Affiliations 

  • 1 Teoh C S, MD. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Department of Pediatrics, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 2 M H I Aizul, MD. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 3 W M Wan Fatimah Suriyani, MD. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 4 Ang S h, MD. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 5 M Z Nurul Huda, MD. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 6 M I Nor Azlini, MOG. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 7 J Rohana, MMed(Paeds). Department of Pediatrics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. drohana@ppukm.ukm.edu. my
Med J Malaysia, 2013 Apr;68(2):157-60.
PMID: 23629564 MyJurnal

Abstract

The potential harms of herbs to the pregnant mothers and their foetuses as well as the effect of herbs taken by nursing mothers on their babies remain largely unknown. Common perception is that herbal medicines ingestion during pregnancy and confinement period is a common practice among multi-racial Malaysian mothers. The purpose of this study was to explore the usage of herbal medicines during pregnancy and post-partum period among mothers who gave birth at a tertiary hospital in a metropolitan city of Malaysia. This cross sectional study was conducted between October and December 2010. The subjects were interviewed twice after giving birth: before hospital discharge and 6 to 8 weeks later. A total of 323 mothers were recruited for this study. The prevalence of herbs ingestion during pregnancy was 13.9%, with half of the users consuming it during the first trimester. A total of 163 (52.9%) mothers ingested herbs during the post-partum period. Significantly more Chinese (p=0.01) and Malay (p=0.04) mothers ingested herbs during pregnancy and post-partum period, respectively. Infants of mothers who ingested herbs had a higher rate of neonatal jaundice compared to infants of mothers who did not ingest herbs during the post-partum period (P=0.001).

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.