Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of herbs in inducing labor and examine the safety of their use.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia through a convenient random sampling. The inclusion criteria were women who had carried pregnancies to full term, inpatients in the postnatal ward, and had given birth within 2 days. Herbal medicine was used by all participants for labor induction at 36 weeks of gestation.
Results: This study comprised 107 women, with an age of 28.29 ± 4.6 years and parity of 2.2 ± 1.4. Over 70% of the women delivered after 39 weeks of gestation. The vast majority of women were married (98.1%), 84% were Saudi, and 59.8% held a bachelor’s degree. The most common herb used to induce labor was dates (49.1%), whereas cinnamon was the second most common species. Almost 26.2% of women went into labor 24 hours after they used herbs, and 74.1% had a normal spontaneous vaginal delivery. Women who had attained 41 weeks of pregnancy, monthly family income below 5,000 SR, and use of Vitex agnus castus (MARIAM) herb led to a significant association with labor induction (p-values = 0.019, 0.036, and 0.043, respectively), whereas dates and cinnamon were statistically significantly correlated with induction of spontaneous vaginal delivery (p-value = 0.001).
Conclusion: The evidence from this study suggested that dates and cinnamon are the most commonly used herbs for inducing labor. However, the use of these herbs is not recommended until all safety concerns are adequately addressed.
Key words: Efficacy, herb, induction, labor, safety
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