Fatemeh Abdollahi and Jamshid Yazdani Cherati
Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Altern Integr Med
Objective: Despite the vast use of herbal medicines in the world, little is known about their use in pregnancy. This study was conducted to determine the use and attitude of postpartum women on herbal medicine use during pregnancy in northern Iran. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 399 women during their first few days of postnatal period in Mazandaran hospitals from March to June 2015. Women completed a self-report questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics and their use and attitude on herbal medicines use during pregnancy. The logistic regression model was applied for data analysis. Results: The mean age of women was 28.00 (5.20) years and about half of them (45.3%) were primiripara. Approximately one fifth (26.8%) and a half (48.4%) of the women used conventional medications and at least one type of herbal medicines during pregnancy respectively. Use of herbal medicines was advised to majority of the women by their mothers (26.3%) followed relatives (21.4%), mass media (11%), health practitioners (10.4%). Additionally, most women (50.42%) have had positive view on the herbs and believed that herbal medicines are not harmful during pregnancy. In 41.2% of the usage, the women were completely satisfied with the herbs. Conclusions: Herbal medicines use has been highly prevalent among Iranian pregnant women who have had positive view on the herbs. Most of the women used herbal medicines without the health care providers' supervision. It is needed that the health care providers were informed about the herbs safety and efficacy and also should ask for information pertaining to women taking the herbs.
Alternative & Integrative Medicine received 476 citations as per Google Scholar report
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