Raspberry leaf tea – what’s the evidence?

If you go past your ‘guess’ date, and many of us do, you will likely be told by someone to drink raspberry leaf tea to bring on your labour.   Although it’s widely believed that this is what the tea should be used for, it is in fact a misconception.  (Not to mention being extremely annoying advice when you’re approaching 42 weeks and have been drinking the damn tea forever).

Raspberry leaf tea does however have its uses in pregnancy and birth – it has been used by the native Americans for thousands of years as a labour aid.   It contains an alkaloid called fragine, which is said to tone the uterus and strengthen it to make the contractions more efficient.   A small scale study carried out by midwives in Australia in 2001 found that taking raspberry leaf in capsule form shortened the second stage of labour by 10 minutes.  Having drunk this tea by the bucketload for 6 weeks or so, I can categorically say that if this were the only benefit it would not be worth it.   What tasted mildly pleasant to me in the beginning had turned to ashes in my mouth after cup number 106 or so.

The study looked at the effects of raspberrry leaf capsules taken from 32 weeks, when compared with a placebo, on:

1) length of gestation;

2) use of syntocinon (synthetic oxytocin to augment labour);

4) rates of artificial rupture of membranes (breaking of waters artificially);

5) rates of epidural use;

6) length of the stages of labour; and

7) mode of birth.

The study found that as well as the slight decrease in second stage length, there was a  lower rate of assisted deliveries (forceps or vaccuum delivery) and artificial rupture of the membranes in the group that were taking the raspberry leaf capsules, but none of this was statistically significant, which is not surprising with such a small scale study (192 women).   It did seem to show that taking raspberry leaf has no negative effects on mothers and babies, when taken from 32 weeks.  But with no further research to back up those results, it might be best to err on the side of caution and start a little later, with one cup per day and building up to 3/4 over a couple of weeks.

Participants in the study took two 300mg  capsules three times a day with each meal, which is the equivalent of 3/4 cups of loose leaf tea per day.   Do you think it’s worth a shot?  I’d such acid reflux from even the capsules second time around that I had to abandon it altogether after a week or so.  Conflicting information abounds about whether or not the tea is safe to take for women with a previous Caesarean. In the absence of any research on the subject, it’s really an individual judgement call.

 References
Simpson, M, Parsons, M, Greenwood, J, and Wade, K. “Raspberry leaf in pregnancy: Its safety and efficacy in labor.” Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health 46.2 (2001): 51-9.