Raspberry Leaf Tea - Unnecessary Intervention?

[mears]

I was thuinking about Mog as I was emptying the dishwasher this morning (don't know why but you know how us women's minds work?) and thought about birth experience. I might not actually have remembered properly reading this in relation to you mog, but I think you used raspberry leaf tea.
Now I know lots of women swear by it, but there has been evidence of women having side effects such as rapid labour or placental abruption.
I personally thought about it first time round but decided against it because I didn't know what a normal labour for me would be like. As it was my first labour was 8 hours and I enjoyed the experience. I therefore didn't use raspberry leaf tea with subsequent labours.
Raspberry leaf tea could be seen as an intervention like any other medication. What experiences has anyone had with it. Sorry mog if this is not realted to you in any way

I used the Holland & Barrett version.

I used the H&B version too - no idea if it accelerated my labour although it was pretty quick - I had been booked into hospital but ended up having my son on the bathroom floor...

I drank it for about a month before EDD. Ended up delivering 12 days overdue with every intervention there is....... i.e pessary( 3 attempts), having waters broken artifically, oxytocin drip, epidural, and ceaseran after 14 hours and only 3 cm dilated.
Is there anyone with similar experience who delivered naturally in subsquent pregnancies?

I love RLT and still drink it now , 5 months after birth. It's supposed to aid muscle contraction. I drank up to 3 cups a day from week 34ish and labour (2nd) only took 3.5 hrs. I don't see it as an intervention and if it is does it matter, I drink it because I like it.

Hi Cori

My sister had a similar 1st birth to yours and was adamant that she wanted to give birth to her next baby 'naturally'. Doctors advised her against it because of the risks of rupture but she went ahead and gave it a go. DS2 was born as a result of a 10 hour trial of scar/VBAC labour, her scar did begin to separate in the final minutes but DS2 was delivered and she was rushed to theatre to have it sorted out. Both she and DS are getting along great and she has no regrets about trying it, though she does say that any further kids would be elective c-sections.

I have three children and with my first two,i delivered early and didn't have time to sit and think about what kind of labour i would like,or when it would happen.But with my third child everything went by the book and i got so big i was finding it difficult to sleep and night or get comfy during the day. By the time i was 8 month or so i was praying for the big day to arrive,which is when i decided to try raspberry leaf tea.I wasn't convinced that it would work but was willing to try anything.Within 3 days of using it i went into labour and believe me it was rapid within 3 hours of my first niggles of pain i had a second beautiful daughter. Although the tea may have brought my labour on and made it rather quick i'm convinced if you use it right and are near the end of your pregnancy or overdue,and you know the your unborn baby is healthy then raspberry leaf tea may be the answer.

Itried RLT and it did absolutley nothing went tinto normal labour and spent 26 hours pushing and panting!!

I gave my best friend's sister some Red Bush Tea though and she went into labour a couple of hours after drinking it - this may have something to do with the fact that she had laughed so much at us trying to convince her to go for a ride down a bumpy country road, have sex once she got down there closely followed by a vindaloo that she should have ready and waiting in the boot!! She was in labour for 12 hours and the baby got stuck though so she had to have a C Section so am sure that whatever you take or do the little monsters are gonna decide when and how they enter the world!!

I used RL tablets and so did my friend (both due at the same time). Made no difference at all. I won't be using it this time!!

about 2 weeks before my due date, i drank rasberry leaf tea from neals yard most days - just one cup a day and i think it did help bring my contractions on fast and hard. most of my friends contraction began a few hours apart then 20 mins apart for hours before getting shorter with me i had my first contraction at 11.20pm and within the hour they where every 4 mins and coming so strong i could not stand unaided! not sure if it was the r.l.t. but i was told that was what the effect was so for me i think it worked!!!

I used Raspberry Leaf tablets for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy. My labour was relatively short, I arrived at the hospital at 3am and delivered at 10.22am. I can't say for sure whether it made any difference or not, but there's no harm in trying!

i am 34weeks along with baby no.3 and i have seperated symphis pubis (where the pelvis seperates at the ligaments) It's extremely painfull and i am looking for a way to kickstart my labour...soon!!! I have heard a bit about raspberry leaf tea helping to start you off?? Does anyone have positive experiences with it? Any other suggestions to get her to come out will be appreciated and all will be tried out with hope.

Hi Flump!
SPD... well actually if it is very severe it is quite possible that you will start labour earlier rather than later anyway.
Pie recently had her baby and she had really bad SPD.
When were your first ones born ?
I can believe you are in very bad pain but having a pemature baby isn't going to help either.... maybe Pie can help here ?

Flump - please don't try to start you labour before 37 weeks. SPD is better than a pretem baby. You will end up getting more frustrated when things don't work. I think in the long run babies come when they are ready anyway. As you might have seen by my initial posting, there might be some unwanted side effects with raspberry leaf tea.
Are you seeing the physio? Have you got painkillers? Better to get help regarding your SPD than wish for labour.

i used it in the last month or so, i was 7 cm dilated when i went into hospital, (not TOO much pain before then) then i had dd in 3 hours so i think it might have worked for me. However my sis used it exactly the same as me,(we were pregnant at the same time) and her labour was 36 hours and she had everything going..........

I dont want 2 have my baby pre term, i am just tired of the pregnancy..my last two were without any complications and i cant wait till this one is over. my other children are 4 and almost 2 and they were both born at 40weeks gest, my condition makes it hard to even be a proper mum to them. To put all your minds at rest though i am not going to try and start my labour, although come 37 weeks it will be a whole different matter.

I used it from 7 months, but had to be induced because waters broke early but labour didn't progress. However, once induced, labour went too fast so couldn't have an epidural. Baby then got stuck so it was ventouse without pain relief and an absolute nightmare. But that's probably more info than you wanted.

Hi flump, just seen your message. I had DD2 6 weeks ago. I had SPD from the 12th week of my pregancy and from 22 weeks I was in a wheelchair the SPD was so bad. So I can completely understand where you are coming from with wanting it to be over, and I have a 4 year old that it has been very hard on.

Did you have SPD with your previous pregnancies?

I spoke to my OB about having the baby early too (either induction or c/s), but all advice was that 39 weeks with no other medical indictations was the best for the baby. If you induce the baby too early then you are running the risk of respitory problems, even at 37 weeks, because the baby is simply not ready its you that has had enough! In the end I was booked in for an induction at 39 weeks but my DD2 came at 38 weeks, 2 days. It was a very quick (early) labour, mainly because my symphisis pubis had been ready to go for so long. As the ligaments were so soft I didn't do any pushing, basically she fell out and early because my body just kinda gave up!

The other thing to remember about any sort of induction is that it increases your chances of needing intervention such as forceps/ventouse or c/s. This is the worst thing that could happen for your SPD as with a forceps/ventouse you would be in the lithomy position and hip abduction would only aggrevate your condition and perhaps take you longer to get over after the birth.

I'm 6 weeks on and am now able to go out on crutches (though not for too long, long journeys I still need the wheelchair) so it does get better very quickly, as before the birth I was unable to walk at all.

I did eat a lot of pineapple (meant to make cervix softer). If you can hang on to 39 weeks perhaps you would have an understanding OB if you were desperate to induce or c/s by then.

You should talk to them as they may well have had some experience with SPD and can help you deliver earlier then 40 weeks if you really feel that the extra couple of weeks is too hard. But I have to say my OB didn't suggest it, I had to and I was armed with LOADS of research and it took 45 minutes to negotiate as I wanted to be induced at 38 weeks, his ideal is spontaneous labour and in the end we agreed on 39.

None of it was needed anyway!!

Are you in touch with the Pelvis Partnership at all?

Hope this has helped though, you aren't alone

Meant to add that I decided on an Indution knowing the chances of intervention and hence hip abduction because I couldn't even get to the toilet by myself the SPD was so bad. I was looking at going into the hospital to be looked after or getting a bed pan had I gone term. I decided I would take my chances.

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hello pie.

thankfully my spd sounds nowhere as bad as yours, that must have been complete torture. i did not have this with my previous pregnancies so its all new to me. i am finding that while i thouroughly enjoyed my previous pregnancies this condition makes it impossible to enjoy this one and i cant wait for it to come to an end as it is rather depressing. i am fortunate that i can walk fairly easily (although i do rely on my sons buggie for support when im out and about) but it's still painfull. The worst thing is trying to have a normal day...its just impossible. Taking my daughter to nursery or doing the shopping is painfull and tiresome. i know all about the dangers of pre term labour with already having children, its just wishful thinking that it will be over soon. I'm sure you will understand when i say there is no escape from the pain. my support belt does nothing to help and trying to get comfy in bed is the worst part of all. i wake in the same position i fell asleep in as i think it must be on my mind not to thrash about as i normally would, as a result of this my muscles are constantly aching and when i get out of bed the pain in my pelvis is at its worst and my legs usually give way. hey look at me pouring my heart out, its all the stress as im sure you understand. how long does it take to return to normal or does it just depend on the severity of the case?

secur- thanks for the advice, i have bn 2 physio and got support belts and all the other stuff. i know its just going to be a case of 'hanging in there' and bearing it until she does decide to appear but once im no longer 'pre-term' i'm not going to complain about anything that's going to speed things up. The end of pregnancy is a drag as it is but SPD makes it much much worse.

I think that recovery is relative to the severity before hand and the 'easiness' of the birth, if that makes sense!

I did have it pretty bad. The maternity hospital physio said out of the hospitals 5000 women a year, she sees about 3 a year as bad as I WAS. And I say was as there really is an end to it.

From May to October (when I had DD2) I left the house 18 times, an only for hospital appointments. I could stand long enough to cook or anything. I even missed the washing up. The worst thing was having to depend on people so much. Since I had the baby I have taken DD1 to nursery once and picked her up once. Something I could only long to do 6 weeks ago. Infact I took her today and my symphyisis pubis only feels like some one has kicked it once instead of 10 times

I no longer need any painkillers as the pain is bareable now.

Do you always keep you legs together when turning in the bed? I gave up on the support belt to, though I did like have a giant tubigrip around my abdomen and pelvis. Always try to keep you legs together though. I ended up getting out of bed by crawling backwards on my hands and knees.

If you need to moan the mumsnet is the place to do it. I'm not the only one here who has had SPD, so let it out!

you can contact me through the contact a user function at the top if you want to ask anything that you don't feel comfortable talking about on a public forum (though I am a complete stranger so not sure if that would be any better ).

It WILL get better.

the physio took me through all the correct 'procedeures' for doing things liks getting in and out of bed, cars, etc. I do keep my legs together (i dont have a choice really as i know all about it if i dont) but like you i am now crawling out of bed backwards on all fours. the pain really is at its worst when i wake though, and mixed with hormones i usualy end up lying sobbing and unable to move until my partner wakes up to help. I dont think six weeks has ever seemed to be such a long stretch. It feels as though i have six years to go. thanks for your support, it makes me feel much better talking to someone who understands. My partner tries but he's clueless (bless him). I'm glad i found this site while i was looking for info on raspberry leaf tea.

ITs terrible getting out of bed on hands and kneed and your eldest thinks mummy wants to play horses, ouch

Make sure you mattress isn't too hard if you can. Other than that it is just a case of waiting for the baby to come so you can't start your recovery. Can you get to see an osteopath, NHS or privately? I've had 3 sessions since the birth and it has helped loads.

mumsnet is great, but beware you will get addicted!

Big hugs though, as I know what you must be going through.

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