38 weeks pregnant and am thinking of taking Rapberry Leaf Tea? Anyone have knowlege of this?

I hear it is safe and can cause the uterus to contract, often causing labour. My midwife says anyday now is fine and has given my evening primrose oil to soften my cervix...

38 weeks pregnant and am thinking of taking Rapberry Leaf Tea? Anyone have knowlege of this?
when i was pregnant with my first child i started taking Raspberry Leaf tablets at about 36 weeks...



i was told that they helped to soften the cervix making labor easier and faster, but there was also the risk of delivering a little early...this is why i waited to start taking them until i was 36 weeks...



for me, they didnt cause me to go into labour...i was actually 10 days late, but my labour was quick...one hour and twenty minutes with about five minutes of total pushing...



i dont know if this was the tablets or just me as it was my first baby, but i know they didnt do me any harm...



i am 14 weeks pregnant with baby number two and plan to start taking them again at 36 weeks...
Reply:I've heard of the primrose oil,but not the tea.
Reply:Looks like it definitely won't hurt, at any rate...



"RESULTS: Raspberry leaf, consumed in tablet form, was found to cause no adverse effects for mother or baby, but contrary to popular belief, did not shorten the first stage of labor. The only clinically significant findings were a shortening of the second stage of labor (mean difference = 9.59 minutes) and a lower rate of forceps deliveries between the treatment group and the control group (19.3% vs. 30.4%). No significant relationship was found between tablet consumption and birth outcomes. CONCLUSION: The lack of significant differences between the groups on measures expected to demonstrate the effect of raspberry leaf ingestion during pregnancy on labor prompted consideration of the issue of effectiveness of dosage level..."



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...



"The purpose of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of raspberry leaf products consumed by a group of mothers during their pregnancy, by comparison with a group of mothers who did not. A retrospective observational design was used. Subjects were women who birth their babies at Westmead Hospital between January 1998-July 1998. The sample consisted of 108 mothers; 57 (52.8%) consumed raspberry leaf products while 51 (47.2%) were in the control group. The findings suggest that the raspberry leaf herb can be consumed by women during their pregnancy for the purpose for which it is taken, that is, to shorten labour with no identified side effects for the women or their babies. The findings also suggest ingestion of the drug might decrease the likelihood of pre and post-term gestation. An unexpected finding in this study seems to indicate that women who ingest raspberry leaf might be less likely to receive an artificial rupture of their membranes, or require a caesarean section, forceps or vacuum birth than the women in the control group."



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...
Reply:I heard raspberry leaf tea is good for after labor because it helps you heal faster. If you want to induce labor, walk. Walk a lot. And have sex, something about protein in sperm causes labor also.
Reply:I drank that stuff like crazy but it didn't do anything. Your best bet is as much sex as you can handle. Worked like a charm for me.
Reply:IT DOESNT CAUSE CONTRACTIONS it only TONES CERVIX (or ripens/softens it)



I googled natural ways to bring on labour and found this stuff-%26gt;

Here are some of the most common methods women try to induce labor naturally

Sexual intercourse - This works in two ways to induce labor. First, female orgasm can bring on contractions. Second, semen contains prostaglandins. Prostaglandins work to help ripe and soften the cervix.

Nipple stimulation - Stimulating the nipples triggers the production of natural oxytocin. Oxytocin contracts the uterus.

Accupressure - Accupressure may be helpful in inducing labor. Some pressure points you can try are the roof of your mouth, the webbing of your fingers between your pointer finger and thumb, and above the ankle about four fingerspaces above is a pressure point.

Stripping the membranes - This can only be done by a health care provider. Your doctor or midwife will seperate the bag of waters from your cervix and this is thought to help encourage labor to start.

Raspberry Leaf Tea - Rasberry leaf tea is not actually known for it's labor inducing properties, but it is believed to be helpful in toning the uterus and helping with labor.

Cinnamin stick tea - Take cinnamin sticks and boil them into a tea and drink. It actually tastes good so even if it doesn't bring on labor it may help you to relax.

Evening primrose oil - Evening primrose oil comes in small capsules similar to vitamin e. It is believed to help soften and ripen the cervix.

Walking - Walking may help to get baby to drop into proper position.

Visualization/relaxation - Relaxation can help with labour induction Try doing relaxation exercisers. They are also good practice for when labor actually begins.

Pineapple, cumin tea, eggplant parmesan, and spicy foods - are another thing you can try.

Other methods we do not recommend for inducing labor

Castor oil - Castor oil is also used for inducing labor. It tastes horrible! It is likely to make you feel sick and it probably won't work.

Herbs - There are other herbs you can use to induce labor. Without consulting your doctor or midwife we do not recommend the use of herbs.







I tried the raspberry leaf tea it made me go to the toilet alot - I went into get membranes stripped and my cervix was still strong (so it hadnt worked!)

I have had sex, walked, eaten curry, pineapple, lots of stuff! I'm being induced on wednesday as my bub is getting too big.



I hear the evening primrose is good.
Reply:Yea you could drink it. But I have to warn you that it tastes really bad.
Reply:you really wanna get the baby out i used Castor oil drank it down with orange juice!