Contradictions in the safety of things during pregnancy

[Rnejic]

I'm so confused right now. I'm just trying to figure out what teas are safe to drink while pregnant and everything I read says something different. Some say RRL is safe from day one while others say don't even think about touching it till your 3rd trimester or you'll be risking a miscarriage but the others claim it helps prevent miscarriages I have no idea what to believe.

I drank a pregnancy tea with my last pregnancy made from RRL, nettle, rose hips, alfalfa and mint but I don't remember when I started with it. I just got my BFP yesterday so I don't want to push it by drinking something that will put this pregnancy at risk... but I'm cold and would like something warm to drink!

[MaerynPearl]

other tasty warm drinks - chamomile tea, hot chocolate, apple cider


that said, most things that say do no use/take/eat/drink in pregnancy are due to not knowing if its okay or not. most cases it is good to avoid them... but many times it comes into play that you have to use your own judgement and research on the matter.

my research into rrl (which includes consulting my doctor AND my midwives) says that unless you are having preterm labor symptoms, rrl tea is totally fine. and even that i question since i was drinking tons of rrl tea my entire third tri (at LEAST one huge 16 oz glass of it per day) and still made it to a day short of 42 weeks... if its gonna make you go into labor early you would think i wouldnt have gone so long with baby #3 when drinking so much!


in any case... my suggestion is to do the same... research, ask doctor/midwife and use your own opinion on the matter

[AZgirl2207]

Thanks to Google, you can always find someone to say something is bad during pregnancy. I'm a big believer in moderation (I eat sushi, drink decaf coffee, and any other 'bad' things). I do drink RRL tea throughout PG--about a gallon a week, even more at the end.

As far as hot drinks, I love water/lemon/honey.

[Buddhamom]

Just so you know, chamomile is on my list given to me by my midwife of herbs that I am suppose to avoid. It causes uterine contractions. I have been drinking ginger tea. Another of my warming favorites is warm cider. Warms me, hydrates me and keeps the bowels flowing

[DanielleT]

It is my understanding that Rooibos tea (Red Tea) is safe during pregnancy...i personally enjoy it once in a while and i know here at a specialty store you can buy it with other things added for variety but then you need to check the safety of the things added...but you can buy it at the grocery store just plain or with vanilla...
ALSO i am 21w and i started drinking 1 cup a day (most days) of RLT, and when i get around to it i will add nettle, alfalfa, and spearmint; i just haven't made the effort to go to my deep freeze and get my bulk loose tea...lol

[Lauren82]

It is a pain, isn't it? I enjoy hot chocolate, green tea, soup broth and the occasional cup of coffee. Also, there are pregnancy blend teas that have more herbs than just RRL in them. I know that Traditional Medicinals and Earth Mama, Angel Baby make them.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by Buddhamom

Just so you know, chamomile is on my list given to me by my midwife of herbs that I am suppose to avoid. It causes uterine contractions.

And yet, according to my midwives it does the opposite, since it has anti-spasmodic properties (part of how it relaxes you)

[rach03]

I drink a lot of Rooibos tea with honey in it. It's a great pregnancy and nursing tea because it's a red leaf and not an actual tea, so it's naturally caffeine free. It has all kind of antioxidants in it as well.

[Ola_]

I've got a bit of a cold at the moment so I've been drinking warm milk with a bit of honey. Good way to meet my calcium requirement too. And the warm apple cider sounds yummy!

[camprunner]

My midwife just recommended chamomile to me yesterday As far the RRL I've read that in the first trimester, if the baby isn't attached good, it might cause miscarriage. I think this happened to me last spring when I had a miscarriage with an IUD. It was obviously as special situation though. Never the less, it's in the back of my mind now so I'm waiting on second trimester to start drinking it again.

[Jenne]

And to further stir the pot, I avoid ginger through out pregnancy because it is an abortificant. As pp have said there are two sides to almost everything one could want to eat or drink during pregnancy! Talk to your midwife/doctor and go from there...

Good luck and congrats!

Jenne

[Buddhamom]

Yes about the ginger, I was told to keep it to a low amount.

[Rnejic]

You guys aren't helping the confusion much

[Smokering]

Ginger, really? I've been downing ginger beer like nobody's business to help with my morning sickness.

I wonder if many of these are only problematic if you're somehow "prone" to miscarrying. Like the way natural "labour starters" miiiight tip you over the edge if you're just about ready to go into labour, but they probably won't do squat if your body really isn't planning to have a baby for the next two weeks. Do you think?

I was told to avoid RRL tea until the third trimester too - was a bit shocked to hear that some people take it all the way through, but it seems to work fine for them!

[3xMama]

Smokering, I think you've got it. I would imagine that as long as you have a healthy pregnancy and don't have (and haven't had in the past) any problems with preterm labor or miscarriages, most of those are probably fine.

I say talk with your ob/mw and find out what they have to say on the matter and take it from there.

[Lady Lilya]

Gosh, this pregnancy thing is dangerous! I don't know how our species survived up until now!

[nova22]

I never heard that about ginger, I was eating it like candy in the first trimester because it was the only thing that alleviated my nausea.

You know what's safe during pregnancy? Dark chocolate. Antioxidants are definitely good for you. And steak...lots of iron. So: go get some steak and then have yourself a box of Godiva dark chocolates. You can't go wrong.

[KempsMama]

You can google just about anything and read some article stating it's bad for pregnant women.

Heck, someone on another thread googled "carrots" and found an article stating that too much Vit. A from carrots is bad for pregnant women. I don't even want to know how many carrots you would have to eat to cause a problem, but I bet there's some poor woman out there afraid to eat them because she's pregnant.

[Rnejic]

I actually remember reading something like that about carrots with my last pregnancy and I was cautious of how many I ate!!! Maybe I'm just a bit over paranoid when pregnant....

[Lady Lilya]

It takes 6 cups of carrots to reach the RDA of vitamin A, if I recall correctly.

But the research showing problems with vitamin A showed a problem only with the A form, not the precursor carotenes we get from food. Our bodies supposedly store them in safe carotene form, and convert them to A only as needed, so we never have too much A. The concerns were about getting A form directly from supplements and then storing lots of that.