Table 1.
Identified studies that have measured prevalence of use of herbal medicine in pregnancy
| Author, year, country | Design | Sample | Herbal use reported | Most common herbs |
| Byrne et. al. (2002), Adelaide, Australia [24] | Structured interview | 48 antenatal inpatients with a variety of diagnoses | 56% used herbal medicine or tea during pregnancy | 46 herbal products used, most common: chamomile, ginger, peppermint, raspberry leaf, valerian |
| Henry & Crowther (2000), Adelaide, Australia [7] | Structured interview | 140/161 (88%) pregnant women of any gestation | 10% used herbs in current pregnancy | Evening primrose oil, antioxidants (no others reported) |
| Maats & Crowther (2002), Adelaide, Australia [26] | Structured interview | 211 pregnant women 26 weeks gestation onwards | Overall herbal use in pregnancy not stated. 20% used ginger and 9% raspberry leaf tea | Ginger, raspberry leaf tea, chamomile, echinacea, evening primrose oil, slippery elm |
| Pinn & Pallett, (2002), Nambour, Australia [27] | Survey, self completed questionnaire | 305 consecutive women at booking (16–24 weeks gestation | 12% used herbs in current pregnancy | 15 herbs used: raspberry leaf, Chinese herbs, ginger, St John's Wort, evening primrose, echinacea |
| Hemminki et al. (1991), Finland [15] | 3 surveys, 2 retrospective. Structured questionnaires. | Study 1: 2912 (94%) pregnant women Study 2: 180/181 postpartum women | Study 1: 3.6% and study 2: 14% of women had used 'alternative' drugs during pregnancy | Limited information as supplements coded into harmful, dangerous and possibly dangerous categories. Dried cherry and natural lime most common. 25 women had used supplements potentially harmful to pregnancy e.g. St John's Wort. |
| Gharoro & Igbafe (2000), Nigeria [17] | Cross-sectional, structured questionnaire | 1200 pregnant women varied gestations | 12% used 'native' herbs | Not described |
| Nordeng & Havnen (2004), Norway [10] | Structured interview | 400 women 3 days postpartum | 36% used herbs in pregnancy | 46 herbs used, most common: echinacea, iron-rich herbs, ginger, chamomile, cranberry, aloe, herbal teas (mixed), horsetail, black elderberry, wheat germ oil |
| Gibson et. al. (2001), USA [9] | Prospective cross-sectional survey | 250 pregnant women (gestation not reported in abstract) | 9.1% used herbs in current pregnancy | Garlic, aloe, chamomile, peppermint, ginger, echinacea, pumpkin seeds, ginseng |
| Hepner et al. (2002), USA [16] | Postal survey- structured questionnaire | 734/1203 (61%) pregnant women | 7.1% used herbs in current pregnancy | Echinacea, ephedra, St John's Wort, ginger, ginko biloba, gingseng, primrose, garlic, cranberry |
| Tsui et. al. (2001), USA [19] | Survey, self completed questionnaire | 150 women in 1st to 3rd trimesters (24% response rate) | 13% used dietary supplement during pregnancy | 45 herbs used, most common: echinacea, pregnancy tea**, ginger, vitamin B6*, vitamin C*, multivitamin with herbs, raspberry leaf |
| Studies specifically concerned with nausea | ||||
| Hollyer et al. (2002), Canada [18] | Telephone survey, structured questionnaire | 70/110 (64%) pregnant women who rang a nausea and vomiting telephone helpline | 61% used complementary or alternative therapies overall. 51% used ginger | Only ginger mentioned |
| Westfall (2004), Canada [28] | Qualitative study, two semi-structured interviews | 27 women in 3rd trimester, 23/27 1–4 months postpartum. Women self-selected into study | 96% used herbal medicine in pregnancy (50% of those with nauseas used herbs) | For nausea, herbs used were: ginger, peppermint and cannabis |
* Other studies have not included vitamins, but here these were only reported by two women respectively
** Pregnancy tea contained a blend of herbs including spearmint, raspberry leaf, nettle etc.