Can grassfed raw milk reduce childbirth pain? While conventional practitioners would poo-poo the idea, the fact is that it is possible with more and more women drinking it regularly and opting for a natural birth in the face of over-medicalization of the birth process.
It is already known that pregnancy diet can play a crucial role in how much childbirth pain a pregnant woman experiences during delivery and whether or not she is successful in withstanding the tremendous physical effort and stamina required to have a natural birth.
So why not raw milk specifically?
The picture above was taken while I was transitioning at 9cm dilation. I was literally minutes from pushing my baby out. Most women in a similar situation are begging for drugs at that point or are already on an epidural IV and completely numb from the waist down.
As for me, I was totally comfortable other than feeling the amazing intensity of the pain free contractions. Here’s my story.
I was fortunate to experience three natural births. Â The difference between them in the level of discomfort experienced was profound, however, and I can attest that my diet during each of the pregnancies played a key role in the amount of pain I experienced during labor.
During my first pregnancy, I ate completely organic and hormone/steroid free. Â I ate what would be termed a stellar diet in almost every way. Â I had a complication-free, natural, and fairly fast delivery although it was a pretty painful experience.
During most of my second pregnancy, I improved my whole organic diet by several notches by adopting a fully Traditional Diet. Â I took high vitamin cod liver oil and consumed plenty of grassfed meats. Â I prepared my grain based foods properly by sprouting, soaking and/or sour leavening. Â My second birth experience was way faster than the first (as is fairly typical for most women), but it wasn’t really that much less painful.
During my third pregnancy, however, I had a Traditional Food available to me in unlimited quantity that I did not have as an option in the previous two pregnancies.
That food was raw, grassfed milk.
I drank raw grassfed milk with abandon with my third pregnancy. Â It kept my morning sickness at bay during the first trimester due to my propensity for low B6. Â B6 deficiency can cause morning sickness and raw milk is loaded with this nutrient in highly bioavailable form. Â B6 supplements did not produce the same excellent results.
Sipping raw milk all day long kept my tummy very happy during those early weeks. Â Incidentally, pasteurization destroys B6.
What ended up being the most surprising, however, was how completely pain free my third delivery was. Â The birth of my third child was slower than the second birth, so speed was not a factor.
The picture above is me at 9 cm dilation, completely comfortable and without any discomfort. Â I told my husband to snap a picture as I couldn’t believe it at the time! Â I even chatted with my Mom on the phone while I was in transition (she was in the car on her way to the birth center).
Calcium Status Greatly Affects Childbirth Pain
What was the difference? Â Science will tell you that a women’s calcium status greatly affects the pain she experiences with the uterine contractions during labor.
However, it is much more than just calcium intake as I was consuming plenty of calcium during my first 2 pregnancies and both labors were quite painful as is the norm today. Â I should note that the calcium was from natural sources too as it was typical for me to drink 1-2 cups of nettle tea during all my pregnancies and nettle is high in calcium and a known uterine tonic. Â A pain free delivery is not just a matter of popping calcium pills, eating foods that are factory fortified with calcium, or even consuming natural foods high in calcium like nettle.
Why was the delivery of my third child so comfortable and even (gasp!) an enjoyable experience by comparison then?
The bioavailability of the calcium in the diet is an all important consideration that some in the scientific community have not fully grasped yet but a growing number of researchers are emphasizing and certainly something the effects of which I experienced firsthand.
You see, raw grassfed milk is loaded with calcium but it also has something special that pasteurized dairy, calcium supplements, and calcium fortified foods do not.
That something is the enzyme to absorb the calcium!
Voila!
What good is consuming calcium if your body simply does not know what to do with it or can’t do anything with it?
In other words, to experience a comfortable and even pain free labor and delivery requires not just getting enough calcium but getting it in a form that the body can absorb!
To make a long story short, if you think you are getting enough calcium in your diet and you are pregnant, think again. Â Not all calcium is created equal!
Examine your pregnancy diet and make sure it is loaded with plenty of raw grassfed dairy so that you are getting the bioavailable form of this important nutrient in copious amounts!
Worried about consuming raw dairy while pregnant?  Don’t be. Raw grassfed milk is one of the safest foods you can consume and CDC data proves this as shown by the research of Dr. Ted Beals MD.
Interested in following a completely Traditional Diet during your pregnancy and potentially experiencing significantly reduced childbirth pain as a bonus? Â Here’s an article which outlines the ideal pregnancy diet as recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation. Â This is the diet I followed during my second and especially my third pregnancy with the addition of raw grassfed milk.
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Is there any tips on how to get more raw milk if you don’t like the taste of it plain? I love it along with chocolate or sweets but I cut those out, so that’s out of the question.. I am looking for ways to incorporate it more into my diet daily but I don’t know what I should do.
What about eating a healthy homemade granola with raw milk? Or adding raw milk to a smoothie? You don’t have to drink it straight to get the benefits! 🙂
@Monica, my 3 yo DD doesn’t really like milk, so I take a little warm water (under 117 degrees), dissolve some raw honey into it, let it cool, then mix that into a cup of milk with crushed ice & a straw. She thinks it’s a milkshake. I can live with that 😉
I make smoothies with raw milk, yogurt and whatever frozen fruit I have on hand. I also throw in some almond butter and coconut oil if I’m having it for breakfast.
I noticed the same thing…the longer and slower the labor, the less pain I had. My DD’s birth was the longest, over several days with stalls and it wasn’t painful. My third birth was my fastest and I woke up in active labor. That was a bugger of a labor, just nasty. I don’t drink cow milk.
And what if you do not have raw, grassfed milk available to you in your state because it’s illegal? How else can you obtain optimal calcium absorption?
My second birth was almost pain free (the last five minutes were the only bits of pain I felt). It was amazing!
I ate mostly organic during my second pregnancy, but not great and no raw milk and it was my easiest labor and delivery, almost no pain.
I ate much healthier with my third and fourth and experienced more pain and a major complication with my fourth, so I think there are many factors at play.
I do agree with what you said though, and I surely think it can help 🙂
Hmmm… I agree that raw grass fed milk is very good for you, but not sure that it has much to do with labor pains. I consumed grass fed raw goat milk with all three pregnancies. My first was very painful and long (23 hours). My second was fast (1.5 hours) but very painful as well. My third was about 6 hours but I went through transition and the whole labor up to delivery without any pain. The nurse did not believe i was in labor. i did not believe it. the only reason i knew is because i had an ob appointment that morning and was already at 7cm. The only pain I had was the stretching of the pelvic bones as I pushed our the nearly 10 pound baby. My diet was nearly the same for all three pregnancies. I’m pregnant again and will definitely keep drinking raw milk and lots of nettle and red raspberry leaf tea, but I’m not convinced that it guarantee another pain free labor.
Well, guess I should start drinking it more often! Almost to my 3rd trimester!!
My son was a VBAC and medicated. I then had my daughter medication free and it still hurt (not as much as I thought it would) and she came super fast. I’ll definitely try drinking raw, grassfed milk with my next one.
I LOVE raw milk! I started drinking it early on in my 1st pregnancy but then got scared out of drinking it because I just didn’t know enough about the “risks”. Now I drink it daily and it has been a life saver this pregnancy as my nausea has been so much worse. Now I’m thinking I need to drink even more! (no complaints!) I also drink raw milk kefir. Same or more benefits? Hoping this next birth is much less painful than my 1st was.
Yes, some days in my first trimester I drank raw milk all day long and sometimes couldn’t eat much of anything else. Nice to know that the raw grassfed milk is nature’s most perfect food and drinking that was providing plenty of nutrition.
Skylar Tobin Me too! My first two births were wonderful but left a lot to be desired in the comfort department! LOL