Prevalence and pattern of use of herbal medicines during pregnancy by pregnant and childbearing women

Abstract

The accessibility and low cost of herbal medicine are contributing to its growing popularity. The majority of pregnant mothers choose to use herbal remedies to treat pregnancy symptoms like nausea, headaches, and so forth. This study aims to determine how common it is for women to use herbal remedies while pregnant in Bahla, Sultanate of Oman. The study was a cohort study involving between 80 and 100 pregnant women. Along with the consent form, a questionnaire was used to gather the quantitative data (both English and Arabic). Face-to-face interviews were employed in the collection of qualitative data. It was reported that 17% of pregnant women have used herbal medicine. Forty-seven percent of them were taking herbal medicine at the time of delivery, according to the study. 43.8% of people believe that the primary cause is the inadequacy of modern medicine. As mentioned by 52.9% of pregnant women, the primary goal of using herbal medicine is to speed up labor. Additionally, 23.5% of them said that using herbal medicine is to start labor. The results of this study showed that women in Bahla frequently use herbal remedies during pregnancy. The most widely used herbal remedies were Verbenaceae, Fenugreek, Castor oil, Brown sugar, and Saffron. It is recommended that social media should be used to raise awareness of the pregnancy-related effects of herbal medicine. Additionally, those involved in antenatal care, in particular, should be aware of the evidence about the potential benefits or risks of herbal medicinal agents.