Abstract:

Background: The use of herbal medicine among many communities’ world is common practice, the cost and effectiveness in relieving ailments had made increased used in the community. Pregnant women use local herbs during pregnancy to treat different ailments, and some use local herbs to enhance labor. At Shirati hospital women who use local herbs to enhance labor end up with good or poor outcomes. There is limited data about the extent of local herbs use during labor/delivery at Shirati Hospital, feto-maternal outcomes and factors associated with the use. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the use of local herbs during labor and fetal-maternal outcomes among women delivering at Shirati, Mara, Tanzania.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2022 to February 2023 involving women delivering at Shirati hospital. A detailed history including use of local herbs to accelerate labor and thorough physical examination were done soon after delivery and before discharge to determine fetal and maternal outcomes.

Results: A total of 257 post-delivery mothers participated in this study. The median age of participants was 23 [IQR, 20-30] years. Among the participants, 142 (55.3%) reported to use herbal medicine during delivery. commonly used herbs were Olembe (88.7%) followed by Wakolonya (6.3%) and Mwarobaini (0.7%) was the least used. However, there was no any predictor of local herbs used in this study. Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), maternal perineal tear and low APGAR score were the feto-maternal outcomes significantly associated with herbal use during delivery, with (aOR, 7.4; 95% CI [4.0-13.5]; p-value < 0.001), (aOR, 2.3; 95% CI [1.08-4.80] p-value 0.030) and (aOR, 8.5; 95% CI [1.1-67.4]; p-value=0.0430) respectively.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that more than 50% of women delivering at Shirati hospital used local herbs during delivery and is associated with some adverse pregnancy outcomes. PPH, perineal tears and low APGAR scores were associated with local herb use. Hence, we recommend, health care providers to discuss the use of local herbs with their pregnant women during ANC, highlight adverse fetal and maternal outcomes. We also recommend further studies to establish the efficacy and of the commonly used herbs to ensure the well-being of the mother and fetus.