Black cohosh as a uterine toner?

[hapersmion]

My midwife just gave me an herbal supplement called 5W. Each capsule contains 450mg of a blend of: black cohosh root, squaw vine plant, dong quai root, butcher's broom root, and red raspberry leaf. The bottle says to take 2 capsules with every meal. I'm 35 weeks. The midwife says this won't send me into labor, that it's just to tone my uterus and make the birth easier, and that she's been using it for decades with no problems.

Any thoughts on black cohosh as a uterine toner rather than a labor inducer? I don't take any medicines at all during pregnancy, and I'm not sure about making an exception for an herbal supplement. I tend to think that if my body is doing just fine on its own, why add in something that could potentially cause problems? Do ALL my midwife's clients really need a routine supplement? But I do take vitamins, and she's a very hands-off midwife otherwise. Hmm...

Any thoughts on those other herbs? I know red raspberry leaf has lots of fans, and I tend to think about it as something that's a good source of vitamins, rather than the medicinal-herb vibe I get from black cohosh.

Just looking for some feedback here. I'm inclined not to take the supplement at all, but vitamins are good... What if I took it after the birth instead?

[judybean]

I would be inclined to think that if things are going fine then you don't need something.

That said, I've pondered taking 5w myself (or something like Gentle Birth Formula ) but my reasons are because I've been induced three times before (hospital births) after going 'overdue' at 42 weeks and I'm trying to keep my birth with my midwife. My midwife hadn't actually seen the 5w capsules before, but I brought along the bottle (I ordered it with dd3 then didn't take them). She looked it over, but though the black cohosh was an interesting choice instead of the blue. She said the black was more for keeping the cervix closed (it's used post-birth often, she said).. but it does help to tone it. And the other ingredients in there do the same.

If you don't want to take it, don't. My theory on things such as these is this: You can do all you want, but cannot MAKE your body do something it's not ready to do. So even if this is to prepare your body for labor, it won't spontaneously (or effectively) send your body into labor if it's not ready. ... I'm simply trying to prep my body for knowing when to spontaneously go into labor (since I've never let it do so thus far).

So my reasons won't be yours, but that's my rationale anyway.