Red Raspeberry Leaf Tea, Evening Primrose, and Dates: What I know

Disclaimer: I AM NOT a medical professional, so this is in no way medical advice; it’s just what I know and am trying.

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea:

• I’m using a brand that has nothing else added, many teas are not actual raspberry leaf but have just a raspberry flavor added.

• I brew a big jug now and drink about 4c/day, iced, with Dr permission/knowledge. I did not drink anything my first trimester, and started with one hot up per day at 16 weeks.

•One cup=8oz hot water and one tea bag brewed for 10min.

•For the iced tea, I do half the amount of water hot in a Pyrex to brew, and have the other half as really cold water in the pitcher. Once brewed, I add the hot water to the cold. If I were to do all hot water and pour over ice, the melted ice would dilute the tea.

• Raspberry leaf should not induce labor, just help the body prepare for labor, although if you Google it you’ll see some women did report cramping...which is why I talked to a Dr FIRST before trying it.

Dates: I’ve been eating 6 dates per day since about 36 weeks. Again, not much evidence they induce, but some evidence they help labor along. Medjool seems to be the most popular kind, but I couldn’t find anything against other types, so I am using Deglet Noor dates from Costco.

Evening Primrose:

Again, talk to a dr before you try this. I’m currently taking 2 capsules per day by mouth, and have been for the past 2 weeks to help my own natural cervix softening process. This is just the Target brand, nothing special.

Edit: thank you for the comment about the risks of this, sorry I did not add them in my post initially. For this one especially it is important to seek medical advice! While I was told it was ok for me to take, and after researching it myself through Journals available online decided to try it, I was warned that some women who have taken it have experienced more bleeding than normal and other more serious complications.

I hope this helps someone else looking for a jumping off point to start a conversation with their dr about trying these things! What you’re allowed to try will obviously vary widely depending on your individual pregnancy, but I was fortunate to be cleared to try all 3.