Use of herbal products among 199 Italian women during pregnancy

Abstract

Results from studies conducted in Europe, USA and Australia indicate that between 7 and 45% of pregnant women use herbal products [ 1 Cuzzolin L. Benoni G. Safety issues of phytomedicines in pregnancy and paediatrics. in: Ramawat K.G. Herbal Drugs: Ethnomedicine to Modern Medicine. Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg2009: 381-395 Crossref Google Scholar , 2 Forster D.A. Denning A. Wills G. Bolger M. McCarthy E. Herbal medicine use during pregnancy in a group of Australian women. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2006; 6: 21-29 Crossref PubMed Scopus (153) Google Scholar , 3 Nordeng H. Havnen G.C. Use of herbal drugs in pregnancy: a survey among 400 Norwegian women. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2004; 13: 371-380 Crossref PubMed Scopus (186) Google Scholar , 4 Lapi F. Vannacci A. Moschini M. et al. Use, attitudes and knowledge of complementary and alternative drugs (CADs) among pregnant women: a preliminary survey in Tuscany. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008; https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nen031 Crossref PubMed Scopus (62) Google Scholar ]. We investigated the use of herbal products among a sample of Italian women, enrolled and interviewed within 3 days after childbirth at the maternity ward of the University Hospital of Verona. All contacted women agreed to participate in the study and gave their written consent.