Ginger for pregnant women, probably safe
to be safe for the foetus, report researchers, but they found it
only had a mild effect on sickness.
Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, studied 187 pregnant women who used some form of ginger in the first trimester. They report that risk of these mothers having a baby with a congenital malformation was no higher than in a control group.
Overall, three babies were born with birth defects affecting the heart, lungs or kidneys, according to findings published in the November issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The women were also asked on a scale of 0 to10 how effective the ginger was for their symptoms of morning sickness. The researchers concluded that "it has a mild effect" in the treatment of the symptoms, but around half of the women said ginger was ineffective for them.
This could be explained by the differences in type of ginger products the women took. In capsule form, the herb has previously been shown to be effective.
