Is chamomile tea harmful in pregnancy?

[heartbroken22]

I've been having a cup for a few days now and it calms me down. Will it harm my baby?

This article suggests it might not be safe to drink during pregnancy

www.babycenter.com/pregnancy/diet-and-fitness/herbal-teas-during-pregnancy_3537

NHS website just says to limit to 4 cups of herbal tea a day. www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/

Honestly if you Google any food you'll find someone telling you to avoid it in pregnancy (I once found a website warning me off hummus!), so you'll spare yourself a lot of heartache by just following the NHS advice and being sensible about having things like chamomile tea on moderation only.

Why did they say to stay away from hummus? 🤐

@xogossipgirlxo because there is a very, very small risk of getting listeria from the sesame seeds in the tahini. But like, in the UK the risk is so small, and there are a lot of nutritional benefits to hummus (folic acid, protein, fibre, etc).

I find camomile really calms me down so I was curious too when I went through a really bad anxiety patch 27-30 weeks. Seems advice is conflicting online, i can't remember exactly what I read but I came to the conclusion one cup whenever i felt a bit funny would be fine (and it has been). I probably wouldn't drink more than one though

I've researched that in Pubmed (as I'm an insomniac and herbal tea helps me sleep), and from what I've found, the caution against many herbal teas come from some case studies: few (4-5) women being admitted for contractions after drinking camomile tea. Hardly serious evidence, but health websites need content to publish (even if the level of evidence is low) and jump to conclusions, as often when reporting results of scientific studies because it gets more hits than carefully presenting the studies and their limitations (a phenomenon not limited to pregnancy, by the way).

Bonkers, isn't it. This way you wouldn't be allowed to eat or drink anything.

@xogossipgirlxo yes it's a miracle more pregnant women don't develop eating disorders given how scrutinised our diets are and what women might perceive the 'stakes' of eating something wrong to be. As soon as you get pregnant so easy to forget that you are also a sentient being with needs (e.g. a cup of chamomile tea or some d*mn hummus) and not just an incubator for new life.