Do you reckon raspberry leaf tea actually helps with anything?

She asks while sipping on a mug of raspberry leaf tea...

It's not really been studied much, because you'd need a pharmacology company to fund the study. But the studies that have been done have shown a small link at reducing the length of the second stage, however they all end with the line "needs further investigation" just because of the lack of research on it

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871383/

I do think it's just generally good for anyone. Sure it's not going to put you into labour, but it's got plenty of antioxidants, trace minerals and vitamins, plus the water for hydration, so it's going to do you good in general


Personally, I drank loads of it and went from first slight twinges to crowning within about 6 hours 😄

I drank lots of it with my first pregnancy and went on to deliver spontaneously/naturally on my due date - so maybe!

So hard to know as I had nothing else to compare it to. I used it in my first pregnancy as well as dates from 36 weeks. Was induced due to polyhydramnias at 39+1, pessary inserted 7pm Thursday, waters broke 11am next day, drip started at 1pm (I asked for a 2 hour delay to see if my body would start by itself) and baby was born at 7.34pm Friday evening. No other interventions needed so am also making sure to have the tea and dates again this time around.

My mother has sworn by it with all 3 of her pregnancies and I don't know what research is behind it but there must be something because the NHS specifically advise on their website not to touch it before 32 weeks and they don't usually do that if it's just an old wives tale! I think the evidence is that it softens your cervix rather than triggering your labour

What raspberry tea are people drinking? I did it with my first and he came naturally so worth a shot!

While it won’t put you into labour it will tone your uterus making your contractions more effective. I drank loads with my first and while I ended up needing to be induced early I never needed a hormone drip as my body took over after the initial pessary to jumpstart it, and I fully credit that to drinking the tea. I have had bad Braxton hicks so haven’t started drinking yet this pregnancy but plan to in the next week or so.

It tones uterine muscles and shortens the pushing stage and lowers chances of pp heavy bleeding. Midwives worldwide back this up so I don't think it is a BS 😄😄 Just the misconception someone somewhere started that it induces labour, which it does not.

At what weeks of pregnancy is good to start drinking this please?

My friend drank it for about a week and she went into labour a week early! It softens your cervix .. also .. eating dates does the same thing and is so healthy xx

I did it with my for my first pregnancy and again for this one.
First bub came at 38 weeks, which is normal for my family.

Because of some hospital delays I had 5min to push him out and I did it in 3 pushes so I think it was helpful

NHS recommends from 32 weeks but my midwife said from 36 weeks... So I started from 34 🤷‍♀️

Ok I guess I'll keep drinking it, just another thing to remember eh? 🫠 thank you ladies. Also is it correct that you're supposed to start from 1 mug per day and then gradually get to 2 per day and 3 per day?

I got mine from Holland & barrett, it's called Heath & Heather organic raspberry leaf