raspberry leaf tea

[Lollypop]

I'm 37 weeks pg and have just bought some rasberry leaf tea. To my surprise I really like it. How much is safe and is there an optimum amount? last time I bought the capsules but they were v. expensive.

I think you are supposed to drink one cup a day, then two as you approach your due date. Everyone says raspberry leaf tea is vile, but in my opinion it was nowhere near as nasty as being 9 months pregnant and fed up.

I don't like funny tea but a friend recommended I take raspberry leaf tablets for the last 8 (I think it was 8) weeks of pregnancy to help relax the muscles. It may have been coincidence but I had two fantastically easy births so I like to think it worked!

I religeously drank my raspberry leaf tea with DS1 and had a nightmare birth, kept forgetting to take the tablets with DS2 and had an easier one (note I didn't say easy though!). At the end of the day, some people give birth easily, others don't but anything which might tip the balance is well worth it in my opinion.

I found the tea quite pleasant too although I did used to add some cinnamon to it. I thought the recomended amount was 1-2 cups a day.

I'm normally a huge skeptic about these things but since I like 'funny tea' I drank it from about 37 weeks - several cups a day IIRC! I don't think the tea is particularly strong compared with the capsules.
I did have a rapid and straightforward delivery 4 days before my due date, but I would never recommend relying on anecdotal evidence....

Planned to take RLT with DS but he arrived 5 weeks early so never got the chance. V. painful labour. Was determined to do it with DD so started about month before due date. DD arived 1 week early with a blissful and relatively pain free labour (it did hurt but I felt fine about it all). Not sure if this was down to tea or because it was a home birth this time or just because I wasn't panicking.

Lollypop, I drank this too but cannot remember how much a day. I certainly increased when I went past my due date though.
If you want to put your mind at rest, I bought mine from Neal's Yard (health shop) and it was in Camden, you could always find their number through directory enquiries and give them a ring as their staff know everything so they would be able to tell you.
Good luck with the birth by the way!

I drank RLT in the last three weeks of pregnancy I think. I drank at least couple of cups a day. I don't think I really limited my intake. I carried on drinking it for a couple of months afterwards as well. I must have got the taste of it. I heard that helped your womb get back to its normal state. I remember all the midwives that inspected me afterwards said that mine had gone back remarkably quickly and well. So perhaps that was something to do with the RLT.

I drank RLT for about 2 weeks before due date - usually about 2 cups a day. Still went 2 weeks overdue and had to be induced.

Will probably try it again this time though.

Good luck Lollypop 2nd time around. In first pregnancy I drank 3 cups a day from 33 weeks onwards and had long tedious birth. With second pregnancy I drank it from about week 39 onwards (sadly for nearly 3 weeks!) and had a very speedy birth.
I would have to say in my case I think it probably made v little difference. However, both times around the midwives commented at how quickly my uterus shrank back afterwards - coincidence or raspberry leaf tea?!

You can buy raspberry leaf as capsules if you don't like the taste. I took it religiously for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancies - well, from 34 weeks! Dd was 4 days early, ds was 10 days early, but both well over 9lb so ready to come! Dd was a total nighmare back labour, ds about as textbook as they come - so nothing much to add to the anecdotal evidence here, sorry!