Clinical Abstracts: Raspberry Leaf in Pregnancy
Clinical Abstracts: Raspberry Leaf in Pregnancy
With Comments by Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Source: Simpson M, et al. Raspberry leaf in pregnancy: Its safety and efficacy in labor. J Midwifery Women’s Health 2001;46:51-59.
Design/Setting/Subjects: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 240 low-risk, nulliparous, predominately Caucasian women at a tertiary level hospital in Sydney, Australia.
Intervention: Raspberry leaf tablets (one tablet twice daily; each tablet contained 1.2 g of a 3:1 extract [400 mg raspberry leaf]) from 32 weeks gestation until labor.
Main Outcome Measures: Length of gestation, use of oxytocic agents, artificial rupture of membranes, use of analgesics or epidural anesthesia, length of the stages of labor, and mode of birth. Safety measures included maternal blood loss at birth, maternal blood pressure, occurrence of side effects, presence of meconium, Apgar score, birth weight, and rate of newborn admission to neonatal intensive care or special care facility.
Results: The final analysis included 192 women (96 women in each group). Reasons for withdrawal included side effects (nausea, diarrhea, and constipation), medical reasons (hypertension, polyhydramnios, and late identification of twin pregnancy), and personal reasons. Withdrawals were evenly distributed between groups. Compliance was 91.4%. Side effects were reported in 32.3% of women in the raspberry leaf group and 25% of women in the placebo, most commonly diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and constipation; side effects were evenly distributed between groups. There was no significant difference between groups in blood loss, birth weight, Apgar scores, meconium, length of gestation, likelihood of medical augmentation of labor, emergency C-section rate, need for meperidine or epidural block, artificial rupture of membranes, length of labor, or length of any stage of labor. Although the researchers cite differences between the groups in duration of second stage of labor, need for artificial rupture of membranes, and forceps delivery, none of these differences were statistically significant.
Comments: This is the first randomized controlled trial of raspberry leaf, and it is reassuring as to the safety of this herbal intervention during pregnancy. (See Alternative Therapies in Women’s Health, April 2001.) It is laudable that midwife-researchers sought to ascertain the safety of raspberry leaf, which is commonly used during pregnancy (and commonly recommended by midwives). They note that although raspberry leaf is popularly believed to shorten the first stage of labor, this study found no such effect. The authors recommend that further research be performed with higher doses of raspberry leaf, perhaps starting earlier in gestation, a reasonable recommendation. I hope that the team that performed this study continues to pursue research in this area, although it is hoped that more care will be taken not to claim benefit when results are not significant.
Fugh-Berman A. Raspberry leaf in pregnancy. Altern Ther Women's Health 2002;4:32.Subscribe Now for Access
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