The 6-Herb Formula My Dad Never Sold

In 1979, my dad, Max G. Barlow, self-published a beautiful full-color book called From the Shepherd's Purse. It featured 48 medicinal plants, how to identify them, what they were traditionally used for, and how to turn them into herbal remedies for yourself and your family.                                                    
Dad also sprinkled extra remedies and practical herbal tips throughout the book. They weren't products he sold, just bits of knowledge he wanted to pass along.
And tucked away on page 79 was one of them.

Dad suggested combining six herbs for women during their childbearing years: Lobelia, Black Cohosh, Raspberry Leaf, Pennyroyal, Squaw Vine (now more commonly called Partridge Berry), and Blessed Thistle.
He described it as a "5 week pre-parturition herbal mediant to ease labor and delivery" and gave instructions for powdering, combining, and encapsulating the herbs.
Dad never made this into a Barlow Herbal product.

There was no Woman's Comfort back then. It was simply one of those extra remedies in his book.
But my mom actually used it. And if there's one thing you should know about my mother, it's that she knew a thing or two about having babies.

There are 14 kids in my family, 11 biological and 3 adopted. Mom used Dad's combination during her last five pregnancies, all of which ended in home births in the late 1970s and early '80s, with my dad and a midwife in attendance.
I didn't use Dad's blend during my pregnancies, but I never forgot about it.

Years later, after Dad passed away and I restarted his company, I went back to that little formula on page 79 and began researching the six plants more deeply.
The more I learned, the more I found myself asking:
What else could these six plants do together for women?

I began seeing applications beyond childbirth, heavy periods, irregular cycles, menstrual discomfort, hormonal shifts, and the changes women experience throughout their reproductive years.
About 15 years ago, I finally brought my adaptation of Dad's little page 79 remedy into the Barlow Herbal line.  I called it Woman's Comfort because that's what it did.  It literally brought comfort.

And shortly after that, I became one of the women who needed it.

When I began moving through perimenopause and eventually menopause, Woman's Comfort became part of my own herbal routine. I paired it with adaptogens, and for me, that combination changed the game.

There's something pretty wonderful about that.

My mom used the original combination around childbirth. I used Woman's Comfort through perimenopause and menopause. And today, some of my teenage nieces use it when they're dealing with heavy or irregular periods.
The same six plants showing up for women in our family at very different stages of life.

So...why these six plants?
That's the question that fascinated me when I went back and really studied Dad's formula. The more I researched, the more I could see how the herbs complemented one another.  The traditional herbalist pattern my dad used to formulate was becoming very clear to me.

Raspberry Leaf has been treasured for generations as a female reproductive tonic, traditionally used for nourishment and uterine tone, while Black Cohosh brings its long history of use for menstrual discomfort, uterine tension, and the hormonal transitions women experience throughout life.
Partridge Berry, called Squaw Vine in Dad's original book, is one of those wonderful old women's herbs we don't hear nearly enough about anymore. It has a long traditional association with menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and the female reproductive system. Blessed Thistle adds another layer as both a bitter tonic and traditional women's herb, connecting reproductive health with digestion and nourishment.
Then there's Lobelia, valued by herbalists for generations for its relaxing and antispasmodic qualities, and Pennyroyal, with its centuries-old connection to menstruation and uterine activity.

When I looked at the formula this way, it began to make much more sense to me. Dad wasn't simply putting six "women's herbs" into a capsule. He was approaching a woman's reproductive system from several directions at once, tone and nourishment, relaxation and tension, digestion, cramping, menstruation, and the natural hormonal transitions that happen throughout a woman's life.

And that's when I began to see that the combination he had originally written about for one very specific time in a woman's life might have something to offer during other stages as well.

A quick note about Pennyroyal: it's an herb that deserves respect, particularly around pregnancy, and concentrated Pennyroyal essential oil is very different from the whole herb and can be dangerous. Dad's original instructions reflect the herbal practice of his time. Woman's Comfort today is a menstrual and women's support formula, not a pregnancy protocol.

From Page 79 to page 127.
There's another chapter to this story that I love.
When I wrote my book, Be Your Own Shaman, I went back to Dad's original From the Shepherd's Purse and updated all 48 of his medicinal plants. Then I added 53 additional plants, bringing the new book to 101.
And I kept Dad's little six-herb recipe.
The formula that appeared on page 79 of his book in 1979 now appears on page 127 of mine.

I love what that represents. Dad never sold Woman's Comfort.
He planted the seed for it.  My mom used it and I remembered it.

Decades later, I researched it, saw another possibility for those six plants, and turned that little paragraph into Woman's Comfort.
Then I used it myself through a completely different stage of womanhood. I've watched younger women in our family discover it. And when I expanded Dad's book into my own, I made sure his original recipe came along with me.

From page 79 in Dad's book to page 127 in mine. From my mom's childbearing years to my own menopause years, and now to another generation of women.

I'd love to sit down with Dad today and tell him what became of those six herbs.
I think he'd get a kick out of it.