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In this episode of the Essential Oil Revolution, you get a front row seat into my conversation with an amazing, literal pioneer in the aromatherapy space. This incredible person is responsible for setting the standards to safely integrate evidence-based, clinical aromatherapy for women’s health into hospitals and medical facilities throughout the United States. Her name is Pam Conrad, and she is internationally recognized for her contributions to medical and clinical aromatherapy.

During the show, Pam shares with us how she paved the way for health care professionals worldwide to embrace aromatherapy and how this led to her work being the foundation for aromatherapy integration into multiple hospital nursing and midwifery programs. We also touch upon how she is empowering women worldwide to safely use essential oils during pregnancy and for their mental health through her books and lectures.

The Importance of Evidence-Based Aromatherapy During Critical Time Periods

You may recall that we previously had an episode on how important it is to be especially careful when using essential oils during critical periods. The use of herbs and aromatics in pregnancy and in children is quite controversial, both in conventional and integrative medicine. This is due to the ethical considerations of research in pregnancy and the perceived lack of robust studies on natural products in these populations. There is also the fact that what both the mother and baby are exposed to in pregnancy can have powerful impacts on health outcomes and fetal development.

Thankfully, evidence and traditional knowledge of using botanicals and aromatherapy safely does exist for moms-to-be and kids. In fact, thanks to Pam Conrad, we have guidebooks and established standards for medical settings based on them!

Pam has an extensive background as a postgraduate nurse, clinical aromatherapist, educator, lecturer, trainer, formulator, published researcher, author, professor, and specialist in clinical aromatherapy for women’s health and mental health. She has been a nurse for 35 years and a clinical aromatherapist for over 23 years.

Below is an overview of Pam’s story and some key topics that were discussed in more detail during the show. Her journey with aromatherapy is truly divinely led. It is a very integral and important part of aromatherapy history.

Merging the Heart of a Nurse with the Care of Aromatherapy: Creating a Foundation for Clinical Aromatherapy in Hospitals and Medical Settings

As a Purdue nurse, Pam practiced in medical center hospitals as a Level 1 Trauma ER/OR, Cardiology, Psychiatric, and Women’s Health nurse. Her interest in incorporating holistic approaches started early in her career. She first obtained education from the Andrew Weil School for Integrative Medicine and then completed her certification in Clinical Aromatherapy for Health Care Professionals.

Pam has since trained in advanced clinical aromatherapy and complementary therapy studies with nurses, doctors, and midwives in England and France. For two years, Pam interned at Queen Mary’s Women’s Hospital London and became a protégé to the internationally acclaimed aromatherapist, Dr. Denise Tiran, HonDUniv, FRCM, MSc, RM.

Throughout her life, Pam has served as a clinical aromatherapy educator and hospital consultant for multiple women’s health, pediatric, and hospice programs. She has also taught as an adjunct faculty of Aromatic Complementary Therapies at Indiana Purdue University and spent five years as an onsite CAM nurse aromatherapist consultant for a large hospital pharmacy.

Pam synthesized all this experience and training to establish the foundational standards in America on safely incorporating essential oils and clinical aromatherapy into conventional medical settings. In 2008 she developed the first ever evidence-based hospital Aromatic Childbirth^TM program. This science-based nursing curriculum is now taught to nurses, nurse midwives, and doulas. It is still the only evidence-based Women’s Health OB (obstetrics) Aromatherapy course in the US, approved by the American Holistic Nurses Association.

In 2012, she conducted aromatherapy research for high-risk postpartum anxiety and depression. Obtaining impressive and statistically significant positive results, she was published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

Pam has published two guidebooks on aromatherapy. Her first book, Women’s Health Aromatherapy– a clinically evidence-based guide for nurses, midwives, doulas, and therapists is available internationally and in Spanish (Aromaterapia Femenina). Her latest book, Aromatherapy and Women’s Mental Health (2023) offers much needed scientific-based solutions for health care providers and consumers on how to use aromatherapy to ease the mental health crisis. Beyond her own publications, Pam’s work has also appeared in various esteemed media sources.

Recently, Pam was honored for her contributions as a pioneer in aromatherapy during the Aromatic Hologram Summit. Today, she continues to lecture internationally on clinically evidence-based Women’s Health, OB/Maternity aromatherapy to hundreds of nurses and midwives live and online.

Pam believes the superpower of all aromatherapists across the world is to help heal people’s mental health. Thanks to Pam’s drive for more awareness through all her efforts and her ground-floor logo campaign, more people now know about #aromasforhealing our emotions. Pam’s mission to empower women is potent and her inspiration to ignite the flame in others on the power of aromatherapy is electric.

You don’t want to miss the full episode to learn more about Pam’s work and her wisdom on using essential oils for women’s health, during pregnancy, postpartum, and for mental health.

What You Will Learn:

• The importance of safety in critical time periods (1 min)
• Pam’s bio and her background on how she set the foundation for integrating aromatherapy in hospital-based nursing and midwifery programs (1min 30 sec)
• What got Pam interested in women’s health, mental health, and aromatherapy (7 min)
  • Ancestry: Pam grew up in her father’s pharmacy and her great grandfather was a pharmacist and botanist.
  • Pam was always interested in walking alongside pharmacists and doctors and noted that the medications that they gave had side effects and weren’t holistic.
  • She also learned about “the realities of being a woman” from her mom’s “kitchen table conversations.”
  • Pam was inspired with the women’s movement at that time, and this converged with her role as a nurse, merging the human element of healing and being present for another’s suffering.
• How Pam got into aromatherapy by “chance” (9 min)
  • Pam’s work in cardiology nursing began when an awareness that stress had an impact on heart health was becoming more accepted, yet applying this knowledge at the clinical level and into the hospital was lacking.
  • Pam began teaching herself about integrative medicine and took courses to fill in the gaps that were evident between conventional care and holistic care.
  • Pam’s knowledge led to her being appointed to a team at the hospital. Their role was to review the safety of herbal medicine and drug interactions. This began paving the way for more integrative medicine in hospitals. (13.15 min)
  • Pam started writing safety guidelines and teaching nurses and doctors on drug-herb interactions.
  • Pam was then recruited to be the head of the Center for Excellence for integrative medicine for women’s health.
  • At that time, Pam’s director urged Pam to enroll in a clinical aromatherapy course and offered to pay for it. Pam took the course and she fell in love with aromatherapy. It was then she realized essential oils were the means to “fill the gap” for truly holistic medicine.
• Pam’s initial journey into integrating the use of aromatherapy with patients in U.S. hospitals (17 min)
  • Pam started teaching nurses about aromatherapy and “caring for the caregiver” during the development of the integrative center.
  • Pam continued to incorporate aromatherapy into the center’s therapeutic environment.
  • Doctors would privately approach Pam to use aromatherapy to take care of their patients who received a frightening diagnosis or trauma.
  • After 6 months at the center, Pam’s husband was transferred to England. This allowed Pam to learn from the nurses and midwives there who had been clinically using aromatherapy in hospitals since the late 1980’s.
• Pam’s divinely led experience in England on evidence-based clinical aromatherapy in nursing and midwifery: (19 min)
  • The only books on clinical aromatherapy at this time were from English practitioners. Pam’s favorite book was by Dr. Denise Tiran, a revered nurse and aromatherapist who wrote the first book on aromatherapy for pregnancy.
  • Pam’s journey led her to intern and learn from Dr. Tiran about clinical aromatherapy and how to bridge essential oils into conventional care.
  • To further ensure she could take her knowledge back to the U.S., Pam received additional credentials through a master’s diploma in complementary and aromatherapy studies at the University of Westminster in London.
  • Pam was exposed to the significant research by Ethel Burns that tested the safety of ten essential oils for anxiety, depression, nausea, pain, and contractions in pregnancy. (25 min)
    • Initially, this was started as a six-month pilot program in which women received essential oils that were diluted to 1-2% (1-2 drops in 5 ml carrier oil) and applied topically.
    • No significant side effects from the essential oils were found, as compared to what occurs with normal labor. The only issue was precipitous labor, which was relieved by spacing out the time between aromatherapy and medication.
    • These positive results led to an eight-year research-grant study that included over 15,000 pregnant women.
    • The full trial validated the safety and beneficial results of these oils for nausea, anxiety, and pain for moms-to-be.
    • Pam trained at another hospital who replicated Ethel Burns’ study. She then bought the program so she could teach it to nurses and midwives in the US.
• Pam’s latest continuing education course that provides the updated research on the six essential oils found to be safe in pregnancy (also available to naturopathic doctors) (31 min)
• An overview of Pam’s books that review the safe use of essential oils in women’s health and mental health and a specialized pediatric section (32 min)
• The important difference between learning about individual oils vs. blends (35 min)
• The dilution ratio for using essential oils in pregnancy and with pediatrics (35.30 min)
  • The dilution ratio is 1% in pregnancy and 2% in labor.
• The number one oil studied for anxiety in research (39 min)
• Pam’s aromatherapy logo campaign for mental health awareness (39.30 min)
• Why it’s important to use external applications of essential oils with those taking medications (40 min)
• Pam’s favorite essential oils and self-care ritual (43.30 min)
• Pam’s “Luxury Oils Blend” recipe for postpartum depression, anxiety, and mental health:
  • 2-4% dilution of 20 drops lavender, 10 drops jasmine, and 4 drops of rose oil in a 4ml container mixed with an unscented lotion
• Pam’s closing words on sharing humanity and connection (47.30 min)

Be sure to listen to the whole interview here.

If you like the show, help us out and subscribe and provide a rating and feedback on your favorite podcast player. This is a no-cost way to share the message on the power of essential oils. It also supports us in providing you with the best essential information and expert guests, like Pam Conrad!

Links to learn more about Pam Conrad, PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP and Her Offerings:

• Website @aromasforhealing.com
• FB @Aromatips for Nurses, Midwives, Doulas and Therapists?
• IG@aromasforhealing
• Pam’s Article with a Case Study
• Aromatherapy in Pregnancy: Evidence-Based Prenatal Aromatherapy CEU Course

Books by Pam Conrad, PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP:

• Women’s Health Aromatherapy: A Clinically Evidence-Based Guide for Nurses, Midwives, Doulas and Therapists
• Aromatherapy and Women’s Mental Health
• Aromaterapia Femenina: Una guía para matronas, doulas y enfermeras basada en evidencias clínicas (Spanish Edition)

Free Gift from Pam: Aromatherapy and Mental Health Logos

• Aromatherapy and Mental Health Logos (English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese): Email conradpam@gmail.com

Research Articles by Pam Conrad, PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP:

• Conrad P, Adams C. The effects of clinical aromatherapy for anxiety and depression in the high risk postpartum woman – a pilot study. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2012 Aug;18(3):164-8. PMID: 22789792.
• Conrad P. Aromatic childbirth: developing a clinical aromatherapy maternity program. Beginnings. 2010 Fall;30(4):12-4. PMID: 21162381.

Links to Learn More About My Offerings and Education on Essential Oils:

• My Essential Oils Community Membership
• My Resource Page
• My CEU Course for Practitioners on the Clinical Use of Essential Oils

Bio of Pam Conrad, PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP:

Pam Conrad PGd, BSN, RN, CCAP is a sought-after, internationally recognized pioneer in medical and clinical aromatherapy, postgraduate nurse, clinical aromatherapist, educator, lecturer, trainer, formulator, published researcher, author, professor, and specialist in Clinical Aromatherapy for Women’s Health and Mental Health. She has been a nurse for 35 years and a clinical aromatherapist for over 23 years.

As a Purdue nurse, Pam practiced in medical center hospitals as a Level 1 Trauma ER/OR, Cardiology, Psychiatric, and Women’s Health nurse. Her interest in incorporating more holistic approaches started early in her career. She attended Andrew Weil’s Center for Integrative Medicine and then completed her Clinical Aromatherapy for Health Care Professionals certification course in 2000. Pam later trained in advanced clinical aromatherapy and complementary therapy studies with nurses, doctors, and midwives in England and France. For two years, Pam interned at Queen Mary’s Women’s Hospital London, a renowned healthcare setting that helped to establish evidence-based guidelines for Prenatal-Postpartum Aromatherapy. She also became a protégé to Dr. Denise Tiran, HonDUniv, FRCM, MSc, RM, an internationally acclaimed midwifery expert on complementary therapies and clinical aromatherapy for women’s health.

Pam has since served as a clinical aromatherapy educator and hospital consultant for multiple women’s health, pediatric, and hospice programs. She has taught as an adjunct faculty of Aromatic Complementary Therapies at Indiana Purdue University and spent five years as an onsite CAM nurse aromatherapist consultant for a large hospital pharmacy. There she developed compounded therapeutic blends, sourced evidence based herbal supplements, and developed educational programs and materials for herbal indications, contraindications, and potential pharmaceutical/medical condition/herbal interactions.

Pam was able to synthesize all this experience and training from overseas to establish the foundational standards in America on how to safely integrate essential oils and clinical aromatherapy into conventional medical settings. In 2008 she developed the first ever evidence-based hospital Aromatic Childbirth^TM program in Indianapolis. This science-based nursing curriculum is now taught to nurses, nurse midwives, and doulas. It is still the only evidence-based Women’s Health OB (obstetrics) Aromatherapy course in the US, approved by the American Holistic Nurses Association. In 2012, Pam conducted aromatherapy research for high-risk postpartum anxiety and depression. Obtaining impressive and statistically significant positive results, she was published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

Pam is also the author of two guidebooks on aromatherapy. Her first book, Women’s Health Aromatherapy– a clinically evidence-based guide for nurses, midwives, doulas, and therapists is available internationally and in Spanish (Aromaterapia Femenina). Her latest book, Aromatherapy and Women’s Mental Health (2023) expands her scientific-based solutions on how aromatherapy can assist in easing the mental health crisis we are in today. Beyond her own publications, her work has also appeared in various media sources including IJCA, Positive Health US/UK, AHNA Beginnings, Canadian Federation of Aromatherapy, and IFPA In Essence.

Pam has paved the way for medical professionals worldwide on how to safely integrate the best of integrative medicine in hospital settings and in clinical practice using evidence-based practices. Her work is the basis for aromatherapy integration in multiple hospital nursing and midwifery programs. Recently, Pam was honored for her contributions as a pioneer in aromatherapy during the Aromatic Hologram Summit. Pam currently lecturers internationally on clinically evidence-based Women’s Health, OB/Maternity aromatherapy to hundreds of nurses and midwives live and online. She has presented her nursing aromatherapy programs and research in Canada, Chile, the UK, Japan, Ireland, Mexico, and all throughout the US. Pam believes the superpower of all aromatherapists across the world is to help heal people’s mental health. Thanks to Pam’s drive for more awareness through her education and her ground-floor logo campaign, more people are aware of #aromasforhealing our emotions. You can find Pam on IG @aromasforhealing and her Facebook group “Aromatips for Nurses, Midwives, Doulas, and Therapists.”