Raspberry Leaf Question... am confused.

[SweetyDarling]

Have been looking through previous posts re raspberry leaf tea/tablets/capsules and am a bit confused.
Some people were saying that they dilated really quickly and so felt it really worked for them (and vice versa), but I didn't think it had anything to do with speed of dilation?
Am I correct to think it just tones your uterus to give stronger contractions or am I missing something?

Hi SD,
I took raspberry leaf tea from the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy and during labour, a mixture of tea and the tablets. It is meant to make your uterus stronger and a strong uterus should mean good strong contractions. Anyway it worked for me, 2 to 9 cm in 2 hours woo hoo.
Good Luck

i heard that as well, i took it with my 2nd dd and went from 5 cm to 10cm in 1 hr. was definitly a better 2 nd stage then with my 1st dd but then that could have been to do with labour position and that it was my 2nd. will definitly be taking it this time though.

Thanks guys, but this is what I mean. All the info I can find says it has no effect on how fast you dialate, but everyone keeps talking about how it worked for them and saying how fast they dilated!?????

ok

anecdotally, there is evidence that RLT works as a uterine tonic..thereby making contractions more efficient & stronger, so dilation is quicker...

however, dilation is not solely down to the strength of contractions , the position of the baby and how well applied to the cervix the head is, also has a major effect....

thing is, it cannot do any harm , taking RLT, and it might even do some good, so give it a go!

It is supposed to tone your uterus but I have heard that it should only be used under the supervision of doctor or midwife. I have read contridicting information on them so I am not a hundred percent sure.
Here are couple of links that you may find useful....

www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregnancynutrition/3537.html

www.drugdigest.org/DD/PrintablePages/herbMonograph/0,11475,552026,00.html

what does that mean leati? a mw or doc has to stand next to you while you drink it?

AFAIK, it is not a 'medicine' so cannot be prescribed, but it is advised to not be taken before the last few weeks of pregnancy

hi there, i've always thought of raspberry leaves toning the uterus, however it also makes it more EFFICIENT - hence as the uterus is a muscle, and has lots of contracting to do during labour, it makes the cotractions more effieicnt, so speeding things up. I used the bio health capsules, x2 daily and had a v good natural labour. here is the description from Hoffmanns Holistic Herbal -
Raspberry ;eaves have a long tradition of use in pregnancy to strangthen and tone the tissue of the womb, assisting contractions and checking any haemorrage during labour. This action will occur if the herb is drunk regularly and also takern during labour. I think the tea is a load of rubbish personally and isn't strong enough to do any good for the recommended last 6 weeks of pregnancy.
I started taking at 28 weeks, but did notice an increase in braxton hicks, so prob 4 that reason it's best to be careful