Abstract
Background: The use of herbal products is steadily increasing worldwide, especially by women, also during pregnancy and breastfeeding, even if safety data are lacking. Aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of use and the attitude toward herbal remedies among women during breastfeeding, by an interview-based survey. Methods: Participants were interviewed after receiving the informed consent, by a structured and validated questionnaire. Results: Two hundred forty-four breastfeeding women completed the questionnaire. The majority of them were non-smokers and non-drinkers, whereas they were regular consumers of herbal products during breastfeeding (97%). Medicinal plants most commonly used were sweet almond oil (68%) and fennel (37%). Herbal products were often associated with other prescription drugs (89%). Five percent of women have experienced dermatological and gastrointestinal adverse reactions, potentially due to herbal products. Conclusions: This study reports that nursing mothers are generally no smokers, avoid alcohol consumption, and they reduce the use of drugs to those really needed. At the main time, this study highlights that breastfeeding mothers have limited knowledge on the risk/benefit profile of plant-derived products. As data on the excretion of chemical components of herbal products and their metabolites in breast milk are lacking, it is generally better to avoid during breastfeeding the use “natural remedies” whose safety has not been well established.
Highlights
Natural products, plant-derived ones, are generally used to improve the sense of well-being as well as to treat minor illnesses, and their use is steadily increasing worldwide [1,2]
This study reports that nursing mothers are generally no smokers, avoid alcohol consumption, and they reduce the use of drugs to those really needed
This study highlights that breastfeeding mothers have limited knowledge on the risk/benefit profile of plant-derived products
Summary
Plant-derived ones, are generally used to improve the sense of well-being as well as to treat minor illnesses, and their use is steadily increasing worldwide [1,2]. Even if in the recent years the scientific interest for herbal products during pregnancy is increasing all over the world, the information available on their use by breastfeeding women is still lacking and almost missing. This lack of scientific data goes along with a lack of knowledge of pharmacokinetic data on most plant-derived products, so that the amount of them that diffuses into mother’s milk is unforeseeable. In this perspective, various parameters (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) should be cautiously evaluated. Aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of use and the attitude toward herbal remedies among women during breastfeeding, by an interview-based survey
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