Taking Extra Care Of Yourself And Baby: Herbs To Avoid During Pregnancy

There are many things to avoid during pregnancy – smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, certain foods, and also activities that would not just bring harm to the baby but to the mother as well. Nowadays, we see many people are now turning to holistic approaches on their way of living. They resort to things like eating organic foods, buying personal products that have natural or botanical ingredients, or even turning to herbal remedies to cure some ailments.

And most of the time, these products often used herbs as part of their natural ingredients, but there are certain herbs to avoid during pregnancy so as not to bring harm to the baby and the mother.

Cook It In Moderation

And since there are numerous kinds of herbs to avoid during pregnancy, one should also be cautious when using herbs as part of their ingredients when cooking. Herbs used for culinary purposes such as oregano, basil, cumin, chili, cinnamon, licorice, and others are considered to be safe as long as they are in small amounts but not in large doses that could be used for teas.

Also, as part of the herbs to avoid during pregnancy, basil oil, clove oil, is also considered to be harmful for the mother since it is a uterine stimulant which should just be used during labor.

Uterine Stimulants

There are many herbs to avoid during pregnancy because they are uterine stimulants and may encourage premature contractions and other internal damages that may lead to birth defects. Among these herbs is barberry, black cohosh, arbor vitae, golden seal, greater celandine, juniper and juniper oil, American and European pennyroyal, angelica, anise seed and oil, caraway, cinnamon, oregano, parsley, passion flower, peppermint oil, raspberry leaf, rosemary and rosemary oil, sage and sage oil, vervain, wood betony, yarrow, lovage, marjoram and marjoram oil, motherwort, lavender, and gotu kola.

Thyme oil was reported to be one of the herbs to avoid during pregnancy because it was said to be a stimulant but it has been disputed by research and is considered to be quite safe in cooking. But to be sure, only use thyme and thyme oil in moderation to be on the safe side.

Herbs That Leave Permanent Damages

Since we already know which herbs do affect our uterus, there are however, more harmful herbs to avoid during pregnancy which may leave permanent damage to the baby and the mother. Damages may include androgyny, blindness, coma, and others. These herbs include nutmeg and nutmeg oil, Peruvian bark, aloe vera, autumn crocus, bugleweed, comfrey, false unicorn root, and wormwood.

These were the herbs that should be avoided during pregnancy because it may lead to serious damages that may affect you and the baby for the rest of his or her life. It is better to be safe than to be sorry and take extra care since most of these could be easily avoided but its effects, irreversible.

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