Safety of ginger use in pregnancy: results from a large population-based cohort study.

Heitmann, Kristine; Nordeng, Hedvig; Holst, Lone

Purpose: The objective of the study was to examine the safety of ginger use during pregnancy on congenital malformations and selected pregnancy outcomes. Methods: The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study, a large population-based cohort, provided the data used in this study. Our study population consisted of 68,522 women. Data on ginger use and socio-demographic factors were retrieved from three self-administered questionnaires completed by the women during weeks 17 and 30 of the pregnancy and when their child was 6 months old. Data on pregnancy outcomes were provided by the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Results: Among the 68,522 women in the study, 1,020 (1.5 %) women reported using ginger during pregnancy. The use of ginger during pregnancy was not associated with any increased risk of congenital malformations. No increased risk for stillbirth/perinatal death, preterm birth, low birth weight, or low Apgar score was detected for the women exposed to ginger during pregnancy compared to women who had not been exposed. Conclusion: Use of ginger during pregnancy does not seem to increase the risk of congenital malformations, stillbirth/perinatal death, preterm birth, low birth weight, or low Apgar score. This finding is clinically important for health care professionals giving advice to pregnant women with NPV.

NORWAY; HUMAN abnormalities; APGAR score; CHI-squared test; CONFIDENCE intervals; EPIDEMIOLOGY; GINGER; LONGITUDINAL method; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESEARCH funding; LOGISTIC regression analysis; DATA analysis; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; PREGNANCY; DISEASE risk factors

European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2013, Vol 69, Issue 2, p269

0031-6970

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00228-012-1331-5