Herbal Remedy Use Among Hispanic Women During Pregnancy and While Breastfeeding: Are Physicians Informed?

Kochhar, Komal; Saywell, Robert M.; Zollinger, Terrell W.; Mandzuk, Christina; Haas, David M.; Howell, Laura; Martir, Javier F. Sevilla; Reger, Michael K.

doi:10.1891/1540-4153.8.2.93

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, this finding does contrast with other research that shows it is uncommon for women to engage in discussions regarding their CMP use with their biomedical practitioners, either because these practitioners do not ask about CMPs, 24,81 women do not consider discussing CMPs with them, 82 or they fear negative reactions from their doctors or midwives if they raise CMP use with them. 22,47,48,83 The positive therapeutic relationship identified between study participants and their trusted HCPs was a key factor in women's perceptions of the high quality of information received from these HCPs.…”

Section: Women's Communicative Health Literacycontrasting

confidence: 92%

Women’s health literacy and the complex decision‐making process to use complementary medicine products in pregnancy and lactation

Barnes

Barclay

McCaffery

et al. 2019

Health Expectations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundLittle is known about women's decision‐making processes regarding using complementary medicine products (CMPs) during pregnancy or lactation.ObjectivesTo explore the decision‐making processes of women choosing to use CMPs in pregnancy and lactation; and to investigate how women's health literacy influences their decisions.Design, setting and participantsIn‐depth interviews and focus group discussions were held with twenty‐five pregnant and/or breastfeeding women. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsKey to women's decision making was the desire to establish a CMPs safety and to receive information from a trustworthy source, preferably their most trusted health‐care practitioner. Women wanted positive therapeutic relationships with health‐care practitioners and to be highly involved in the decisions they made for the health of themselves and their children. Two overarching components of the decision‐making process were identified: (a) women's information needs and (b) a preference for CMP use. Women collated and assessed information from other health‐care practitioners, other mothers and published research during their decision‐making processes. They showed a strong preference for CMP use to support their pregnancy and breastfeeding health, and that of their unborn and breastfeeding babies.Discussion and ConclusionsComplex decision‐making processes to use CMPs in pregnancy and lactation were identified. The participants showed high levels of communicative and critical health literacy skills in their decision‐making processes. These skills supported women's complex decision‐making processes.

show abstract

Section: Women's Communicative Health Literacycontrasting

confidence: 92%

Women’s health literacy and the complex decision‐making process to use complementary medicine products in pregnancy and lactation

Barnes

Barclay

McCaffery

et al. 2019

Health Expectations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interestingly, only 52 (28.6%) out of the 182 users of herbal medicines in this study had made their doctor aware of their decision and choice of therapy. Other studies have also revealed a lack of communication between users of CAMs and their doctors in terms of their use of alternative therapies [ 42 , 49 ]. Nevertheless, all health care professionals, including doctors and pharmacists should take the initiative to ask and provide evidence-based advice regarding the appropriateness of using herbal medicines during breastfeeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of herbal medicines during breastfeeding: a population-based survey in Western Australia

Sim

Sherriff

Hattingh

et al. 2013

BMC Complement Altern Med

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundMain concerns for lactating women about medications include the safety of their breastfed infants and the potential effects of medication on quantity and quality of breast milk. While medicine treatments include conventional and complementary medicines, most studies to date have focused on evaluating the safety aspect of conventional medicines. Despite increasing popularity of herbal medicines, there are currently limited data available on the pattern of use and safety of these medicines during breastfeeding. This study aimed to identify the pattern of use of herbal medicines during breastfeeding in Perth, Western Australia, and to identify aspects which require further clinical research.MethodsThis study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire validated through two pilot studies. Participants were 18 years or older, breastfeeding or had breastfed in the past 12 months. Participants were recruited from various community and health centres, and through advertising in newspapers. Simple descriptive statistics were used to summarise the demographic profile and attitudes of respondents, using the SPSS statistical software.ResultsA total of 304 questionnaires from eligible participants were returned (27.2% response rate) and analysed. Amongst the respondents, 59.9% took at least one herb for medicinal purposes during breastfeeding, whilst 24.3% reported the use of at least one herb to increase breast milk supply. Most commonly used herbs were fenugreek (18.4%), ginger (11.8%), dong quai (7.9%), chamomile (7.2%), garlic (6.6%) and blessed thistle (5.9%). The majority of participants (70.1%) believed that there was a lack of information resources, whilst 43.4% perceived herbal medicines to be safer than conventional medicines. Only 28.6% of users notified their doctor of their decision to use herbal medicine(s) during breastfeeding; 71.6% had previously refused or avoided conventional medicine treatments due to concerns regarding safety of their breastfed infants.ConclusionsThe use of herbal medicines is common amongst breastfeeding women, while information supporting their safety and efficacy is lacking. This study has demonstrated the need for further research into commonly used herbal medicines. Evidence-based information should be available to breastfeeding women who wish to consider use of all medicines, including complementary medicines, to avoid unnecessary cessation of breastfeeding or compromising of pharmacotherapy.

show abstract

“…No information on study CAM checklists was provided in the remaining six studies [19–21, 24, 27, 30]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prevalence rates ranged from 5.8% of 4,866 respondents in USA taking herbal or natural treatments [30] to 74.2% of 461 Hispanic women in the USA taking herbals [27]. Only nine of the 22 studies linked CAM usage to pregnancy trimester [18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 29, 31, 34, 37].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While just over half of the respondents in two studies [28, 31] viewed CAM approaches to be safer than traditional medicine, the majority had concerns about the safety of herbals. Kochhar et al reported that 67.7% of respondents agreed that herbals could harm a baby if taken during pregnancy, and Bercaw et al reported that a minority of respondents (22%) agreed that herbals were safer to use than prescribed medicines [24, 27]. Similarly, Fakeye et al reported that 33.4% of respondents believed that herbals possessed no AEs [33].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Complementary and Alternative Medicines Use during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Pregnant Women and Healthcare Professional Views and Experiences

Pallivalappila

Stewart

Shetty

et al. 2013

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims. To undertake a systematic review of the recent (2008–2013) primary literature, describing views and experiences of CAM use during pregnancy by women and healthcare professionals. Method. Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Database of Systematic Review Library and Allied, and Complementary Medicine Database were searched. Studies reporting systemic CAM products (homeopathic preparations, herbal medicines, Vitamins and minerals, homeopathy, and special diets) alone or in combination with other nonsystemic CAM modalities (e.g., acupuncture) were included. Results. Database searches retrieved 2,549 citations. Removal of duplicates followed by review of titles and abstracts yielded 32 relevant studies. Twenty-two reported the perspectives of women and their CAM use during pregnancy, while 10 focused on healthcare professionals. The majority of studies had significant flaws in study design and reporting, including a lack of appropriate definitions of CAM and associated modalities, absence of detailed checklists provided to participants, the use of convenience sampling, and a general lack of scientific robustness in terms of data validity and reliability. Conclusion. To permit generalisability of study findings, there is an urgent need to expand the evidence base assessing CAMs use during pregnancy using appropriately designed studies.

show abstract

Herbal Remedy Use Among Hispanic Women During Pregnancy and While Breastfeeding: Are Physicians Informed?

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Women’s health literacy and the complex decision‐making process to use complementary medicine products in pregnancy and lactation

Women’s health literacy and the complex decision‐making process to use complementary medicine products in pregnancy and lactation

The use of herbal medicines during breastfeeding: a population-based survey in Western Australia

Complementary and Alternative Medicines Use during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Pregnant Women and Healthcare Professional Views and Experiences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About