Raspberry leaf tea??

[MrsBexie]

rasberry leaf tea tones the uterus and helps it learn to contract etc....
The suggest to start drinking one cup per day from 28 weeks, then increasing as you get closer to your due date. I am almost 35 weeks and drinking 2 cups a day, by the end I will be drinking like 6 cups a day!

It's really good to use apparently.

[luna moth]

Yep, uterine tonic. A study in Sydney (which I cannot quote, but maybe someone else can) showed slightly shorter second stage labours among mums who had been taking it from 32 weeks.

I started at 30 weeks with one cup a day, and was up to 5 or 6 cups a day at 36 weeks. Still going, and getting a little bit sick of it! But the end is nigh... and I'm sure it will be worth it

[Daytona's Mummy]

Really?? 28 weeks???? Hey that means I could start using it this week???? OMG how time flies!
Familyof3, There are heaps of helpful threads about it in here, I was planning on using it too this time but didn't realise I'd be starting it so soon! I guess I'd better toddle off & refreash my memory also ! GL with the last little bit of your pregnancy, & up comming birth!

[~*familyof3*~]

thanks ladies cool ima have a cup today and slowly build up then. Thanks Daytona

[Anise3]

Great question! Do the raspberry leaf tablets work the same way as the tea?

[samaraxx]

Just be aware that some medical professions will advise you to only use Raspberry Leaf in the 3rd Trimester after the 34th week of pregnancy, as all women can react to it differently. I know quite a few women that have used it and said it was great, but then one of my friends started on it around 28 weeks and got servere abdomen cramps for about a week and didn't use it again. Also my sis-in-law had 1 cup of it at 31 weeks pregnant, and about 2 hours later she went into pretmature labour and was flown to Sydney Hospital in an emergancy jet to try to stop the labour, which they did successfully, thank God : ) But it was a tramatic experience for her and all of us.
So just remember that it is a uterine tonic and it depends on the individual how greatly or poorly it works, but personally I wouldn't recommend it before 34 weeks....
Good Luck xx

[luna moth]

Same study that I couldn't quote found that RLT intake made no significant difference to the gestation at which onset of labour occurred, i.e. it didn't bring on labour, just resulted in shorter second stage.

[human bean]

Anise I took the tablets instead, there is no way I would have been able to drink several cups of tea a day here in the hot weather. Plus I'm just not a fan of any kind of tea. I could only find them at the health food store, and found stronger ones so didn't have to take as many (some brands you have to take several a few times a day) I think from memory the ones I took were herbs of gold brand/nature's gold or something like that.