Oh Internet, how we love you, but you do tend to confuse, especially with information about herbs for pregnant women and babies. Over the years, we’ve talked to more than a few anxious and bewildered ladies, all responsibly looking for guidance about what’s safe and what’s not safe for their growing bellies and the baby within.

Its no wonder there’s uncertainty – there’s so much information! An herb’s safety during pregnancy sometimes depends on so many variables. For instance, a dried herb that is infused in an oil and applied to the skin introduces a lesser ratio of the plant’s essences than if that same herb is highly concentrated into an essential oil and ingested. These very different processes lead to very different levels of safety.

Borage (Borago officinalis) is one of the herbs that we frequently receive questions about, specifically the organic Borage seed oil in Natural Stretch Oil. Women have read that the raw borage plant contains Pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which in high doses are a potential liver toxin.  It’s true, and that is surely good sleuthing, mamas! But the organic borage seed oil we use is lab tested to ensure that the Pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been removed.  We like to be able to put that concern to rest since the benefits of organic Borage seed oil are numerous and wonderful!

Besides being a charming little blue-starred flower, the oil from Borage’s seed is packed with nutrients like vitamins A, D, E and is exceptionally high in gamma-linolenic acid. Those properties make Borage seed oil a lovely organic addition to skin care products because it helps the skin retain moisture and elasticity and reduce scarring. And we hope this helps diligent mamas who are looking for Borage information put their minds to rest!

Last week I took a much needed working vacation and it was perfect. The very first day, during a break in the rain storms, I was greeted by a hungry baby bird in the vegetable garden who hopped around at my feet asking for breakfast. Thank goodness for my compost pile and ready access to a handful of worm for the fluttery, open-mouthed baby.

He was an demanding little thing and his mama was nowhere in sight. After a good meal, he continued to flutter and beg, insisting on being served seconds. Hoping he’d fend for himself, I picked him up and put him in the bird feeder, but he wasn’t having any of it.

Day #2: The chives are just starting to open up along with the azaleas, rhododendrons and dogwoods.

I took advantage of the time to make myself a salad of freshly picked baby greens, chickweed, spring peas, lemon thyme and chive blossoms, and it was delicious.

Day #3 I made organic apple cider vinegar infused with pregnancy herbs for salad dressings. Even though it only had a day or so to extract flavors, it is already tasty! I used dandelion roots and leaves, iron-rich nettles leaves from the plants that haven’t already flowered, uterine tonic red raspberry leaves and oniony chive blossoms.

I had such a good time, going from one project to the next. When it was raining I made veggie chili and cornbread and a big batch of granola (my husband’s favorites), and I  finished the last two chapters of the book I was reading. And when the sun came out, I went back outside and shoveled gravel for the walkway.

I planted wildflower seeds along the drive. And when it poured down rain, I had to abandon my sad little garden cart and wait under the cedars for another sun break.

I straightened the tilting birdhouses…

…and weeded the front herb garden where the lady’s mantle, meadowsweet, echinacea, St. John’s wort and motherwort grow. Then I weeded, weeded and weeded some more.

Oh sure, I checked in at work a time or two,

but I got to play in the rain, make tinctures and vinegars, feed a baby bird, and be in my garden. It was glorious.

Earth Mama Angel Baby is no longer in Facebook Time Out! So help us out. We want to post a breastfeeding photo, but we don’t want to jeopardize our Facebook page. Which photo (below) would pass Facebook’s unclear rules? Which photo do YOU think we should post?

If you’ve just tuned in, here’s a brief history of Earth Mama Angel Baby’s battle with Facebook.

First, on April 20 Facebook deleted one of Earth Mama Angel Baby’s breastfeeding photos and left the other one. We were trying to figure out why.
Mama sent a message to Facebook and got an autobot response. Then she wrote a personal missive about all the hubbub over a baby’s lunch!

Then, on April 21 Facebook took down the other breastfeeding photo, and gave us a seven-day restriction on posting photos.

Mama sent a message to Facebook and got an autobot response.

Many mama-centric companies rallied around, many people have had this problem with Facebook. No one has had a satisfactory response. Apparently anyone can flag a photo as “obscene” and then Facebook makes a ruling to let it stay or take it down. Many people think breastfeeding photos are obscene. Maybe people think photos of strippers, sexting teens or the Victoria’s Secret page are obscene. We think the issue is simply that the rules need to be clear.

We don’t believe breastfeeding is obscene. We believe breastfeeding photos help to normalize and demystify a baby getting nourished in the most natural, healthful way possible, But we follow the rules, and it’s Facebook’s game. If we know what the rules are, and it’s clear that everyone must follow them, we will follow them. But if someone if making a judgment call about latched babies, and not taking down photos of equally exposed breasts on other sites, something is wrong.

In any case, we’re now out of Facebook Time Out and now we’re wondering what to do. We’d like to post some photos of women breastfeeding (since it’s ¼ of our business), but we don’t want to jeopardize our Facebook page. So, which photo do YOU think we should post?

ONE

TWO

THREE

I have never met any person who has not been touched by baby loss. Women who have been pregnant and have lost a baby are most often tended to only as grieving women. But their bodies experience many of the same physical discomforts as other postpartum women and these physical reminders of their lost babies further add to the pain of their loss.

After nurturing women through the discomforts of pregnancy with Earth Mama Angel Baby, we realized that a woman’s need for physical and emotional comfort was even greater after miscarriage or baby loss. The healing products from Earth Mama Angel Baby developed into Healing Hearts Baby Loss Comfort because there is a sad necessity for physical healing. And from that the Healing Hearts Baby Loss Comfort site developed to offer a space for parents to grieve and find resources and community.

We just launched the newly redesigned Healing Hearts website, and it’s truly been a labor of love for the entire team of people working on this project. For months, we have had meeting after meeting, pondered our intention, told our painful stories, cried many tears, and worked as a group to offer a unique perspective to support grieving women.

During the long hours of focusing on and clarifying our desired mission, it became clear to us that it was important to use images of the healing plants of my garden to visually communicate our message. We felt strongly that these images needed to represent the healing power of the earth, compassion, spirituality and most importantly, the rock solid strength that women possess at their core.

Over the course of several months, I took lots and lots of pictures. The garden is where I go to heal, and it’s the source of the earth’s healing gifts. Each photo has significant meaning for me, and it’s own story: the violet plants whose leaves are shaped like hearts given to me by a dear friend, the red glass heart hanging from the rose trellis, a souvenir from a glorious vacation with our children. An image to communicate loving arms that protect women when they need to cry from a bird bath long ago nicknamed Mrs. Crying Pants. And the forget-me-nots that reseed themselves every spring into a blue cloud across the yard to represent the earth and the constant renewal of life.

We wanted the element of water to honor the emotion and tears that can’t be assuaged with platitudes. Fire to symbolize a trust in life’s journey and memorial to lost love. And the heart stones collected over the years resting atop the Buddha statue to remind women of their strength. Women are fragile. But women are, like nature, very, very strong.