Hey ladies 👋🏻

I’m a 21w pregnant ftm and I’m just starting to do some very early research on labour preparation and postpartum recovery. I’ve been reading a LOT about the benefits of taking red raspberry leaf tea in my research...

BUT I do know that my mother took rrl tea, and I was born at 38w early full term. This might seem like a perfectly fine gestational period, but I was born with a weaker chest and I’ve suffered from mild asthma and chronic bronchitis my whole life and it was much, much worse when I was a child it actually affected my ability to socialise with other children.

I’m convinced that I just needed a little bit longer inside for my lungs to be more mature. As a result, I’m determined to carry this pregnancy to the full 40w. So, even though I keep reading how fantastic rrl tea is, I’m super nervous about it.

I wish I could ask my mother when she started taking it and how much she took but unfortunately we are no longer in each other’s lives and contacting her is not an option. But she always used to say she was proud to get me out earlier and that she believed the tea was the reason why.

This is why I’m seeking thoughts, advice, and experiences in taking rrl tea. I suppose I do want to get the benefits from it, but not at the expense of an early labour! If I started taking it from, say, just 10 days before my due date do you think that would be safe enough? Or none at all?

All replies welcome 🙏🏻 but please keep it polite if you have a strong opinion. 🌸 thanks

Edit: to the women who say (thank you for replying, btw) it won’t bring on your labour, everything I’ve read suggests it CAN do that. Obviously not every time but it CAN. Otherwise all the warnings about not taking it when it triggers BH, causes extra bad cramps, not taking it too early... what are all these warnings for then?? And why have I seen ‘labour teas’, designed to be natural inducers, that contain HIGH DOSES of rrl if they don’t actually help to bring on labour?

I think my mother was sensitive to rrl, which likely means I am too. That’s why I want to be careful.