The use of herbal medicines for induction of labour (IOL) is common globally and yet its effects are not well understood. Additionally, more preclinical and clinical studies are needed to evaluate HM efficacy and toxicity. Healthcare professionals need to question women on whether they use any HMs or natural products during pregnancy, especially when conventional treatment is less efficient and/or adverse events have occurred as herbal-drug interactions could be the reason for these observations. There is a need for education of women and their healthcare professionals to move away from the idea of HMs not being harmful. This lack of knowledge on potential toxicity and the ability to interact with conventional treatments may impact both mother and fetus. Providers are often not questioning HM use, despite little being known about the HM safety and HM-drug interactions during pregnancy. The use of HMs is frequently not reported to healthcare professionals. However, for pregnant women with pre-existing conditions like epilepsy and asthma, supplementation of conventional treatment with HMs may further complicate their care. One of the reasons why pregnant women use HMs is an assumption that HMs are safer than conventional medicine.
Many cultures have used HMs in pregnancy to improve wellbeing of the mother and/or baby, or to help decrease nausea and vomiting, treat infection, ease gastrointestinal problems, prepare for labor, induce labor, or ease labor pains.
It also includes an examination of the characteristics of pregnant HM consumers, the primary conditions for which HMs are taken, and a discussion related to the potential toxicity of HMs taken during pregnancy. This manuscript discusses the most common HMs used by pregnant women, and the potential interactions of HMs with conventional drugs in some medical conditions that occur during pregnancy (e.g., hypertension, asthma, epilepsy). The percentage may vary significantly (7%–55%) among pregnant women, depending upon social status, ethnicity, and cultural traditions. Then, we discuss the prevalence of herbal medicine use during pregnancy across different sub-Saharan African countries, as well as the indications, adverse outcomes, and effectiveness of the most commonly used herbal medicines during pregnancy in that region.Ībout 80% of the consumers worldwide use herbal medicine (HMs) or other natural products.
In this review, an overview of the practice of herbal medicine, including the regulations, challenges and overall safety, is provided. Moreover, several local herbal remedies used by sub-Saharan African pregnant women have never been botanically identified. This is particularly problematic, as herbal medicine use during pregnancy raises several concerns attributed to the herbal ingredient itself, conventional drug-herbal medicine interactions, and contamination or adulteration of herbal remedies. However, herbal medicines used across sub-Saharan Africa are associated with important research gaps and a lack of regulatory framework. Herbal medicine use has grown considerably worldwide among pregnant women, and is particularly widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.