Department of Research and Development, General Directorate of School Health, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hofuf, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Daru. 2021 Dec;29(2):493-499. doi: 10.1007/s40199-021-00415-7. Epub 2021 Sep 4.
English ivy (Hedera helix) is commonly used to reduce productive cough symptoms by acting as expectorant therapy. The safety of Hedera helix extract during pregnancy was not established yet. This study aims to determine the safety of English ivy leaf extract on newborns.
To determine the weight, APGAR (Activity-Pulse-Grimace-Appearance-Respiration) score, and health status of the newborns among the studied groups.
A retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted during the fourth quarter of 2020 on 245 pregnant women and their newborns in two hospitals located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The women were divided into an exposed group (N = 165) who used English ivy leaf extract syrup during pregnancy, and a control group (N = 80) who were not using any natural-pharmaceutical product for cough.
The mean weight of the newborns in the exposed group was 3 kg compared to 2.8 kg in the control group (p-value < 0.05). The median APGAR score of the newborns in the exposed group was 8.5/10 compared to 8.0/10 in the control group (p-value > 0.05). There were no significant differences regarding the percentages of full-term and preterm newborns in the exposed and control groups (78.8% vs. 76.3%, and 21.0% vs. 24.0%, respectively, odds ratio [OR] = 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.45-1.63, p-value > 0.05). Regarding the newborns' health complications reported, there was no statistical difference in the percentages of full-term newborns diagnosed with at least one health complication between the exposed and control groups (0.6 vs. 3.8, OR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.01-1.47, p-value > 0.05).
Hedera helix (English ivy) leaf extract syrup was safe to be used in short term during pregnancy for the fetus.
常春藤（Hedera helix）被用作祛痰疗法，以减轻有痰咳嗽的症状。然而，常春藤提取物在怀孕期间的安全性尚未确定。本研究旨在确定常春藤叶提取物对新生儿的安全性。
比较研究组中新生儿的体重、阿普加评分（Activity-Pulse-Grimace-Appearance-Respiration，APGAR）、健康状况。
这是一项在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的两家医院进行的回顾性多中心队列研究，共纳入 245 名孕妇及其新生儿，时间为 2020 年第四季度。这些孕妇被分为暴露组（N=165），她们在怀孕期间使用常春藤叶提取物糖浆；对照组（N=80）未使用任何用于咳嗽的天然药物。
暴露组新生儿的平均体重为 3 公斤，而对照组为 2.8 公斤（p 值<0.05）。暴露组新生儿的中位 APGAR 评分为 8.5/10，对照组为 8.0/10（p 值>0.05）。两组足月和早产新生儿的比例无显著差异（暴露组分别为 78.8%和 21.0%，对照组分别为 76.3%和 24.0%，比值比[OR]=0.86，95%置信区间[CI]为 0.45-1.63，p 值>0.05）。在报告的新生儿健康并发症方面，暴露组和对照组足月新生儿至少有一种健康并发症的比例无统计学差异（暴露组为 0.6%，对照组为 3.8%，OR=0.15，95%CI 为 0.01-1.47，p 值>0.05）。
常春藤叶提取物糖浆在怀孕期间短期使用对胎儿是安全的。
