Raspberry leaf tea... Advice please!

[newmomma]

Hi,

I have bought some raspberry leaf tea & capsules but neither of the packets give any advice as to how often they should be taken.

I'm 32 weeks pg and have heard about the benefits but can't seem to find any substantial information on the internet.

Can anyone out there give me some advice as to:

• when I should start taking it,
• how often it should be taken,
• and if it works at all?

Thanks

IME it doesn't work! I had 3 cups a day from 30 weeks with my first and she was 11 days late. I also bled heavily during labour and I've since read that raspberry leaf can be a cause of that, though I'm not sure if that's true. Didn't bother 2nd time round and he was only 9 days late , no heavy blood loss either.

The tea tastes revolting too!

they can be taken during the last 8 weeks.

tea bags...3 cups a day is written on the Heath and Heather brand, and they contain about 50% raspberry leaf.

the tablets...you have to follow the instrustions, no 2 brands are the same strength.
2 brands that I can think of are 700mg and 900mg per capsule, and you take 2 per day.

make sure both tea and tablets are raspberry leaf and not just raspberry.

and make sure the tablets are suitable for use during pregnancy, ie that they dont contain other herbs which might not be suitable.

You can take it from 36 weeks onwards.

I can't remember how often you should take it, doesn't it say on the pot?

Does it work? I don't think there is a way of measuring if it works or not.

I took it with all of mine and 2 still had to be induced, only one was born on the day BUT all the labours were really fast - even the first was within 6 hours of first contraction and minimal pushing so from that point of view it works (of course I may be a quick dilator anyway but who knows!)

I took it from about 34 weeks and was told it was way too early, so not sure what the latest thinking is on it sorry.Could only stomach one or two cups of it a day as I thought it foul. Bought the capsules for last baby but cant remember how many i took sorry - am a bit forgetful
Your midwife should be able to give advice at your next appt, none of mine disagreed with it, just thought it was a little early.

Hope it works for you!

Also, they will not make you go into labour on due date!! not sure where this myth started
they will make your braxton hicks stronger and tone the uterine muscles, thus helping make laboor/contractions more efficient

If you know what brand the tablets are, I can find out how many you have to take

KnickKnack The tablets are Heath and Heather.
My tea bag box gives no advice (apart from how to make the tea - duh!) and the tablets just say 1-2 tablets a day, but no info as to when you should start taking them.
Also - I had heard that you should slowly increase the amount you take...?

Thanks for all your advice ladies - perhaps I should just mention it to my midwife next time I see her.

I drank loads of the stuff after about 34 weeks. I might as well stuffed it up my fanjo for all the good it did. [wink} I went 2 weeks over and then had induction still no luck so had csection.

good luck

I read you should start taking it from 36 weeks.

newmomma, I've never come across H&H tablets, I've only ever seen their teabags.
Does it say what strength they are? If it is somewhere in the region og 800mg, I would take 1 a day for the 1st 4 weeks, then 2 a day for the last 4 weeks. Remember to check that they only contain raspberry leaf.

Drunk the tea religously from 36 weeks. Didn't work ended up 10 days overdue, had rummage from midwife ( sorry forgotten technical term) ended up with C-section as baby pointing the wrong way.

Drink normal tea, sit on the sofa, that's my advice

seriously folks...raspberry leaf will NOT make you go into labour, I still surprised that the vast majority of women have been told that it does
It will just make things a bit easier if when you do go into labour

I drank the tea as it seemed safer and more natural. You do need to make sure it is rasberry LEAF and not just rasberry flavour (I know several people who made this mistake so were drinking it for nothing!

I drank it just everytime I wanted a hot drink or whatever. It doesn't taste great to start with but you soon get used to it.

I don't know if it actually works but it can't do any harm and I personally just wanted to do as much as I could to try and help labour.

It isn't meant to induce labour, but can help to make it shorter and strethen your contractions. So if people were induced or not is irrelevant.

I PERSONALLY had a very long labour despite drinking packs of rasberry leaf tea and doing all the other things recommended. BUT who knows how much longer it could have been if I hadn't taken it?

I say go for it and just drink as much as you can without forcing yourself.

I took the tablets religiously and if they strenghtened my contractions at all i dread to think how poor they would have been. They were irregular all way through 25 hour labour and was told that they weren't very strong! I was 9.5 cms when arrived at hospital because they were insisting i wasn't in real labour given inconsistant contractions and it still took another 7 hours. They may help but can't say i thought they did alot for me!

Be careful! I took them at around 33 weeks and had my baby a full month early!

goldilocks - I wouldn't have thought this would be due to the RL as it isn't meant to induce labour, just shorten it when it does happen.

I thought it 'toned' the womb?

Yep, it's s'posed to shorten labour. I drank 4 cups of tea a day for the last 4 weeks or so of pregnancy. I had a home birth, my first child & labour took 12 hours, which I thought was reasonable. Babe arrived 1 day early, Midwife commented on strength of Braxton hicks 'bout 1 week earlier. Who knows if it helped?! I would use it again if having another babe tho' just in case