Original article
Women's Use and Self-Prescription of Herbal Medicine during Pregnancy: An Examination of 1,835 Pregnant Women
- a Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- b Office of Research, Endeavour College of Natural Health, Brisbane, Australia
- c School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- d School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Received 21 March 2014, Revised 13 January 2015, Accepted 3 March 2015, Available online 29 April 2015
Abstract
Background
Recent
research points to high levels of herbal medicine use during pregnancy.
The objectives of this study were to elucidate the prevalence and
understand the determinants of both the use and self-prescription of
herbal medicine during pregnancy.
Methods
The
study sample was obtained via the Australian Longitudinal Study on
Women's Health. Women who were pregnant or who had recently given were
invited to complete a subsurvey in 2010 about pregnancy, and
complementary and alternative medicine use.
Findings
A response rate of 79.2% (n = 1,835) was attained and 34.4% (n = 588 of 1,835) of the sample were utilizing herbal medicine during pregnancy, of which 77.9% (n = 458
of 588) were self-prescribing these products. The women in our study
(aged 33–38) were more likely to use herbal medicine if they had anxiety
(odds ratio [OR], 1.30; 95% CI, 1.02–1.64; p = .031), sleeping problems (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.15–2.11; p = .005), or fatigue (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.04–1.68; p = .025), but less likely to use herbal medicine if they had nausea (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56–0.91; p = .007).
Women were more likely to self-prescribe herbal medicine if they
suffered from varicose veins (OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.04–5.84; p = .041) and less likely to self-prescribe herbal medicine if they suffered from preeclampsia (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.81–0.63; p = .005).
Women who self-prescribed herbal medicine during pregnancy were also
more likely to live in a rural environment (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.32–3.73;
p = .003).
Conclusions
Many
Australian women are consuming herbal medicine during pregnancy. The
self-prescription of herbal medicine by pregnant women is of particular
concern owing to potential safety issues, and it is important that
maternity health care providers have an open and nonjudgmental
conversation with women about herbal medicine use during pregnancy.
- Funding sources: This project was funded by the Australian Research Council via their Discovery Project Funding (DP1094765). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Copyright © 2015 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
