ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2012
Prevalence and patterns of prenatal use of traditional medicine among women at selected harare clinics: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines for induction of labour: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2018Pooled it
- The use of traditional medicine in maternity care among African women in Africa and the diaspora: a systematic review.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Traditional Medicine Utilisation Among Pregnant Women in Sub-saharan African Countries: A Systematic Review of Literature.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingPooled it
- Associations between the use of herbal medicines and adverse pregnancy outcomes in rural Malawi: a secondary analysis of randomised controlled trial data.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2018Trial
- Benefits of Traditional Medicinal Plants to African Women's Health: An Overview of the Literature.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Bioactive Molecules, Ethnomedicinal Uses, Toxicology, and Pharmacology ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Identification of mothers with mental health problems is accidental: perceptions of health care providers on availability, access, and support for maternal mental health care for adolescent mothers in Malawi.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Herbal medicine use during pregnancy and childbirth: perceptions of women living in Lilongwe rural, Malawi - a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Medicinal Uses of the Fabaceae Family in Zimbabwe: A Review.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Prevalence of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) among adult cancer patients in Malawi.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2022Article
- Perceptions of Pregnant Women on Traditional Health Practices in a Rural Setting in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Medicinal plants used among pregnant women in a tertiary teaching hospital in Jimma, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Exploring traditional medicine utilisation during antenatal care among women in Bulilima District of Plumtree in Zimbabwe.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Traditional medicine utilisation and maternal complications during antenatal care among women in Bulilima, Plumtree, Zimbabwe.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2021Article
- Use of traditional and complementary medicine for maternal health and wellbeing by African migrant women in Australia: a mixed method study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2020Article
- Herbal Medicine Use During Pregnancy: A Review of the Literature With a Special Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Review
- Use of Herbal Medicine by Pregnant Women: What Physicians Need to Know.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2019Review
- Prevalence of Traditional Medicine Use during Pregnancy, at Labour and for Postpartum Care in a Rural Area in Zimbabwe.Clinics in mother and child health · 2019Article
- Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2018Article
- Use of complementary and alternative medicine in pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey on Iraqi women.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundPrenatal use of traditional medicine or complementary and alternative medicine is widespread globally despite the lack of evidence of the effectiveness of these therapeutic options. Documentation on the prevalence and patterns of this maternal practice in the Zimbabwean setting was also lacking.
methodsA cross sectional survey of 248 women at selected health centres in Harare was carried out to address the need for such data using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
resultsFifty-two (52%) (95% C.I. 44%-60%) of the participants reported to have used at least one traditional medicine intervention during the third trimester of their most recent pregnancy to induce labour, avoid perineal tearing and improve the safety of their delivery process. The study found prenatal use of traditional medicine to be significantly associated with nulliparity and nulligravidity. Such practice was also significant among participants residing in a particular high density suburb located in close proximity to informal traders of traditional medicines. Prenatal traditional medicine use was not significantly linked to experiencing an obstetrics-related adverse event. Instead, participants who reported not using any traditional medicine during pregnancy reported experiencing significantly more adverse events, mainly perineal tearing during delivery.
conclusionsThe practice of prenatal use of traditional medicine was significant in the study setting, with a prevalence of 52%. A variety of products were used in various dosage forms for differing indications. Nulliparity, nulligavidity and possible accessibility of these products were the factors significantly associated with prenatal use of traditional medicine. Prenatal use of traditional medicine was not significantly associated with any obstetric adverse event.
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