Observational studyBMC complementary medicine and therapies2024
Raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus) use in pregnancy: a prospective observational study.
Observational study in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond prescription medicine in pregnancy - raspberry leaf and other herbs in Australia.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRaspberry leaf use during pregnancy in Australia is widespread. There has been little research exploring the potential beneficial or harmful effects of raspberry leaf on pregnancy, labour, and birth. More research is needed to appropriately inform childbearing women and maternity healthcare professionals on the effects of raspberry leaf so that women can make informed choices.
methodsThis study aimed to determine associations between raspberry leaf use in pregnancy and augmentation of labour and other secondary outcomes. Data was derived from questionnaires which captured demographic information and herbal use in pregnancy. Clinical outcomes were accessed from the maternity services' clinical database. Data analysis was conducted in R via package 'brms' an implementation for Bayesian regression models.
resultsA total of 91 completed records were obtained, 44 exposed to raspberry leaf and 47, not exposed. A smaller proportion of women in the raspberry leaf cohort had augmentation of labour, epidural anaesthesia, instrumental births, caesarean section, and postpartum haemorrhage. A larger proportion had vaginal birth and length of all phases of labour were shorter. Under these conditions the use of raspberry leaf was strongly predictive of women not having their labours medically augmented.
conclusionsWhile our study demonstrated that raspberry leaf was strongly predictive of women not having their labours medically augmented, the results cannot be relied on or generalised to the wider population of pregnant women. While there were no safety concerns observed in our study, this should not be taken as evidence that raspberry leaf is safe. A randomised controlled trial is urgently needed to provide women and healthcare providers with robust evidence on which to base practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.