National Toxicology Program

Herbal Supplement intake by pregnant or nursing women

The March of Dimes advises pregnant and nursing women to speak to their doctors before taking herbal supplements (March of Dimes 2002). Because of the following reasons, the March of Dimes states that it cannot be assumed that herbal supplements are safe:

1)  Some herbal supplements are suspected of causing harmful effects.

2)  Unlike drugs, supplements are not required by the Food and Drug administration to undergo rigorous testing to
     demonstrate their effectiveness and safety.

3)  Quality control standards to ensure a consistent amount of active ingredient and lack of contamination are not required for supplements.

4)  Some supplements can interact with medications and reduce their effectiveness.

More information on Herbal Supplements

The March of Dimes lists supplements that should be avoided by pregnant or nursing women (March of Dimes 2002).  

The Food and Drug Administration publishes a newsletter about supplements (FDA 2002) and issues consumer advisories about supplements suspected of causing adverse health effects (FDA 2002).

The American Academy of Family Physicians (American Family Physicians, 1999) lists some herbal supplements and the medications they can interact with (American Family Physician, 1999).

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences describes herbal supplements that are selected to undergo toxicity testing by the National Toxicology Program (NIEHS News 1999).   More information on the testing status of these herbs can be obtained by searching the National Toxicology Program website (NTP).  

Information on herbal supplements and other complementary or alternative treatments is provided in a website by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM 2002). Included on that site are descriptions of clinical trials to examine possible benefits of herbal and other alternative treatments (NCCAM Clinical Trials 2002).