Pregnancy hawthorn - benefits and harms

Herbal medicine is a salvation for expectant mothers. Thanks to the healing properties of plants, it is possible to achieve a therapeutic effect without the need for synthetic drugs.

Among useful plants, hawthorn or blackthorn, which grows everywhere in the steppes of the CIS countries, has earned recognition. The local population is pre-stocked with inflorescences and berries of the bush to carry out treatment throughout the year.

If you want to try berries for the first time during pregnancy, then you need to familiarize yourself with both beneficial and harmful properties so as not to harm yourself and your baby.

Chemical composition

The composition of hawthorn is atypical for most shrubby fruits. It contains rare elements in significant quantities, due to which it covers the most diverse areas of traditional medicine. Valuable berries, seeds and inflorescences contain:

• mono- and polysaccharides (up to 11% of the total mass);
• fatty acids and oils;
• organic acids (citric, coffee, tartaric, chlorogenic);
• glycosides (saponaretin, vitexin, orlentin, amygdalin);
• tanning components;
• phytosterols;
• pectins;
• phenolcarboxylic and triterpenic acids (categic, oleanolic, ursolic);
• flavonoids (apigenin, quercetin, herbacetin, kempferol and others);
• vitamins of group A. K, E, C, B;
• acetylcholine and trimethylcholine;
• essential oils;
• saponins;
• sorbitol;
• starch;
• macro- and microelements (iron, aluminum, zinc, copper and others).

The composition is very rare, therefore it is impossible to replace hawthorn berries with any other. Fruits act as an active biological supplement and a complex of multivitamins, which allows you to saturate the body with a maximum of useful substances and ensure their complete absorption.

With a huge set of useful components, the calorie content of the fruit remains negligible - only 52 kcal per 100 g of product.

Thanks to phenolcarboxylic and triterpenic acids, hawthorn has a mild sedative and calming effect on the nervous system of mother and baby. Also, these components dilate blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and providing a normal flow of blood to internal organs.

The benefits of hawthorn during pregnancy

For the future mother, not only the fruits of the bush, but also the seeds inside them and the inflorescences are valuable. By combining these plant components, positive results can be achieved.

1. Get rid of edema. In later stages, the limbs can swell severely. Excess water is retained in the body and leads to a deterioration in well-being. A decoction of hawthorn has a diuretic effect, removes excess fluid well and reduces swelling. Thanks to this effect, the kidneys are unloaded, cleaned of toxins, poisons, salts of heavy metals and other harmful components.
2. Strengthen the heart muscle. Already in the second trimester, the heart actively pumps blood in an additional (placental) circle, as a result of which the load on the entire cardiovascular system increases. Fruits and inflorescences gently stimulate muscle function, effectively cleanse blood vessels of cholesterol and atherosclerotic plaques, strengthen and tone their walls. Due to the regular use of the plant, the pressure remains stable, the risk of hypertensive conditions such as preeclampsia and hypertensive crisis is reduced. Berries also prevent cardiovascular pathologies (cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, angioneurosis, heart attack, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, embolism, thrombophlebitis, and others).
3. Protect the liver. The active substances of hawthorn stimulate the regeneration of liver cells, remove waste products, toxins and metabolites, and heal the organ.
4. Strengthen the central nervous system. Traditional medicine actively uses the plant to eliminate the excitability of the nervous system. Expectant mother often notes mood swings, irritability and nervousness, increased anxiety, apathy and stress. Herbal teas with hawthorn soothe the central nervous system, restore normal cerebral circulation, thereby eliminating oxygen starvation. Thanks to these effects, attention and coordination improves, productivity increases, and chronic fatigue disappears. Before childbirth, such prevention makes it easier to endure contractions and not panic.
5. Eliminate headaches. Due to high blood pressure and anxiety, pregnant women often complain of headaches and migraines. Hawthorn acts as a mild antispasmodic, reducing the power of attacks and reducing their number.
6. Normalize the endocrine system. The components of the berries strengthen the pancreas, thyroid and genital glands, stabilize the secretion of hormones important for maintaining pregnancy.
7. Adjust plasma glucose. Pregnant women often develop gestational diabetes - elevated blood sugar, which leads to poor health and a number of related symptoms. Natural hawthorn allows you to daily lower blood sugar concentration, preventing the development of high-grade diabetes.
8. Improve digestion. A number of organic acids, vitamins, flavonoids and other useful components heals the digestive tract, regulates the acidity of the stomach, facilitates absorption, and stimulates the production of enzymes. The components also improve motility, preventing problems with emptying (chronic constipation or diarrhea). Organic acids quickly destroy cholesterol cells and lipids, making healthy, gradual weight loss possible.
9. Provide a healthy sleep. Due to its mild sedative effect, hawthorn makes it easier to fall asleep, provides a long and deep sleep. Teas and decoctions are used to treat insomnia and other sleep disorders.
10. Improve the look. Pregnant women often complain of worsening skin conditions: rashes, dryness, pale complexion, lack of tone. Masks and creams with hawthorn berries increase skin elasticity, improve blood flow to the epidermis, stimulate its regeneration, and prevent stretch marks. Ursulic acid in the composition of berries is also a component of collagen, due to which it provides smoothing of fine wrinkles, the appearance of a healthy blush, and general skin rejuvenation.
11. Prevent Anemia. The berries of the shrub contain iron, which provides the production of red blood cells (red blood cells), as well as hemoglobin - a component that carries oxygen to cells. The lack of these substances can lead to iron deficiency anemia (anemia), which often happens during pregnancy.
12. Strengthen the immune system. Ascorbic acid and antioxidants can fight free radicals and pathogenic microflora, reducing the symptoms of diseases and allergic reactions.

How to use hawthorn during pregnancy

As mentioned above, various parts of the plant (flowers, leaves, berries, etc.) are suitable for treatment. After collecting the components must be dried on a newspaper, avoiding direct sunlight.

The resulting raw materials are stored in glass jars, paper or cloth bags. Condensation must be avoided in storage tanks. Also place the container with the raw materials in a dry and dark room, closed from insects and rodents. Remember that the leaves and inflorescences of hawthorn are stored for about a year, and the fruits are up to 2 years old.

Of all the components, you can prepare medicinal teas and decoctions.It is necessary to consume such a drink before meals (three times a day) in a volume of 50 ml.

Doctors and nutritionists recommend eating fresh berries or after thawing. The fruits are ground with sugar or added to salads. Dry berries can be ground into flour and added to pastries, honey and cream fillings. Compote boiled from dried fruits of hawthorn (about 15 berries per three liters of water) is very useful.

But in the form of alcohol tinctures hawthorn is prohibited during pregnancy and lactation.

Limitations and contraindications

Overuse of seemingly useful berries can cause side effects in a future mother:

• individual intolerance in the form of an allergy or an upset stomach;
• severe drowsiness;
• weakness and decreased concentration, reaction rate;
• heart rhythm disturbance;
• a sharp drop in blood pressure;
• increased risk of miscarriage or premature birth.

Doctors are allowed to consume no more than 2 tablespoons of fruits and inflorescences per day.

Also, do not drink decoctions and teas on an empty stomach, if immediately after this a meal is not followed.

Strict contraindications to the use of hawthorn are:

• food allergies to berries or herbs;
• atherosclerosis in the acute stage;
• serious liver and kidney disease;
• hormonal disorders;
• severe stage of toxicosis, including gestosis;
• lactation;

Diseases of the cardiovascular system in the acute phase (tachycardia, arrhythmia, a history of heart attack, stroke, presence of a pacemaker, extrasystole, vegetovascular dystonia and others).

Hawthorn fruit is an affordable, inexpensive and very valuable tool that is successfully used to treat expectant mothers. It is thanks to him that pregnant women successfully fight stress and sleep disturbances, strengthen the cardiovascular system. Regular use prophylaxis of serious disorders and complications of pregnancy, positively affects the formation and development of the embryo.

Video: the benefits of hawthorn for the body