Herbal medicine use by pregnant women in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundHerbal medicines in pregnancy are increasingly used worldwide with prevalence of up to 67%. Although this popularity is mainly because of the common belief that these medicines are safe, recent reports suggest that several herbal medicines are potentially harmful to mother and fetus if used in pregnancy.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in July and August of year 2017, at maternity wards of two public hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Postpartum women were interviewed via the structured questionnaire to collect information regarding socio-demographic and health characteristics, patterns of herbal medicines used in the previous pregnancy, and outcome of pregnancy.ResultsTwo hundred forty-three postpartum women participated in the study, with 70% of them using at least one modality of herbal medicines in previous pregnancy. Ginger, black seed, lemon tea, prune, and mustard oil were most commonly used herbal medicines. Herbal medicines were mostly used for pregnancy-related symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and cold. Fifteen (8.8%) herbal medicine users reported side effects.ConclusionsThis study highlights popularity of herbal medicines during pregnancy in Bangladesh. Previous herbal medicine users and unemployed women turned significantly more to herbal medicines during pregnancy. Reports of side effects and use of some potentially harmful modalities warrant awareness regarding proper use of herbal medicines in pregnancy and its pharmacovigilance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2399-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

<p>Self-Medication and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care at Kemisie General Hospital, North East Ethiopia</p>

“…2 Easily accessibility and lower cost of herbal medicine were the common reasons for herbal medicine use. Similar results were reported by Addis Ababa, 15 Bangladesh, 30 Gonder, 8 and Hossana. 29 In this study, 30% and 28% of pregnant women used drugs to treat headaches and common cold, respectively.…”

“… 8 The result was higher than that in Nigeria (38.6%), 27 Nigeria (6.6%), 18 Northern Uganda (20.4%), 28 Addis Ababa (10.9%), 15 Harar town (40.6%) 2 and Hossana (13.1%), 29 but lower than that done in Bangladesh (70%). 30 This was due to women’s can easily access herbal medicines and self-prepare remedies at home.…”

Disclosure of herbal medicine use to health care providers among pregnant women in Nepal: a cross-sectional study

“…As such, despite the high utilization and lack of adequate source of information on HM, only 54.8% of respondents have disclosed HM use to healthcare professionals during pregnancy. Although the disclosure rate among Nepali women was higher compared to other studies [ 4 , 21 , 36 , 37 ], almost half of the respondents failed to communicate with their physicians on HM use, and several studies revealed the negative consequences of poor communication between patients and healthcare professionals on HM use [ 35 , 38 ]. Furthermore, consistent with previous findings, commonly reported reasons for non-disclosure included doctors not asking about HM use, and pregnant women’s belief that it is not important to disclose HM use [ 10 , 39 ].…”

Prevalence and Use of Medicinal Plants Among Pregnant Women in Assiut Governorate

“…The popularity of herbal medicines during pregnancy in Bangladesh was highlighted. The study showed that previous herbal medicine users and unemployed women turned significantly more to herbal medicines during pregnancy 8 . The use of medicinal plants and concomitant use of pharmaceutical drugs among pregnant women in Addis Ababa and Bati, Ethiopia was investigated 9 .…”