Over 5 years ago, I came up with my version of a recipe that midwives used back in the day to help women go into labor. This was prior to the modern way we know now in the hospital with Pitocin. I made some changes to the old recipe to come up with my version that I call BK Midwife’s Brew. After uploading a video on Youtube demonstrating my recipe and its success, hundreds of women have made this midwife’s brew and increased its popularity. After using this recipe to induce my labor 3 times with great success, I thought it was time to explain how I came up with this particular recipe, and why it works so well. Keep reading…
When I was pregnant with my first son I was scheduled for a medical induction and tried to use castor oil alone to induce my labor at home. This method of drinking castor oil and a little bit of orange juice afterwards did not work well for me. The castor oil caused a laxative effect, I had painful contractions but I didn’t go into labor. I had to go through with my medical induction that lasted over 22 hours and almost 3 hours of that was trying to push him out. My doctor grew tired of how long it was taking me to deliver the baby vaginally and said I would need a cesarean. I was confused, because the baby and I were not in any distress. This frightened me because my mother passed away from complications of a cesarean. Minutes after she said I needed a c-section the baby arrived vaginally.
This experience made me afraid of how quickly medical intervention can lead to a c-section. I wanted to have more control over the situation. Less than 2 years later I was ready to deliver my second baby, but this time I had done some research. To my surprise, no one had any videos on Youtube about the midwife’s brew from the past. I was unsure how successful it would be. The original recipe paired together castor oil and an essential oil (lemon verbena essential oil). I did not want to take both at the same time since essential oils are very concentrated. This recipe seemed too powerful to me. I wanted to be gently pushed into labor, not thrown it into. I decided that I could decrease the concentration of lemon verbena by making a tea instead. I relied on my knowledge of college level chemistry to decide the concentration of the tea. I used 4 tea bags.
I drank the midwife’s brew and recorded it for my Youtube channel in case it could be helpful to other moms who were in the same boat as I was. I took the brew Saturday night and I delivered my baby girl at 9am Sunday morning. No complications. No meconium. No problems. I knew I needed to share this with my Youtube family. Slowly but surely, I saw women uploading Youtube videos making my midwife’s brew recipe with great success rates as well. I was ecstatic!
Two years later I was ready to deliver again! This time was with my third child who was a baby boy. I drank the midwife’s brew at around 11pm at night. This time I used my pain management techniques to help minimize my perception of pain. It worked so well that I barely made it to the hospital in time. I delivered him within 14 minutes of my arrival at the hospital. I delivered him at 7:30am that morning.
Fast forward 2.5 years later and I’m ready to birth my fourth child, a little baby girl. I know I had these babies very close together. It was time to make my brew again. I always look at my original video to make the recipe. I will make an updated version since the video is 5 years old now. However, following my previous instructions is my best way to make it, since I know that I came up with this particular recipe with a tea as an ingredient. I can look at my actions and remember what I was thinking and why I made those decisions.
For the induction of my most recent child with the midwife’s brew, I drank the entire thing within 20 minutes (drinking within 20 minutes or less is best to help it work better). It was 10:30pm when I drank the brew. I actually ended up sleeping and waking up at 7am to a contraction. I thought the brew didn’t work because I didn’t feel a lot of pain. My pain management techniques were working too well. The contractions started to come in with a noticeable pattern. I took a little sip of my raspberry leaf tea to hopefully move things along, but I didn’t need it, because the contractions were 3 minutes apart. My daughter was born at 7:45am in the car. We did not make it to the hospital. My husband caught her in the car as we sat in front of a red light. We were only 6 minutes away from the hospital.
Here are the exact ingredients:
2 tbsp of Almond Butter
250 mL of Lemon Verbena Tea
2 tbsp of Castor Oil
300 mL of Apricot Juice
Directions:
- Boil 300mL of water then add 4 teabags of Lemon Verbena Tea. Turn off the stove and allow the teabags to sit in the hot water for at least 15 minutes.
- Add all ingredients and the cooled tea into a blender and blend well.
- Drink the entire mixture within 20 minutes or less.
This is the exact recipe that I used to induce my labor 3 times. I usually ordered my lemon verbena tea from Amazon because it is usually the hardest ingredient to find.
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Here are some extra tips for the induction method:
- Drink ALL of the brew within less than 20 minutes.
- The ingredients should be mixed in a blender
- Drink raspberry leaf tea leading up to the moment you wish to drink the midwife’s brew. I usually drink it for weeks ahead of time. The most important time is the day before and the day of to drink as much as you can comfortably drink. Remember to drink regular water as well. Make the raspberry leaf tea heavily concentrated with 3-4 bags of tea per cup.
- It is best to be well hydrated before trying to induce. This impacts your contractions and your energy. Drink a lot of water.
- Eat 2 hours before drinking the midwife’s brew so that you have an empty stomach.
- Stay calm and relaxed by using lavender essential oil in a diffuser.
- Smell lavender essential oil to help power the contractions and relax your body.
- Focus on breathing to release the baby. If you become tense or too nervous you could possibly stall your labor.
