Raspberry Leaf Tea, my friend used it, she thought it helped and so used it in subsequent pregnancies, but I never tried it.

The best advice to do with labour I ever got is that worst case scenario, it is 24 hours out of your life and you have a child for the rest of your life, so try to put labour in perspective, although it is expected that you get nervous and better if you are a little prepared, breathing really helped me, but the midwives will coach you through that if you forget.

Regarding bleeding, I found it was like a REALLY heavy period for the first three days and then a regular peiod for a few more weeks.  You will be so besotted by your new born, so overwhelmed by the lovely nurture you will receive from your loved ones, and distracted by the newness of it all (breastfeeding etc) that you won't even really think about the bleeding, at least I can't imagine that you will. 

You will be fine.  Take care.

Jodi

hi you have to be really careful trying this before about 36 weeks i think it is even then because it is said to bring on contractions but i really don't think that it would help with the after birth bleeding everyone is different don't stress really its usually 3-4 weeks but not that heavy after the 2nd week talk to your midwife and doctor about the tea or anything like that before taking it find out from them what they think is best then decide for yourself what you want to do its best to get their professional opinion as it can effect baby

Don't know about the tea, have heard it is good though. In regard to the bleeding, with all of mine it was different, but lasted from 1 week to 4 weeks of dribble. More annoying than anything else for me. My 1 week, I was wearing Tena pads it was so heavy.  It is nothing to worry about though. Just a long period. Good luck with it all. Leisa

When it comes to the bleeding afterwards, yeah, its true but its UP to six weeks... i bled for 4 weeks, my sister only bled for 2 weeks... we are all different :) but its not straight red blood all through... it starts to turn yellow near the end, then clear... but still when clear, a pad would be best recomended :)
hope this helps,
xx channy

Hey there. I know my midwife recommended raspberry leaf tea, but I never tried it.  Sorry.

In relation to the bleeding - yes its true, but it's not as scary as it sounds.  It's just a heavy long period.  Mine never went for 6 weeks, more like 3 or 4.  It's just your uterus clearing out all the lining that's been building up for 9 months (instead of the usual 3 weeks!) so it is a lot heavier than you're used to.  But I always had painful periods, and I didn't find the bleeding particularly painful (maybe just  in comparison to birth!) but, really, it's not something to be concerned about.  Just make sure you get some maternity pads or goodnight pads from the supermarket so you're prepared.  You won't be able (or allowed) to use tampons until you get the all clear at your 6 week checkup afterwards.

Hi. Raspberry leaf tea can be used to help bring labour on. It is also said to help make the second stage of labour shorter. It must not be used in the early stages of pregnancy - not before about 7 months or 32 weeks, but can be taken regularly after that. You drink it or take raspberry leaf tablets which you can get from a health food store or chemist. For the tea you use 25g/1oz of the dried leaves to 600ml of hot water, cover and infuse for 15 minutes, or 1 teaspoon in a cup of hot water. The reason it works is because it is a uterine tonic so it helps speed up and ease labour.

I took raspberry leaf tea throughout my 3rd tri-mester (you aren't allowed to have it pria to then), I still bled like a stuck pig afterwards for about 6 weeks, until the pushing part started the pain was mainly in my lower back and they put me in the shower for 4 hours with hubby aiming the shower onto my back.  Apparently if I didn't have a narrow birth canal the whole process would have only taken 4 hours or so they said, as it was I had to have an episiotomy (cut from a*^-hole to breakfast) and they had to use suction 3 times which is the limit they will do it for........I'm guessing if I had been designed differently down there a 4 hour labour would have been a breeze, so I think it was worth using, even though I didn't get the results I wanted LOL.  Oh, also when I got really sick of being prego I made hubby "service me"LOL which worked a treat, unfortunately my timing sucked and she arrived 35 hours after that session which was Xmas morning LOL.....time it better than me.