“Natural supplements” in Pregnancy
bb writes
saya sedang mengandung hampir 5 bulan.masalah saya,bolehkah saya mengambil greenfield organic nutrition&revitalex dan jika sya meminumnya adakah akan membawa keasan kepada anak yang sedang saya kandungkan??tetapi ia telah dihancurkan menjadi serbuk.ia juga sesuai untuk sesiapa saja dan sesuai untuk orang sebelum &selepas bersalin.tetapi,saya tidak berani untuk meminumnya kerana saya takut mempunyai kesan kepada anak yang saya sedang kandungkan.bantu saya?
bb wants to know if taking the above mentioned “organic nutrition” during her pregancy is safe or not.
Jawapan pendek: Kalau tiada cukup maklumat, jangan makan.
Long answer:
Well, unless we know exactly what the ingredients are, we cannot say. So the best thing is do not take anything which has not been demonstrated in studies to be safe for ingestion by pregnant mothers. I would advise you to take the bottle (which hopefully has a label with the ingredients) and show this to your doctor for more advice.
Do not be fooled by the terms “natural”, “organic”, “herbal” as these substances too can have adverse effects on you and your unborn baby.
From Using Natural Herbs During Pregnancy
What are possible complications of taking herbs during pregnancy?
Although herbs are natural, not all herbs are safe to take during pregnancy. The FDA urges pregnant women not to take any herbal products without talking to their healthcare provider first. These products may contain agents that could harm the mother and the growing fetus, and cause problems with the pregnancy. Many contain substances that can cause miscarriage or premature birth, uterine contractions, injury to the fetus, or jeopardize the mother’s health. Few studies have been done to measure the effects of various herbs on pregnant women or a developing fetus.
I recall we mentioned something similar in Dengue fever: herbal warning where as a result of an unsubstantiated claim in a local forum, gullible people started rushing to buy Pegaga Juice thinking it was a miracle cure for Dengue. I was concerned and looked up Pegaga and I found some information that it is contraindicated during pregancy (it is an abortificant in animal studies) . I had to post that information as I was concerned amongst those gullible people rushing to gulp down Pegaga Juice would be unsuspecting pregnant women.
So the lesson is what is “natural” does not equate automatically to “safe” and “free from adverse effects”, especially during pregnancy. Be critical. If there is little information available and you only have unsubstantiated claims, DO NOT consume.
The MMR once again says that anything which comes in a bottle, pill or capsule is no longer “natural”.
Malaysian physician, haematologist, blogger, web and tech enthusiast
Malaysian are generally taking too much nutrition. I had seen this type of patient asking me whether herbal supplement is necesary in pregnancy or during the menopause. My comment is if you are taking a balanced diet, you do not need those supplements. Sometime I just wonder why they choose to trust those direct sellers who act just like another expert of health (but actually they are just a saleperson). For any pregnant lady, my advice is follow your doctors advice, take only haematinics (ferum & folic acid). This is evidence based which prevent pregnant lady from going into severe anaemia especially during the second trimester. A fetus is an EXCELLENT PARASIT, no matter how malnurish, they can suck what ever nutrition from the mother (growth retardation is a rare event unless you are like those African hunger victims). The fetus will grow regardless the state of maternal status (the butrition status). One good example how the commercial ‘con’ the consumer is the folic acid in milk. They claimed that if the pregnant mother take this milk it will help the fetus in brain developement (more clever?). This is totally b***s***. The folic acid is tobe taken 3MONTHS before and after pregnancy and it PREVENT CNS defects such as open neural tube defect NOT HELPS BRAIN DEVELOPEMENT. And it is so cheap to buy those folic acid tablets (free from any gov antenatal clinic) rather than buy those expensive milk.
Well said, Poor Doc.