try!  This last labor ended up being only an hour and 45 minutes from first contraction to baby being here so maybe the dates and tea worked!
• During my second pregnancy I had contractions every night for the last week and a half or so before I actually went into labor.  I used Gentle Baby rubbed on my stomach for calming and Stress Away on my arms/wrists to try to keep from stressing every night about if this was The Night that I’d go into labor.
• During my third pregnancy I had a lot of back, hip, and pelvis pain.  Cool Azul Pain Relief Cream was wonderful to rub into my back!

Labor/Delivery

Both of my oily labors have been very short (I’m not counting my first one where I was brand new to oils because I didn’t really know what I was doing and therefore didn’t use many oils during that one).  Baby #2 was an eight hour labor but only about two hours of labor that really felt like labor and Baby #3 was less than two hours from first contraction to her being accidentally born in our living room.

I’ve already written a post with specifics about what oils I used during my second labor and delivery so check that out if you want a detailed list of what I used and/or what I’d planned to use.

For this most recent labor and delivery I drank a packet of Ningxia Red, a Ningxia Nitro, had time to roll my labor blend on one time, and then boom she was here.  No time for diffusing, no need for rubbing pain cream on my back or any of that.

Though I did not use many oils during either of my last two labors just due to the short length of them, here are some suggestions to have on hand for labor:

• Have some of your favorite calming oils on hand to diffuse/apply while laboring (Stress Away, Valor, White Angelica, Gentle Baby, etc.) to help stay relaxed.
• Mix up a “Labor Blend” (6 drops copaiba, 4 drops fennel, 2 drops peppermint, 6 drops ylang ylang, 3 drops clary sage mixed in carrier oil in a 10 ml roller bottle) to rub on inner ankles (the vitaflex points for your uterus are located on your inner ankles), low back, and low abdomen.  This blend is intended to help support the body and help it do what it needed to do to progress toward delivery.
• Drink Ningxia Red and Ningxia Nitro for nutrients and energy during labor.
• Have peppermint on hand to sniff during labor if you experience occasional nausea
• Deep Relief, OrthoSport, OrthoEase, PanAway, or Cool Azul Pain Relief Cream would all be good options to massage into your lower back if needed

Recovery

Again, I shared most of that from my second pregnancy here so check that post out for more details, but some things to definitely have on hand:

• Claraderm Spray to use on the perineal area each time you use the bathroom for the first few weeks after delivery.
• Oils to diffuse while you’re in the hospital – things like Thieves or Purification for clean air, or Joy, Gentle Baby, or Valor for the emotional support.
• Rose Ointment, Animal Scents Ointment, and Claraderm Spray are all good to use on your nipples after breastfeeding (I also love Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter which is not a Young Living product)
• Your favorite emotional oils.  Joy, Valor, and Stress Away are my go-to trio to help with the extra emotions that sometimes come after having a baby.  I typically put Joy over my heart, Stress Away on my neck, and Valor on my forearms.
• Marjoram to rub on your abdomen and Super Cal Plus to take after delivery – both help to soothe the post-delivery breastfeeding contractions.

For Baby

I’m not going to go into a lot of information about using oils and babies – that would be a whole blog post (or series of blog posts!) of its own.  But just so you can be thinking ahead and ordering things you want to have on hand, some of my recommendations for those early days are:

• All the Seedlings products, like I mentioned before.  I packed the Seedlings baby wash to take to the hospital for the nurses to use for Everly’s first bath.  The lotion and massage oil are great for baby’s sweet little skin as well as for bonding massages with mom or dad and baby.
• I used a dab of frankincense at each diaper change on Everly’s belly button as her cord stump was healing and falling off
• TummyGize is a great one to have on hand to soothe baby’s sensitive tummy if needed
• Gentle Baby is a great one for emotional support for mom as well as calming for baby

Resources

I highly recommend getting the book Gentle Babies.  It’s full of great suggestions of how to use oils with your little ones!

You’ve got this!

I know that was a LOT of information I just threw at you!  But I hope it was helpful and gave you some good suggestions about what to use while pregnant as well as easing any fears you might have had.

You’ve got this, mama!

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