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Hi Renee
Great that she has you to lean on. The main thing I would say is that even in this difficult situation it’s all about treating the pattern that presents — and of course screening for excess bleeding and possible retained material and/or infection. For postpartum I used to give everyone Sheng Hua Tang, but since taking Sharon Weizenbaum’s herbal classes I’m much more oriented to symptoms and constitution. For recovering from a termination, SHT may be a fine choice but there may be better options based on what she’s feeling in her body and spirit — I’ve used everything from Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan to Gan Mai Da Zao Tang. If she’s still got lower abdominal achiness it may be Xiao Jian Zhong Tang but if there are signs of excess it may be GZFLW, or something cooling. Similarly with her devastation — emptiness versus anxiety versus depressed anger would want very different formulas. SHT is like Xiao Yao Wan, it has a little bit of everything and is pretty good for most people so fine to start there, and if you want to get more advice from your peers, would be good to include general description of the patient, pulse, tongue, present symptoms (postpartum you always want to know if the lower abdomen is tight or slack and if it resists pressure); characteristics of any pain or bleeding; appetite/energy level/cold-heat-sweat; and in describing any emotional distress try to get a character of how it feels in the body.
Huge appreciation for diving in to the forum, and bringing this all too common and tender situation. We can be a lot of help here.