Ginger Helpful for Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy CME
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003;189:1374-1377
Jan. 6, 2004 — Ginger is safe and mildly effective for the treatment
of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), according to the results of
a prospective comparative study published in the November issue of the
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"Many women are hesitant to take medicinal drugs for fear of harming
the fetus, so consequently they are often interested in nonmedicinal
options such as acupressure, acupuncture, and ginger," write Galina
Portnoi, MD, from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, and
colleagues. "Despite the years of the use of ginger in many cultures,
there remains little information regarding its safety and efficacy
during pregnancy."
The investigators compared pregnant women who were taking ginger
during the first trimester of pregnancy with a group of women who were
exposed to nonteratogenic drugs that were not antiemetic medications.
Of 187 pregnancies, there were 181 live births, two stillbirths, three
spontaneous abortions, and one therapeutic abortion. There were no
significant differences in outcomes between the two groups, except
that more infants weighed less than 2,500 g in the comparison group
(12 vs. 3; P </= .001).
In the group taking ginger, mean birth weight was 3,542 ± 543 g, mean
gestational age was 39 ± 2 weeks, and there were three major
malformations. Of 66 women who completed scores rating on a scale of 0
to 10 how effective the ginger was for their nausea and vomiting, the
mean score was 3.3 ± 2.9 SD.
Although the small sample size resulted in limited power to examine
the rates of major malformations, the authors concluded that ginger
does not appear to increase the rates above the baseline rate of 1% to
3%.
"The results also suggest that ginger is somewhat helpful in
alleviating the symptoms of NVP, more so with the capsules than any
other preparation," they write. "This evidence-based information can
be helpful to women and their health professionals when making the
decision regarding the treatment of nausea and vomiting with ginger
during pregnancy."
Duchesnay Inc. supported the Motherisk NVP Helpline used to enroll
women in this study. Mead Johnson/Canada also supported this study
through an unrestricted grant.
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003;189:1374-1377