HERBS USED DURING PREGNANCY AND POST PARTUM IN A GROUP OF WOMEN IN PATNA DISTRICT
Herbal medicines in India are preferred remedies in the traditional system. Large part of globe is now relying on herbal medicines because of having tolerability. There is limited data on the extent of use of herbal medicines by women during pregnancy and post-partum. The knowledge of the potential benefits or harms of many of these products is sparse, particularly with respect to their use in pregnancy and post-partum care. The study has been done with the aim to measure the prevalence of use of herbal medicine in a group of women in Patna district. A survey was carried out to find the reasons, why these women took alternative medicines. Besides that information was gathered whether these drugs were self prescribed or prescribed by a practitioner and also whether they were found to be useful. Herbs used in common among the women's health related conditions such as to facilitate child birth alleviate menstruation problems, assist recovery after miscarriage mitigate postpartum haemorrhage aid postpartum recovery and for use in infant care. In context of the modernization of primary health care system this traditional knowledge has often ignored. The wealth of novel insights into herbs used and preparation will help to understand culturally important practices and their incorporation into modern health care.