E115: Essential Oils For Labor

Your birth room has a “vibe,” and sometimes the fastest way to change it is through something you can’t even see: scent. I’m Angie Roger, and I’m sharing a grounded, real-world take on essential oils for labor and birth. No miracle claims, no fearmongering just how I use aromatherapy as an optional comfort tool that can support relaxation, focus, and a sense of safety while you do the real work of labor.

We talk about why the sense of smell is such a direct line to emotion and memory through the limbic system, and how that can matter when contractions get intense. I walk through the oils I see used most often in childbirth, including lavender for calming, citrus like lemon or orange for an energizing lift, peppermint as a go-to option for nausea, and where clary sage fits into the conversation. I also share how I handle a quick “smell test” so the laboring person stays in charge and we can pivot fast if a scent suddenly feels wrong.

You’ll also hear practical tips for using essential oils safely and respectfully in shared spaces like hospitals: why I prefer a few drops on a tissue or washcloth, what to know about diffuser rules and staff sensitivities, and how scent can layer with other coping techniques like cool cloths and airflow. If you’re building your birth bag or stocking a doula kit, this gives you a simple way to plan ahead without overcomplicating it. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s preparing for birth, and leave a review with your favorite calming scent so others can try it too.

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Show Credits

Host: Angie Rosier 
Music: Michael Hicks 
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood 
Producer: Gillian Rosier Frampton
Voiceover: Ryan Parker

Transcript

Welcome And Birth Week Notes

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast, with Angie Roger, hosted by Birth Learning, where we help prepare folks for labor and birth with expertise coming from 20 years of experience in a busy doula practice, helping thousands of people prepare for labor, providing essential knowledge and tools for positive and empowering birth experiences.

A Realistic Take On Oils

Why Smell Hits So Fast

Which Oils Do What

How I Use Oils Safely

Clary Sage And Spleen 6

Preference Matters And Stay Flexible

Closing Reminder And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 0:51

My name is Angie Roger, and I'm your host and happy to be with you here today. As I've been thinking about today's topic a little bit, all these other stories kind of come crashing into my mind. It's been a fun birth week, some pretty incredible stories here and there, lots of great people to interact with. So maybe sometime we just sit and tell tell birth stories, which would be great. But today's um topic, I want to talk about essential oils and the role that they can play in preparing for labor and birth. So I know this some I have, you know, I do not think this is a controversial topic, but I have um I have, you know, seen lots of people take a controversial stance on this, maybe. Um it does feel a little bit sometimes, you know, people love him, hate him. It's a hoax. It's the, you know, the savior of the world. Like this uh topic of essential oils can can go a couple different ways for people. I'm in the middle. I'm totally in the middle. Um, I'm not uh super leaning either side. I do like essential oils. Um, and I do use them in birth to some extent for sure. Um, so uh what I think one part of um why this could be important is because if you're a doula helping folks or if you're a pregnant person getting ready um for labor, you kind of want to assemble all the tools you can. I love working on the five senses as tools. I've had episodes on that before. Um, and of course, the sense of smell is one of the five senses. It can be a pretty powerful thing to use. Lots of different things um to use with that, but typically it's oils. Oils are some of the easiest things to work with. I've had clients want to use lotions or candles or food sometimes. Um, but oils are just kind of easy to work with. They're easy, uh easy to incorporate, easy to unincorporate when we want to, and can be pretty powerful. So um, yeah, sometimes these people either think they're super magical or super gimmicky. And I just want this to kind of to be in the middle of the road and just be in reality here, um, set some expectations. This is essential oils do not replace medical care, of course. Um, they're tools of comfort that you use with the sense of your nose, of course. Um, it can be really powerful to the environment that you're setting up. It can um affect emotions too. Um, there we could get into large other things, you know, that are claimed with essential oils as well. And I I do think some of that for sure um can come up during birth. So why does sense matter in labor? Why, why is that even a tool that we can in entertain? Um, but the sense of smell is a pretty quick connection point. Um, our nose or our factory system and nerve connect directly to the limbic system, which has emotion and memory. So maybe you have smelled a smell in your life. You're like, oh my gosh, I remember now my grandma's backyard garden from this smell. Or wow, I remember a childhood memory from this smell. Hopefully it's a you know nostalgic and positive, but not always, of course. But you go back to memories super fast because the the distance between your nose and that nerve in your brain is incredibly short. So um it's a powerful, powerful tool. So we can use this sense, this sensory tool during labor as a comfort mechanism. So it can this can influence relaxation, it can influence um perception of pain, it can influence sense of safety and familiarity. Um it, you know, and oxytocin is doing a lot of that too. Oxytocin can help us as well as other endorphins in our mind, in our brain that could, you know, neurotransmitters that are going um off in our brain when we're experiencing physical sensations. Um, and this is just another little layer. It's not the only layer, um, it's not the most important layer, it's just another layer of comfort that we can incorporate. So, kind of a a good takeaway with oils and the sense is this can be something calming. It's a positive sensory input that can be one of many supports and tools during labor, right? Um and I I'd say uh as far as how oils are used during labor, when I like I will bring them up a little bit and we don't even touch them if the people aren't interested, if they've never used them in their life, great, we're not gonna use them. Um, but I have had some clients that are huge into oils, and so they know what they like, they know what what they're gonna be using. I had a client just a couple weeks ago, um, she like has a ton of essential oils in her life, um, knows for her how to best use them. And so I let her be the lead on that. But I do carry a small collection in my bag that's available to any of my clients who want it, and we talk about this prenatally. So I want you to think about things prenatally, think about things, get a plan in place um for coping techniques before labor ever begins. And this is just one little piece of it. So, some commonly used oils in labor are lavender. Um, I I did a little research, it also says frankincense. I wouldn't say I've ever used frankincense in labor, but um I some that I think are very popular as well are citrus or lemon, um, like orange or lemon. Usually it'll be orange or lemon, sometimes lime, um, peppermint, sometimes ginger and clary sage. And those are probably the ones I use most commonly are going to be lavender. Well, I'll put them in order of how frequently, how commonly they are coming out of my bag. Peppermint is the most common. Probably clarity sage next. And then a lemon or um, I bet lemon, orange, and lavender are all tied. Um, I do have some blends that I'll use as well. So if it depends on what you're going for, what oil you're gonna use, and when you're gonna use it. But lavender, um, lavender and some research I did, frankincense are good for relaxation. So if we need some relaxation points in labor, um, those are good ones for relaxation. Peppermint and citrus are a little more um energizing, so can create some energy or focus, can really help focus. Um, sometimes I'll use quite frequently, I'll use peppermint for nauseous people who are nauseous as well. Ginger can be used for that. I've never used ginger for that. I do have ginger, but I've never used it for that. And then Clary Sage, um, I will use quite a bit. And Clary Sage has a lavender-esque element to it as well. Um, but I will use Clary Sage quite frequently as well, and I'll talk about how in just a minute. But when it comes to oils, like we just named a that's a handful of ones that are common. That's kind of what I carry. Um, there's so many, right? So many. And this is all about what the person wants. It's about preference. It's not like what's right and what's wrong, what you shouldn't use, what you should use. There's none of that. It's just what do you like, you know? And so this is not rocket science. Like if you like it, it smells good, great. It's gonna be beneficial in some way, it'll add a little layer of support for you. Um, so and and sometimes what somebody might like before labor, it's gonna change during labor. So I like to have kind of a variety of options there for sure. Um, and the way I usually like to use them um is I never put them on the person unless that's something they already do in their life, but I never really put oils directly on somebody's skin or in their body or in the water that they're in for that matter. So I will usually um put it on a paper towel or a napkin or something, a Kleenex. Sometimes I'll put them on a washcloth, um, but usually I'm putting them on um a paper towel and just a couple drops of that oil, and I'll kind of use it like a fan in the room. So I'm like doing an acute diffuser right in this space of where the person can use it. There's lots of different ways to use them, right? Like there can be um uh diffusers in some hospitals. Check your hospitals, some hospitals won't let you use a diffuser in the room. I've been to some where there's nurses with sensitivities to them, um, so they won't allow the use of them in the room, or a plug-in diffuser anyway. Um sometimes you can massage on the body. I usually don't do that. You can put it on a washcloth. Sometimes I I have a couple times put on a cold washcloth. When we add the um the smell, and we got a texture of a washcloth and the texture of cool, you know, the temperature um component of something cool and the texture of a washcloth and a smell. That's a that can wrap a lot of things up in one little tool. Um, some people will use roller bottles but or cotton balls or something, but um usually they recommend to dilute oil, of course, before putting on on your body. So kind of you can create a little scent kit to test things before time, um, kind of for your birth bag. And like I said, uh some hospitals will or won't allow them, and some hospitals have them. I've worked at hospitals where they have a little collection of essential oils people can choose from. Um, another hospital has a commercially prepared little patch that kind of goes on to their hospital gown or their nightgown or whatever it is they're wearing and it set puts off a scent. I was at a birth last week where the mom loved that. It was a little blend of lavender and some other oils, and she used like three of them during the labor process. She'd kind of just hold that. They weren't super strong, but she'd hold them pretty close to her face, um, or it hooked right to her gown near her face. So that was really comforting to her. Um, but remember that you're in shared spaces, you know. Um, we don't want to like have the whole hospital smelling like whatever oil it is that you're enjoying. Um, so kind of keep that in mind. And I'd say one comment I get most frequently if I'm using an oil in a room, um, and pretty the people in the room like after a while like quit smelling it, right? I wouldn't say that oils in most cases for um olfactory uses when you're smelling them are gonna you like last long long term, right? It's kind of a short-term tool. But when I'm in the room using oils, everyone in the room kind of forgets about it, unless we, you know, put a new drop on or you know, you fan it again in someone's like in their close proximity. But when what what's what surprises me is when anyone else this from the staff comes in the room, they always say, Oh, it smells so good in here. And I'm like, really? I can't smell it anymore. Um, so that tells me, okay, it's it's still kind of at work, which which can be kind of cool to know that. Um, so whenever I we use oils, kind of what prompts me to use oils, if somebody does get nauseous, I'll say, um, you want to try some peppermint oil. And you and very quickly, you know, the hospital staff will offer Zofran usually. Um, but some people are all about that, like, yep, let's do it. Other people like, no, I'd rather not. So we can use peppermint as a um a tool for that as well. Um, sometimes if we're just like we're we're struggling to cope a little bit, that's when I'll start pulling these things out, right? Like I don't, you don't, I don't really jump on them right away unless the person wants to, but I'll kind of keep these tools and and others in my back pocket for like, all right, if we're doing okay now, um, as things warm up a bit down the road, what can we pull out? And oils um with a sense is the sense of smell is definitely one we'll do. So if we're struggling starting to struggle a little bit, I'm saying, hey, let why don't you try this? I let them smell it first. Like I'll just hold the bottle or the cap near their nose and say, How's this oil? How does this smell? Um, like, oh, nope, don't like that one. Or might have three. I'm like, hey, hey, try these three. What do you think? Um, nope, nope, yep, whatever. You know, let them kind of choose out of the three what they like, and then I'll put that on a paper towel and kind of fan it um near them. So always just kind of follow, I want I'm gonna follow those laboring persons' cues. Um, and I would say this if isn't often used in like transitional periods of of labor. Often I'll use it um in the the periods before transition. It might also follow us into transition, but usually by transition, we are adding a whole lot of other coping skills um on top of this. So in my experience, um essential oils or this the use of the sense, the smell, the scent, scent, sense, um, is pretty good during mid or active labor. Um, some people probably like to keep it pretty subtle. Um, some people like it to go pretty strong for quite a while. Um, but just kind of, yeah, it's all about what the person likes. And I love it on a on a paper towel or uh Kleenex because we can just throw it away or get out of the room if if they're not liking it anymore. And we add this to things like a cold wash crack. We add it to a fan, you know, we can add it to where as we're sitting in the tub um or walk in the room or you know, whatever that might be. Um, okay, let's talk about clearing stage for a minute. I have this one I use pretty actively quite a bit. Um, and I'll put this on um my fingers and do uh spleen six pressure point. So this is in cases where we're, you know, contractions are piddling around a little bit, we want to kind of move them on, or but we're maybe not quite ready for Pitocin or kind of don't want to avoid Pitocin, then um, that is I found a pretty, and who knows, right, if it totally worked or not. I didn't do any scientific research on this. Um, some some camps will say this oil will induce labor. Others say that is really not true. Um, but I have, whether coincidence or not, I've seen several times where our efforts there have, it looks like contributed to um prompting more labor and more contractions. Um, you don't need a whole lot of this. Like a little bottle of something will last me, honestly, a really long time. I will like refresh and renew my oils every once in a while. Um, but a little bottle of oils does last me quite a long time. This is not something for everyone. Um, as I go through the five senses with my clients prenatally, um, some of them say nothing. I don't want to smell anything. And sometimes that's the best thing is to not have an awareness of smell. Um, but I always kind of do offer it and we'll test it sometimes during labor. But some of the um, I guess some of the good points about this are it's just a tool of empowerment. It's one more thing you can add to your toolkit, one more of many layers. Um, and it's an intuition thing. You kind of use what seems right, right? Like um for that laboring person, like if this smells good, then that's that's what we're going for. So it's a really simple tool. Um, it's a safe tool as long as we're not, you know, overusing it. And again, I don't put on people's skin or anything. Um, and it's very preference-based, it can be very individual. Some people do not like the smell of lavender, and some people don't like the smell of um citrus or something. So it's very personal. Um, sometimes also gum will come into this. So I've had people request that anyone near them is chewing gum. They do not want to smell any kind of mouth odor from anyone, their partner, um, anyone like their doula, anyone next to them. I've had people make really specific requests about smell of gum or type of gum. One woman hated anything minty, peppermint, um, wintergreen, spirit, anything like that. She wanted people to have gum, however. So it was fruity gum. She wanted people to have fruity gum. So I got fruity gum for her labor, for everyone, for myself, for her partner. Um, and that's another one is sense is is um how people are smelling around her as well. Um, that's gonna have an impact. So keeping that in mind as well. But this is, you know, just something to stay flexible with, something to kind of have in your back pocket. Um, and if you're somebody who's a doula or preparing others for birth, consider what sensory tools you have at your disposal and how can you use the sense of scent and the sense of smell as you incorporate all the tools in a labor process. Um, yeah, and have your if you're a birth worker or a doula, have a little birth scent kit. Um, see what you like, see what your clients kind of like. You can kind of ask around and see, you know, what scents do you think would be, test a few things, what would be good for you during labor. I have seen it work really wonders. I've seen it make no difference at all, um, but it is a nice component as we talk about layering different things to that laboring process. So hopefully this helps you in some kind of little way. It's a cute little topic for this week. Um, and kind of play with sense in your life. Maybe, you know, if as you're going to bed, maybe use some sense or waking up. Use some, we've got relaxing ones, vigor, invigorating ones, and see kind of what works for you and how that impacts your life. And then you might be able to incorporate a little bit better in your clients' um labors if that's a tool that they're interested in. Hopefully this helps. I am so glad you spent a little bit of time with me today. And as we close up, as always, please reach out to those you love. You never know where life is going to go. Don't waste any time on this earth, not letting anybody know that you don't love them. Um, hope you have a great day, and we'll see you again next time.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Episode credits will be in the show notes. Tune in next time as we continue to explore the many aspects of giving birth.