Children love raspberry fruits: those thimble-shaped, red sweet-tarts that grow on long slender thorny branches, but herbalists prize the leaves. You can tell a raspberry (Rubus ideaus) from a blackberry because a blackberry's canes are dark green all over and its leaves are a robust dark green both top and underside. Raspberry leaves, on the other hand, are soft green above but silver underneath and they grow on bluish canes. 

Raspberry Leaves for Pregnancy

The berries of the second-year canes are edible but the first year canes produce the calcium-rich leaves which, when brewed into an infusion with water, are cherished by midwives for toning the uterus and building strong bones. Expectant mothers tend to enjoy raspberry leaf tea along with spearmint, roses, lemon balm, and nettle to both improve the flavor and offer nutrients. By themselves, raspberry leaves are a bit parchy and I find them not very flavorful, but they combine well with other herbs such as nettle or lemon balm or oatstraw/ oats milky tops to create a palatable and even enjoyable hot or chilled beverage.

There's generally no limit to the amount of raspberry leaf tea you can drink when you're pregnant; it's considered GRAS (generally regarded as safe) and is a tonic, meaning it is nutritious and helpful. Some women find it drying and astringent, so there are mixed opinions about whether to drink it while breastfeeding.

Raspberry as an Astringent

In western herbal medicine, raspberry leaves and roots are gentle astringents for dysentery and diarrhea. A rinse or tea of the leaf can be used topically over a wound as a first-aid remedy or on a weepy sore such as poison ivy. Or, raspberry leaf "tea" or infusion can be drunk to ease internal diarrhea. Do the same with the root of raspberry and blackberry -- though the thorny canes make it so difficult to access the root this is not a very popular medicine. The leaves are much more accessible.

This first-aid remedy is great when you're camping or hiking and need to make a compress or poultice due to a minor injury. Harvest a handful of raspberry leaves, rub them a bit between your hands to remove any stiff hairs, and soak them in a small pan of water. If you can heat the water (in the sun or over a campstove) all the better. Strain through a sieve or cheesecloth (or t-shirt if you're in the wilderness) and soak the affected area (the wound or the skin affected by poison ivy) in the infused water. Alternatively, soak a cloth or t-shirt and place this on the skin. Another alternative: place the wet leaves directly on the wound, making sure to avoid dropping pieces of plant material into any open wound. These are called a rinse (dipping the water), compresses (using a cloth) and poultices (placing the wet herbs directly on the skin), respectively.

To learn more about first aid remedies or herbs for breastfeeding, check out The Bellebuono School of Herbal Medicine online courses.

To learn more about raspberries and other garden herbs for health, purchase my book Llewellyn's Little Book of Herbs here.