Restricted medicine for pregnant women

 During pregnancy, prenatal vitamins are an important source of folate and other essential nutrients. Additionally, given the growing popularity of herbal remedies, numerous pregnant women take additional herbs. Some of these herbs they may have been taking before, for an existing condition. Others may assist them in overcoming some of the physical challenges associated with pregnancy. The following supplements and food additives should be avoided during pregnancy to avoid potential problems with the health of the baby. Quinine – Quinine is found in many drinks like tonic water, and these are popular as a result of their slightly bitter taste. However, it was discovered that one pregnant woman who consumed more than one liter of tonic water per day gave birth to a baby who experienced withdrawal symptoms. It had nervous tremors within a day of being born, which disappeared two months later. Germany’s BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) recommends that pregnant women treat quinine drinks, no matter how small the amount of quinine in them, as a medicinal product, and avoid them as a precaution during pregnancy. Ginseng – One of the more than 20 active constituents of ginseng was found by researchers at the Chinese University of the Hong Kong Prince of Wales Hospital to be a possible cause for concern for pregnant women. These researchers were measuring the effect of this active principle on fetal development in rats. And they found that, relating to the dose, rat embryonic development was affected. According to the development markers used in their study, higher doses were associated with more abnormalities. Now, this study was one done on rat embryos, and so may not translate into similar effects on humans. Additionally, it only investigated the effects of Rb1, a ginsenoside that was one of ginseng's active constituents. Ginseng actually has over 20 ginsenosides, and other studies have found that these each have different actions. One of the difficulties with studying active constituents in herbal medicine is that the whole herbal extract may have a very different overall effect than a single constituent. This is because of the way active principles both work together and counteract each other. These two aspects, the fact that the study was not done on humans, and does not measure the overall effect of the whole ginseng extract, mean that its results should be treated cautiously. As a safety precaution, at this time it is best to at least avoid ginseng supplements during the first trimester, as the authors of the study suggest, and probably for the whole of the pregnancy. But ginseng should certainly not be branded dangerous as a result of this research as it is only a very preliminary finding in the overall picture, and more points the way as to where further research needs to be done. Ginkgo Biloba – Ginkgo biloba is another supplement that is best avoided whilst pregnant. Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit found one of the constituents of ginkgo biloba in the placenta of women who had taken ginkgo supplements. In high doses, this particular component, an alkaloid known as colchicine, can be fatal, despite its powerful anti-inflammatory properties in medicine. Other research has found that cochicine can harm a growing fetus. Colchicine, like caffeine, can accumulate in the womb when taken in excess of the recommended limit, so taking ginkgo supplements on a regular basis while pregnant could pose a risk. The researchers did stress that there was no link established in the study between ginkgo and complications in the pregnancy, the study only looked at levels of colchicine in the womb.