Slone Epidemiology Center, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010 May;202(5):439.e1-439.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2010.01.055.
Interest in herbal treatments has increased without data on safety, efficacy, or rates of use in pregnancy. We examined antenatal herbal and natural product use among mothers of nonmalformed infants in 5 geographic centers.
We used data on nonmalformed infants from the Slone Epidemiology Center's case-control surveillance program for birth defects to examine rates and predictors of herbal use. Exposures were identified through maternal interview. In addition to overall use, 5 categories based on traditional uses and 2 natural product categories were created; topical products and herbal-containing multivitamins were excluded.
Among 4866 mothers of nonmalformed infants, 282 (5.8%) reported use of herbal or natural treatments. Use varied by study center and increased with increasing age.
Although rates of use are low, there remains a need for investigation of the safety of these products. Given sparse data on efficacy, even small risks might well outweigh benefits.
尽管缺乏有关安全性、疗效或在妊娠期间使用情况的数据，但人们对草药治疗的兴趣日益增加。我们调查了 5 个地理中心正常婴儿母亲的产前草药和天然产品使用情况。
我们利用 Slone 流行病学中心出生缺陷病例对照监测计划中有关正常婴儿的数据，调查了草药使用的比率和预测因素。通过母亲访谈确定了接触源。除了总体使用情况外，我们还根据传统用途和 2 种天然产品类别创建了 5 个类别；排除了局部产品和含草药的多种维生素。
在 4866 名正常婴儿的母亲中，有 282 名（5.8%）报告使用了草药或天然疗法。使用率因研究中心而异，并随年龄的增长而增加。
尽管使用率较低，但仍需要调查这些产品的安全性。鉴于疗效数据稀少，即使是很小的风险也很可能超过收益。
