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Welcome to Katie Whitehouse's live web chat!

Katie Whitehouse from Vital Touch is now online, so please post your questions about aromatherapy, massage (for you and your baby) and even up-lifting experiences, by clicking the ???????post reply??????? button in this thread and Katie will try to answer them as quickly as possible.

We'll keep track of everyone's questions, so don't worry, we won't miss you out! But please bear with us as it may take a little time to get through everyone!

Thanks,
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  • Hello everyone - as you know I'm Katie Whitehouse and I'm ready to answer any questions you may have about using massage and aromatherapy in pregnancy, labour and after your baby is born. It is a time of huge physical and emotional change and I've got lots of great tips that can help you through it all.
    I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

  • Hi Katie
    I know that the midwives tell you to add salt to your bathwater to aid healing after you've given birth, but are there any safe oils which I can use to speed the healing up? I've had an episiotomy and lots of stitches! Help!
  • Hi ali
    Yes I empathise - very sore! Lavender essential oil is wonderful as it's soothing, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and helps stimulate new cell growth (so helps healing). You can either 6-8 drops in some full fat milk and stir well into your bathwater (with the salt too) but another great tip is to fill a bucket (or bidet if you've got one) of very hot water - put 10 drops of lavender in and stand over it - allowing the steam with the lavender in it to rise up towards your stitches. Hope that's helpful and wish you speedy healing.
  • Thanx Katie - not sure about the steam over a bucket (someone would be sure to find me!) but the lavender in milk sounds a great idea - I'll give it a go. Also, my baby (8 days) is developing dry skin on her legs. Should I try adding a few drops of oil to her bath or massage something directly into her legs. Which oils are safe for her?
  • Hi ali
    I wouldn't advise using any essential oils with your baby yet - but yes dry skin is very common problem and usually easily solvable - you could use some vegetable oil to give her a gentle massage - organic sunflower oil is ideal.
  • Hi Katie,
    My best friend's baby has cradle cap that's just not healing. She's tried olive oil and what ever else was recommeded to her. Is it something that will just heal itself or can you recommend any other oils that would help.
  • Thanks again Katie, I'll order some online now.
  • Hi again Ali
    Just to let you know - you can buy organic lavender essential oil and also an organic baby massage oil on-line from www.vitaltouch.com..
  • Hi Poppy
    the Natalia Special Baby Skin Balm is great for cradle cap - it does include olive oil and also calendula, shea butter and vitamin E. I'd advise your friend to massage it into their baby's head for a few minutes and leave it overnight before washing off or brushing. It's actually great for dry skin too - so Ali you might want to try this too with your baby's legs.
  • Hi again, I have another question to ask on behalf of my friend (she has no access to a computer). Her elder son who is 17 month's old has had a sore bum for around 3-4 weeks. He may be teething although no teeth have come through. She's tried sudocream and other specialist nappy rash creams to no avail. Someone told her that he may have developed an allergic reaction to the nappy he wears - Pampers. What would you advise? He's in so much pain and my friend feels so helpless. Thanks
  • Your poor friend - it's the hardest thing when our babies and children are in pain or unhappy. Yes, it could be teething as he'll be feeling this before the teeth actually show - many babies respond really well to camomilla homeopathic granules - usually called teething granules - which you just pop in their mouth and they dissolve really quickly. They will soothe the whole body.
    Re the sore bottom itself though...I'd try the following:
    - leave his nappy off as much as possible to let his skin breathe.
    - change brand of nappy just in case it is the brand.
    - try Natalia baby bottom butter - it contains calendula, tea tree and chamomile and is really healing, soothing and antibacterial.
    Good luck
  • Hi Katie - thought I'd join you, I'm working from home today! A friend has just been diagnosed with obstetric choleastis as a result of having very itchy skin. She's being treated with the right drugs, but I wondered if there was anything you could recommend for her to use on her body and belly to help prevent stretch marks/dry skin? Her skin is obviously pretty sensitive at the moment! Any help or advice I can pass on would be great. Thanx
  • Thanks for the advice Katie, including what you recommended for the cradle cap. I don't think she has tried anything homeopathis so I'll pass on this info on to her and hopefully her babies' skin problems will get sorted soon.
  • Hi Katie. I'm after a miracle cure/prevention for stretch marks. I'm 36 weeks and am carrying totally outfront, resulting in the area around my belly button becoming over-stretch and prone to stretch marks. Please help as I still have 4 weeks to go and will no doubt get even bigger!! Thanks, Daisy.
  • Daisy, you read my mind! Same advice here please!
  • Hi Daisy - it's these last 4 weeks that are so crucial - as, yes, your baby is bound to grow quite a bit still! Natalia anti-stretch oil contains wonderfully skin regenerating oils such as centella, avocado oil, rosehip oil and essential oils of neroli, frankincense, lavender and mandarin. You need to massage it in well twice a day - it's really worth doing to keep your skin as supple as possible. There is never a 100% guarantee as your skin type and hormones will also play a part but we've so far had only excellent feedback from women who've used it regularly throughout the 3rd trimester.
  • Hi Suzaie - so yes... same advice to you.
    It also smells heavenly and it is wonderful if you can get your partner/husband to do some of the massaging... it really helps for them to give your baby his/her first massage and to feel connected to them before they are born.
  • It's me again. I've passed on the info to my friend who has asked me a few other questions. 1. Where can she can buy the recommended products from? 2. Since giving birth to her second child who is 17 months old she has very achy feet, especially the heels. She says that in the evenings and especially at night she can't even bear to put them down so has trouble walking. Her GP gave her a gel to use but that didn't help. She is overweight - could that be the problem? Can you recommend any treatment/soaks or massages that could help? Thanks
  • Thanks so much for the advice, Katie, I'll definitely look around for the Natalia brand. Is it available from Boots, for example?
  • Hi again Poppy.
    Your friend can order Natalia products online on www.vitaltouch.com or call us on 0845 0525345 and we'll try and find her a local stockist.
    Her poor feet... during pregnancy the hormone relaxin targets not only the ligaments in our pelvis to help us give birth - making them looser - but every ligament in our body. So all the ligaments in our poor feet also get loose... as as we're heavier this puts great pressure on the feet (we often find we're a different foot size after the birth). If we don't shed the weight after the birth then our feet can remain under stress and the ligaments will remain stretched... I'd advise the following:
    1) get feet really well measured to see if they've changed size and get some really supportive footwear that is the right size and width. 2) she could soak her feet in the evening....bowl of warm/hottish water with following: 4 drops rosemary and 4 drops lavender mixed in an eggcupful of full fat milk stirred well into the bowl of water. Soak feet for up to 10 minutes. It will be really soothing and comforting. She can order these oils from the same website. If she is able to - it may be worth a visit to a podiatrist.
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