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Original poster

A word of warning regrding Raspberry Leaf Tea

20 replies

rasta · 04/05/2011 22:17

Have been drinking my way through a vast amount of RLT, sent DH to our local herb shop during his lunch break for more but they told him they no longer stock it as there is a change in the law regarding selling it coming in soon.

No idea how much of this is true, reliable or accurate but stock up now if you're a fan just in case!

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MamaLaMoo · 05/05/2011 08:08

This could be due to something I heard on Radio 4 yesterday - 80% of the health claims made for foods were rejected by the european food safety authority which means if your raspberry leaf tea brand was claiming to help labour it would be open to prosecution unless it had scientific evidence to prove it. There is no scientific evidence to support the claims that RLT helps labour.

Apparently some manufacturers are removing and repackaging/rebranding products so they satisfy the legislation.

MainlyMaynie · 05/05/2011 09:13

Well Tesco sold me some yesterday! And although there have been limited trials, the two most thorough studies of RLT did show evidence of assisting labour, reducing 2nd stage by 10 minutes and one of them showed reduced likelihood of interventions. So I don't think they would have to stop selling it. I looked at those trials on pubmed at the weekend, so will find the links if you want them!

wolfhound · 05/05/2011 09:15

Eeek. Last time my second stage was only 7 mins, so I had better not take any RLT or I shall be expelling baby before cervix fully dilated... :)

DoMeDon · 05/05/2011 09:42

New legislation has come in to badically ban herbal remedies - link to article Guardian - it's appalling

Original poster
rasta · 05/05/2011 12:45

Interesting reading, thanks for the link.

I swear by RLT, drank huge amounts with DD1 and DD2, both my pushing stages were less than 5 minutes each

OP posts:
icravecheese · 05/05/2011 12:57

I took raspberry leaf capsules in my 2nd preg....pushing stage went from 2.5hrs (resulting in forceps) with my first preg, to 30mins in my 2nd preg....no idea if it was the raspberry leaf that did it, but was going to take them again this time round just in case... thanks for warning, will stock up!

nocake · 05/05/2011 13:15

The regulations aren't about proving the herbal remedies work or banning them. It's about making sure they're safe. These are remedies that contain active ingredients, just like the drugs your GP prescribes, so it's nonsensical that there has so far been little regulation over what can be sold.

Ephiny · 05/05/2011 13:22

Surely under those rules it can be sold just as tea, as long as there are no claims for unproven medicinal properties, and appropriate warnings i.e. don't use in early pregnancy?

F1rstT1meMummy · 05/05/2011 15:31

Am i right that you can start drinking RLT from 32 weeks.
I asked a Dr about RLT yesterday and he had never heard of it!!!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 05/05/2011 15:34

as nocake said.

People tend to think that herbal remedies are safe, not like medicines. But they can be pretty potent, some herbs can be used for abortion, st johns wort stops the contraceptive pill working...

A bit of regulation is a good thing imo

lilly13 · 05/05/2011 17:13

F1, i started at 35 weeks and got braxton hicks. my consultant told me to wait till 37 weeks...

KaraStarbuckThrace · 05/05/2011 17:17

I have it in tablet form from Holland & Barrett, it doesn't say anything about how it helps in pregnancy.

I had a fast 2nd stage with DS I think it was a combination of RL tablets and inhaling clary sage oil!

JBrd · 05/05/2011 17:33

F1rstT1meMummy - that's what I've been doing, started with one cup a day and am now on 5 cups a day.... Had no problems at all, apart from getting a bit fed up with it now!

edwinbear · 05/05/2011 20:27

I started RLT at about 34 weeks and was up to about 4-5 cups a day from 37 weeks. My labour was 30 hrs in total, with 3 hr 2nd stage followed by forceps. Despite a managed 3rd stage I still had to have my placenta manually removed. Needless to say I won't bothering with it this time around, but then maybe it did help and if I don't I'll be in labour for a week this time!

NurseSunshine · 05/05/2011 21:19

MainlyMaynie I would be interested to read those studies if you could find the links? :)

MainlyMaynie · 07/05/2011 10:24

Here you go NurseSunshine. It's clearly something where more research is needed, but these trials make it sound promising:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10754818

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11370690

TheNewShmoo · 07/05/2011 11:12

I had two cups at 31 week and got some wicked braxton hicks... will be holding off for a while...

MainlyMaynie · 07/05/2011 11:21

I started last week at 32 weeks and it doesn't seem to have increased my braxton hicks. I've been having them pretty powerfully anyway though, so I might just not have noticed!

Famouslastwords · 07/05/2011 11:25

I started drinking it at 37+5 and had DS at exactly 38 weeks. No real signs before that so I've drawn my own conclusions!

bringmesunshine2009 · 07/05/2011 11:34

I went from 2-7cm in 1 hour, 7-10 in 30 mins and pushed for 15mins with 9lb DS1.

Nb, Getting to 2cm was 6 hours of absolute hell.

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