Raspberry leaf tea/ capsules

[MayimBialik]

For those of you that have tried Raspberry leaf tea or capsules, did you speak to your midwife about it first or just do it? Everything advises speaking to midwife but mine's really hard to get hold of so I've been a bit naughty and just started taking the capsules anyway.

What is the danger if any? I'm 38 weeks by the way

I started with the tea at 32 weeks, then added the capsules at 35 weeks. Worked for me, I had a very quick and easy labour at 39 weeks, despite DS having his hand on his 98th centile head!

Rockchick have been doing this re EPO - not worked yet but I hope at least it's softening things :)

Am four days over and just chugging all manner of things!

Ladylike they tend to just pop of their accord. I've burst a few on insertion...

Just chuck them in whole, the capsules dissolve up there :)

I had hoped they may reduce risk of tearing too, but I needed an episiotomy may have helped if I had been doing it a bit longer I suppose (then again, I'd been doing perennial massage as well, so maybe I was always destined that nothing would help - DS was huge) :)

Is insertion of evening primrose oil capsules recommended by midwives? What about risk of infection?

No idea - I told my MW that I'd read about people doing it, and she was the one who said it contains prostaglandins, but I didn't explicitly ask her if it was safe to do (although I'd hope that if I'd asked her about something unsafe she would have told me not to)!

I've been doing perineal massage with EPO - been a bit scared to put a whole capsule up there.

I have RL capsules 750mcg - wasn't sure how many to take though. Any ideas? What strength capsules do other people have?

Re inserting the EPO
I wouldn't have thought that there would be a risk of infection unless your off course your waters have broken, by which point you should be seen by the hospital anyway.
after all you are still allowed to have sex, use sec toys, lubes etc... while preg.

Ok, I'll answer my own question....it is not recommended to take raspberry tea if you previously had a c section....here's some further info:

You should NOT take raspberry leaf tea: If you've already had a baby and your labour was very short

If you're scheduled to have a planned caesarean for a medical reason

If you've previously had a caesarean section

If you've ever had a premature labour

If you've had vaginal bleeding, or spotting in the second half of pregnancy

If you have a family or personal history of ovarian cancer endometriosis or fibroids

If you have any complications or health problems in your pregnancy

If you have high blood pressure

If you are expecting twins

Your midwife or doctor will let you know if it is safe for you to drink. They then may recommend you start drinking it when you are around 32 weeks pregnant, starting with 1 cup a day and building up to 3.

If you have strong Braxton Hicks contractions after drinking raspberry leaf tea, cut down.

Source: Emma's Diary - www.emmasdiary.co.uk/giving-birth/useful-information/raspberry-leaf-tea.aspx

Thanks for this! Very helpful, :-)

I'm 36 + 2. I checked with my consultant if raspberry leaf tea would be ok to take as I want vbac (2nd baby). She said that it wouldn't do any harm and to go for it. HTH.