Abstract
QUESTION: Many of my patients are now using herbal medicines; some even use them during pregnancy. As we enter the "cold and flu" season, many are inquiring about use of the herb echinacea to prevent these ailments. Is there any evidence to suggest that use of echinacea during pregnancy is safe? ANSWER: Although herbal products have been used in the past during pregnancy and delivery, there is little evidence showing they are safe. Many authoritative reviews of echinacea report that its safety for use during pregnancy has not been established. A recent Motherisk study showed that use of echinacea during the first trimester of pregnancy was not associated with increased risk of major malformations.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (24.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Beal M. W. Women's use of complementary and alternative therapies in reproductive health care. J Nurse Midwifery. 1998 May-Jun;43(3):224–234. doi: 10.1016/s0091-2182(98)00009-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Einarson A., Lawrimore T., Brand P., Gallo M., Rotatone C., Koren G. Attitudes and practices of physicians and naturopaths toward herbal products, including use during pregnancy and lactation. Can J Clin Pharmacol. 2000 Spring;7(1):45–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gallo M., Sarkar M., Au W., Pietrzak K., Comas B., Smith M., Jaeger T. V., Einarson A., Koren G. Pregnancy outcome following gestational exposure to echinacea: a prospective controlled study. Arch Intern Med. 2000 Nov 13;160(20):3141–3143. doi: 10.1001/archinte.160.20.3141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LaValley J. W., Verhoef M. J. Integrating complementary medicine and health care services into practice. CMAJ. 1995 Jul 1;153(1):45–49. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MacLennan A. H., Wilson D. H., Taylor A. W. Prevalence and cost of alternative medicine in Australia. Lancet. 1996 Mar 2;347(9001):569–573. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(96)91271-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Petrie K. A., Peck M. R. Alternative medicine in maternity care. Prim Care. 2000 Mar;27(1):117–136. doi: 10.1016/s0095-4543(05)70151-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Verhoef M. J., Sutherland L. R. Alternative medicine and general practitioners. Opinions and behaviour. Can Fam Physician. 1995 Jun;41:1005–1011. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]