Plantas Medicinais e Gestação

Pregnancy is characterized as a physiological event in the female organism and involves dynamic changes from the physical, emotional and social point of view that begin in the first week of pregnancy and last throughout the gestational period.
The use of medicinal plants during pregnancy is the subject of discussions regarding their safety, especially in the first three months, which can lead to miscarriages and malformations.
Due to their popular use, these become an alternative, especially for pregnant women, being used in the treatment of infections, pain, anxiety, sleep disorders and pregnancy symptoms.
As much as new knowledge about the use of medicinal plants during pregnancy is in evidence, there is still little knowledge about their effect at this stage.
Thus, the objective of this guide is to present which medicinal plants can or cannot be used during the gestational period both for treatment and prevention of pathologies, correlating with the relevance of correct guidance for safe use.The preparation of this guide is part of the masters thesis "Prevalence and potential determinants of the inappropriate use of medicinal plants and alcoholic beverages during pregnancy: subsidies for health professionals who work in prenatal care" presented to the Graduate Program in Collective Health from the Federal University of Paraná, in 2020, by masters student Fabiane Cherobin under the guidance of Prof.
Marilene da Cruz Magalhães Buffon, with the co-supervision of Professor Dr.
Denise Siqueira de Carvalho and Prof.
Yanna Dantas Rattmann .
It represents the implementation of the line of research on Integrative and Complementary Practices in Health Care, from the perspective of Phytotherapy with the aim of offering information to health professionals and the population, in accessible and objective language.
Eduarda Disner Pereira Teixeira, Renata Chemin Branco Lipinski and Sara Aparecida Mota Gomes collaborated in making the guide.The sociocultural relevance of this guide stands out, by associating popular knowledge with scientific knowledge, thus allowing pregnant women to make safe use of medicinal plants based on the knowledge of their potential health risks and benefits.We hope that this guide contributes to the safe and effective use of medicinal plants, reducing the risks of interactions with other drugs and possible toxic effects, in a practice considered effective, low cost and easily accessible to the population.We also remind you that the use of medicinal plants, as well as any medicine, must be carried out with caution, if possible under the supervision of health professionals, and when any plant is being used that presents risks or interactions, this use must be suspended and must be -if you seek medical advice.