# Drinking paraffin during pregnancy to ease birth? ? ? Surely not? Advice please!



## Je'anna L C (Mar 10, 2006)

Any people in the know who can tell me - I know of a seven month preg mother who is drinking paraffin in preparation to 'ease her labour'.... This seems like a really bad idea to my mind, but since I've never heard of it I want to know if that's just me or do we hasten to challenge the advice she was given, for the sake of that poor babe?


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## kerikadi (Nov 22, 2001)

Paraffin is wax, right? Why would someone drink that for an easier birth?!? I have never heard of such a thing.

Keri


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## *guest (Oct 7, 2005)

Yuck! I have heard of it for constipation, as my grandmother swore by it (liquid paraffin, not the same as flammable), but she also died of a liver condition caused by years of laxative over-reliance. So personally I'd stay away, pregnant or not. I believe it can leach vitamins like A and E out of the body, and who wants to compromise nutrient absorption? I've definitely not heard of it in any relation to birth.


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## sprout 1 (Oct 18, 2003)

if it is a laxative, she shouldn't take it regularly anyway because as the pp said, the body becomes reliant on laxatives very easily and won't want to do it's "business" without them after extended use. Does she know about RRL or other "labor prep" type herbal formulas? They just might seem a little more appealing to her


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