Lemon Balm for Postpartum - Herb from the mint family eases pain

Improves quality of life after childbirth

Natural childbirth comes with painful postpartum contractions in eight out of 10 women, and can interfere with breast feeding and mother-child bonding. Lemon balm has sedative and anti-spasmodic properties.

In this study, 110 women began taking the NSAID medication mefenamic acid or 395 mg of pure lemon balm extract after delivery, repeating each six hours during the first 24 hours.

There were no significant differences in pain intensity between the two groups after the first dose, but after the third and fourth doses, those taking lemon balm reported lower pain symptom severity scores. Overall, pain symptom scores decreased in both groups, but decreased more for lemon balm, with average pain severity less for lemon balm at all times after delivery.

Discussing the findings, doctors said lemon balm was superior to mefenamic acid in reducing the severity of pain post-delivery and eliminated the need for pharmaceutical pain relievers.

Reference: Journal of Caring Sciences; 2019, Vol. 8, No. 3, 129-38