Vaginal steaming is usually the kind of woo-woo topic that sends me running in the opposite direction.
But in a converted house in a seaside village in Queensland, registered nurse and midwife Linda Barrow has created a little piece of paradise where medical science meets both ancient and new-age therapies.
Her private practice, The Mother Love in Yeppoon, is a long-held dream to create a nurturing, healing and informative space for women of all ages and stages of life.
There are mountains of textbooks and anatomical models of pregnant women and babies, as well as birthing ropes and balls, a Bowen Therapy nook and, of course, the steaming room.
Linda grows a lot of the herbs she uses for alternative therapies in the huge back garden, which also has swings hanging off big old trees and a chook pen full of her favourite Lavender Sussex chickens.
It’s a maternal heaven and on a recent trip home Linda invited me to experience some of her Mother Love magic.
I arrived at noon for a vaginal steaming treatment followed by a Bowen Therapy session (yes, Linda does this too). The space is rustic and beautiful and by just being herself Linda manages to disarm my discomfort.
Having never been one to overshare personal information, sitting on a steamer and then writing about it was not on my bingo card.
Our daughters’ generation, on the other hand, think it’s an absolute hoot and the kind of thing you strip off and do with a bunch of girlfriends on a regular Friday.
It takes me a while to unclench my body as I settle on the seat over the steamer, with a throw rug covering me. I breathe through the moment and after an adjustment period it all becomes pleasantly soothing – the warm, herb-infused steam on my skin, leaning back into plush cushions, a freshly made pot of herbal tea with honey, gentle music, and the scent of lovely candles.
Linda puts notepads and pens beside the steamers for women to jot down any thoughts or feelings that may pop into their heads, which they can take home and process.
And that’s when you get it. This gentle act of self-care is an antidote for all that women’s bodies go through in all the stages of our lives.
Vaginal steaming suddenly makes sense as a healing practice of body and mind.
“I think it’s a needed service. Women need to be nurtured,” Linda says.
“In traditional societies, when a woman was pregnant and birthing, the women of the community would come and look after her. She wouldn’t step out of her house for six weeks. She was fed and nurtured and all she did was feed the baby and be looked after.
“In this age, we leave hospital three days post birth and go home to fend for ourselves. We’re really missing a big link in looking after our women.”
Linda has been a Registered Nurse for more than 30 years and a Registered Midwife for 10 years. She has also birthed her own seven fabulous children and lived through the heartbreak of miscarriages and a stillbirth.
She created The Mother Love as a safe and empowering space for women to navigate every stage of their lives. It’s her favourite place in the world and the whole practice has been a labour of love.
Linda is predominately known for her antenatal classes and postnatal care, however next year she’s planning to introduce more services for girls, teens, and younger and older women.
She says vaginal steaming can be therapeutic for women of all ages.
“There are some herbs that are contra-indicated – like for antenates (pregnant women) or people with high blood pressure – so that’s why you take a case history and see what they need,” she says.
“The purpose of the steam for antenatal people is to induce them; to help ripen their cervix and get blood circulation into that area to help stimulate the birth process.
“Postnatally, it’s good for vaginal tearing and sutures. There’s astringent herbs and anti-microbial herbs, so soothing herbs, that I put in the steamer.
“If you’re menopausal, it’s good for things like vaginal dryness, painful sex, vaginal wall thinning, all of the stuff that comes into play around hormones and menopause.
“The girls in their early 20s just love it. I think because of people like the Kardashians and Gwyneth Paltrow, they think it’s all quite cool. They’re not as prim and proper as older people.”
Noted.
