Natural care for mother and baby

Kathryn Higgins, herbalist, is founder and president of Motherlove, an herbal company that specializes in natural products for pregnant women and new mothers. Higgins is the author of the Pocket Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (1996), written to help people identify useful plants in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Higgins has taught classes a Colorado State University and the Denver Botanical Gardens, as well as guest lecturing for such organizations as the La Leche League and the Natural Pharmacy conference. She has also written articles for such publications as Natural Pharmacy, The Herb Quarterly and The Herb Companion. Higgins recently spoke to Woodland about natural health care for expectant and nursing mothers.

WHR: How did you start the company (Motherlove)?
KH I've been an herbalist for 30 years. My father was a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, my grandfather was a researcher there, and my brother went to Mayo med school. I gratuated from high school, went to Colorado and ended up living in a tepee. I sort of took the foundation of my (family's) love of plants (because we had beautiful gardens) and then took the medical genetics that I must have had in me and put a new spin on it. I started learning about all the herbs that grew all around me in the mountains of Colorado.

Then I started teaching in 1985. I'd take people out to our 10 acres in the mountains and show them the edible and medicinal plants and how to use them and then feed lunch to everybody. On one of my walks came a local store (employee) who said, "Wow. We'd love to sell these products that you give away." And I said "That would be great!" In 1990, when I was pregnant with my third child, I took my first sales trip out of town. So, I look at 1990 as the launch of Motherlove as a national company.

It's not like I went out and said, "Oh I'm going to create a business." ...it came to me just by being a mom. Being an herbalist and being a mom. Now we're in Wild Oats and Whole Foods and Mother's Market chains as well as maternity shops, spas and with lactation consultants.

WHR: What is your most popular product?
KH: Right now, I would have to say More Milk Plus, which is a combination of very safe herbs that have been used for generations throughout the world for increasing breast milk. It was a real sleeper product until 1995, because of all the press that breast-feeding was getting as far as why you should breat feed. And that's when I started working with lactation consultants and hospitals. What they have is a pharmaceutical with side effects of depression. And then there teas out there, too, but for a woman who really needs to increase her milk, you can't drink enough tea. We were the first company on the national level with herbs that are sold together and dosed to increase breast milk.

The other products we make for body care are belly oil and salve. It uses herbs that are known to prevent scarring, and it also uses very emollient herbs that soften your skin and allow it to stretch. I know some doctors who say, "Well, it's just your genetics or skin type," but we have given this product to women who got stretch marks with their first baby but not with their second. And we've given it to many women who have had twins without stretch marks and we even have a "love letter" from a woman who had triplets without stretch marks.

The other problems or concerns we address with our products are: we make a hemorrhoid salve called rhoid balm and we make a stiz bath for perineal soak after the birth, which makes it really easy to walk again. We also make a nipple cream for sore nipples.

WHR: What herbs should nursing mothers avoid?
KH: We have a list on our Web site - we have a really educational Web site. But to get back to the question, parsley and sage decrease breast milk, so you want to avoid those and then there's a listing of other herbs that are too harsh.

WHR: Are there any ingredients you specifically avoid in your products?
KH: Yes. We avoid all synthetics, preservatives, and mineral oil. I think we're the first national company in the niche market to do that and have them effective and luxurious. Mineral oil is one of the worst things you can put on your skin and they give it away in hospitals for babies!

WHR: Why should people avoid mineral oil?
KH: Mineral oil is a petroleum product and it leeches minerals and nutrients from your skin, rather than something like olive oil (that) really feeds your skin.

WHR: What is the shelf life of your products?
KH: On the salves, two years, on the oils, a year, and the tinctures have a shelf life of three to four years.

WHR: What would be the most important thing an expectant mother can do for her health?
KH: First of all, get rest. Get the help that you need. Accept food. Ask for help from your husband, from your friends and siblings. But keep it simple. And the other thing is to believe in yourself and know that you are doing the most important job on the planet - nurturing life.