Herbal Allies for Pregnancy

By Linda Woolven
Web Exclusive

For centuries, herbs have been used around the world to treat problems related to pregnancy. Vitamins and minerals also have a role to play in helping pregnant women with some of the more serious problems that conventional medicine has no help for, like toxemia. Let's take a look at how certain herbs and vitamins can make pregnancy safer and more enjoyable.

Supreme Tonic for Pregnancy
Red raspberry has been called the "herb supreme" for pregnancy. A wonderful tonic that helps to prepare the uterus for birth, relaxing and relieving cramps, it is so effective that many women actually report pain-free or virtually pain-free labors thanks to red raspberry leaf tea.

Red raspberry is rich in iron and calcium (which pregnant women need more of), potassium, and vitamins B, C, and E. It has been shown to help with morning sickness and postpartum depression, to prevent bleeding at birth and hemorrhaging, to return the uterus to normal more quickly after birth, and to encourage breast milk. British scientists have recently identified an active ingredient and confirmed raspberry leaf's use as a pregnancy tonic. It is safe and without side effects. Red raspberry leaves are usually infused as a tea and consumed three times a day.

Preventing Neural Tube Defects
Folic acid has been shown to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida. NTDs, which occur in one out of every thousand births, result when the bones fails to form over the brain or spinal cord. Supplementing with folic acid in early pregnancy can reduce the incidence of NTDs by as much as 48 to 80 percent. ¹

NTDs occur very early in pregnancy, and it is therefore extremely important that women who could get pregnant take at least 400 mcg of folic acid a day, and 1mg of folic acid if they are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Since many women do not know that they are pregnant at first, it is probably safer for sexually active women to take the full gram throughout the childbearing years. Women with a history of having babies with neural tube defects should take 4 mg of folic acid daily. Epileptic women should not take folic acid, because it may increase seizure activity.

According to a study published in 1992, a multivitamin with at least 800 mcg of folic acid a day could prevent neural tube defects in women without a history of them. ² In 1991 The Lancet reported that, among women who had previously had babies with neural tube defects, 4 mg of folic acid for the first trimester prevented 72 percent of neural tube defects. ³ At least five other similar studies exist. ⁴

Obviously, eating right during pregnancy is as important as taking supplements. The best place to find folic acid is in deep-green, leafy vegetables. It was once thought that fortifying food with folic acid would prevent NTDs, but recent research has found that NTD rates are no lower now than before fortification, because the amounts used are too low. Most disturbing is the fact the NTD rates are actually slightly up since fortification began. ⁵

Recent studies show that high levels of the toxic compound homocysteine in pregnant women predispose their babies to NTDs. ⁶ Folic acid may prevent the elevation of homocysteine during the first trimester of pregnancy. An elevated homocysteine level is also now believed to be one of the most important factors in predicting who is at risk for heart disease.

Morning Sickness
One of the most common problems that women experience during pregnancy is morning sickness, frequently due to low hydrochloric acid (HCl) levels during the first three months. Supplementing with betain and HCl can significantly relieve the problem. During the last three months, however, HCl levels are often too high, and supplementing with HCl and betain should be stopped.

There are also many safe and effective herbs that can be used during pregnancy for nausea. Herbalists like Rosemary Gladstar, author of Herbal Healing for Women (Fireside, 1993) and Amanda McQuade Crawford, author of Herbal Remedies for Women (Prima Publishing, 1997) suggest peppermint, slippery elm, chamomile flowers, lemon balm, small amounts of dandelion root, and ginger. Ginger has a long history of relieving all kinds of motion sickness and nausea, including morning sickness. It can be taken as a tea or as a pill in dosages up to 250 mg four times a day.

Even in the severe form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidum, ginger is the herb to use. In one study of 30 women with this condition, 250 mg of ginger four times a day reduced the severity of nausea and the number of vomiting attacks in 70 percent of subjects.⁷