Prevalence of Medicinal Herbs Consumption in Pregnant Women Referring to Bojnurd Health Care Centers Publisher



Hosseini SH^{1, 2} ; Rajabzadeh R³ ; Nosrati H⁴ ; Naseri F⁴ ; Toroski M⁵ ; Mohaddes Hakkak H¹ ; Ayati MH⁶
Source: Iranian Journal of Obstetrics# Gynecology and Infertility Published:2017

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnant women use medicinal herbs for different reasons, and there is a belief that medicinal herbs are safe and without side effects, while medicinal herbs have side effects or drug interactions for the mother. Therefore, this study was performed with aim to evaluate the prevalence of medicinal herbs consumption in pregnant women referring to Bojnurd health care centers. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 350 pregnant women referring to Bojnurd health care centers in 2015. Data about the type of herbs, the cause of consumption, knowledge and practice of people about the use of herbs were collected by a questionnaire. Data was analyzed SPSS software (version 20) and t-test and Chi-square test. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: 222 (63.40%) of pregnant women had used medicinal herbs. The most common reason was common cold and the most used medicinal herbal was mint. 117 (53.40%) of the participants had obtained the information from the family and 139 (62.90%) had provided the medicinal herbs from the medicinal herb shops (Attari). There was a statistically significant relationship between the use of medicinal herbs and husband’s occupation and education (p<0.05). Conclusion: Due to the high consumption rate of medicinal herbs by pregnant women in Bojnurd, and also the fact that this area is rich in medicinal herbs; it is necessary that pregnant women be more trained and aware about medicinal herbs by Health care providers. © 2017, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.