Raspberry leaf - important information for all breeders

HI everyone this is very long but worth the read, I found this while looking on another website. Again sorry for the length...

I have been researching the contra indications of giving Raspberry leaf as a supplement to a pregnant bitch, this stuff is widely available from health stores promoting it's virtue's for easy and fast birth, so you would expect it to be perfectly safe, right? well draw your own conclusions from what I have discovered.

Firstly I would like to quote Karen copely from whelpwise, this taken from a seminar in which she recently spoke, she says and I quote
PHChristy: Can I ask about problems with red raspberry leaf you have observed?

WhelpWise: We keep outcome statistics on everyone who uses the service

WhelpWise: we look at diet, supplements, c-section rate, fetal mortality rate

WhelpWise: what we noticed very early on was a much higher fetal mortality rate for people who were using anything with red raspberry or any of the other uterine stimulants

WhelpWise: this contrasted sharply with the mortality rate of people who were not using them, 33 percent fetal mortality with, 5-7 percent without

WhelpWise: red raspberry is sold to make the uterus stronger

WhelpWise: people think by "exercising" the uterus it will get stronger and you will have a faster, better whelping

WhelpWise: what people don't realize is that the uterus is made out of smooth muscle, not skeletal muscle like your arms and legs

WhelpWise: smooth muscle is what lines the inside of your blood vessels and bronchial tubes, you have no control over it

WhelpWise: by stimulating it with red raspberry you cannot make it stronger, but you can make it more irritable

WhelpWise: irritable means that instead of having a nice relaxed smooth uterus for the placenta to burrow into and establish a good blood supply, it is constricted and hard, not allowing good placental attachment, thus causing premature placental separation and fetal death

On reading this I became exremely worried so I contacted our own National Service Helpline and asked what the present recommendations were about raspberry leaf for pregnant women. The lady I spoke to there was very helpful, it appears that this product is under research at the moment, it has been shown to cause miscarriages between 10-16 weeks into pregnancy, case studies have also been done using rats.

She then looked up the product from the two reference guides that they use on herbal remedies, the first being Mosby's handbook of herbs and natural supplements by Linda Skidmore Roth and the second being -Herbal medicines 2nd ed by Joanne Burnes, Linda Anderson and David Philipson, in a big green contra indications box this product is no longer being recommended to be taken by pregnant women as it is under study and more tests and reaserch is being caried out on it.

I will leave you to draw your own conclusions as to whether or not you may still think this stuff is safe, I for one will not be touching it with a bargepole. My research has also revealed to me that because of the nature of this supplement ie it is known for making the uterus wall stronger the critical implantation stage for the embryos would be in peril, the may never attatch and could be reabsorbed, I have also come to the conclusion that it could cause a bitch to abort some or all or her pups, reducing what might have been a larger litter to just 2 or 3. It can also make the onset of labour happen before it is supposed to. Of course as with everything there are people who have used this with great results but have they had great results because of it? I wonder if the results would have been similar had they not have used it at all, I also have to conclude that as with anything, some products can have no effect, some can have good effects and some can have devastating effects, I am not prepared to take the chance to find out which category my bitch falls under.

For those of you still convinced, read this, it is what I have been waiting for from Karen, and I received it very late last night, it also explains why some people have had good results whilst others devastating:-

Red RaspberryBy Karen Copley RNC BSN
Many dog breeders have used Red Raspberry as the miracle cure for all whelping and pregnancy ills. With the introduction of uterine contraction monitoring, through the WhelpWise service, potential problems that can develop with the use of Red Raspberry have been discovered.

Many people do not realize that when they are giving or taking "herbal remedies" they are in fact ingesting drugs. Most of our prescription drugs come from plants, fungi, or bacteria. The advantage that a drug has over the plant is that the drug has a known quantity and quality of the chemical it is providing. Herbal preparations can vary significantly in the amount of chemical they contain. One batch may have a minimal amount, the next toxic levels. People also should understand is how this plant/drug works, what is the desired effect and will I achieve it, and what are the potential risks of administering this plant/drug.

Red Raspberry does exactly what the distributors say it does. It makes the uterus contract. What the knowledgeable breeder needs to ask is; do I want my bitch to have contractions? How can I regulate the contractions so that they are not excessively strong?

The uterus is composed of smooth muscle, not skeletal muscle like our arms and legs. Other smooth muscles in the body are located in the blood vessels, the intestines, and the bronchial tubes. Uterine contractions occur throughout life. Even as you are reading this article, providing of course that you are female, you may experience a contraction as they generally occur one or so every hour.

Someone, somewhere, obviously not aware that smooth muscle does not get stronger with use, decided that the uterus should be exercised; therefore causing contractions during pregnancy will make the uterus stronger. Quite the contrary. "Exercising" the uterus makes as much sense as inducing an asthma attack to make your lungs stronger, raising your blood pressure to make your arteries stronger -- or how about diarrhea to make your digestive system more effective?
The uterus, being a generally smart organ on its own, has specific contraction patterns to facilitate a healthy pregnancy. A non-pregnant uterus generally has 1 contraction per hour. As estrus approaches, contractions increase, with 3-4 per hour at ovulation. The purpose of increased contractions at this point is to help spread the eggs down the uterus so that they do not try to implant in one area. The second through fifth week of gestation is the time of the least uterine contractions, frequently less than one per hour. This uterine quiescence provides a stable target for embryos to implant on and for placentas to develop.

Beginning week six, a gradual increase in contractions per hour is noted with the average number of contractions per hour during week eight, being two to three. The last 24 hours of pregnancy will see the establishment of an organized contraction pattern, with deliveries beginning 8-12 hours after its onset. Frequently the organized contraction pattern in the early stages is not identifiable without the use of the uterine monitoring equipment; therefore we think a dog's labor is 1-2 hours.

Why would the use of the Red Raspberry be a problem? If you look at early gestation where it is best for the uterus not contract, Red Raspberry can actually cause the fertilized eggs to be expelled. A moving uterus also makes a difficult target for the embryos to implant on, as healthy placentas must burrow into the uterine endometrium to remain well attached. A difficult task if the uterus is contracting. If placentas do not become well attached, less blood and oxygen supply will be available resulting in smaller, less vigorous pups and possibly resorbtions. Labor, the time of most stress on the placenta and puppy, can cause premature placental separation if the placenta is not well attached.

Use of Red Raspberry during labor can cause contractions to be to long and/or to strong. Every time the uterus contracts the blood supply to the puppy is cut off because the blood vessels going to the puppy go through the uterine muscle. When the muscle contracts, the blood supply is cut off. If Red Raspberry is used there is no way to regulate the amount of chemical entering the system, and no way to prevent over-stimulating the uterus. Exceptionally strong contractions contribute to puppy compromise by decreasing oxygen to the puppy, causing premature placental separation and in some cases, uterine rupture. Additionally, the unregulated use of oxytocin, especially in high doses has the same effect.

Documented cases of premature labor have also been associated with the use of Red Raspberry. Fortunately, with the early detection of the contraction pattern, and the use of medications to stop the labor, these cases were able to make it to their due dates.

My advice for pregnancy and whelping:

Pregnancy is a process best left alone. Interventions can be very detrimental. One of the best things that you can do for your expectant Mom is make sure she has a healthy diet. Feed a dog food designed for pregnancy, or, feed a well balanced dog food (free of chemical preservatives), through week six, then switch to puppy food. If you are feeding the raw diet make sure that you have adequate levels of protein, calcium and vitamin D. Food supplementation the last week and a half of pregnancy with a natural dairy food like cottage cheese or yogurt will help with the "picky eater" syndrome.



A multi-vitamin supplement is OK, but make sure you read the label to see that it does not contain Red Raspberry. Whelping interventions should only be made when there is a documented problem. Medication such as Oxytocin should be only used if indicated, and in very small amounts. Ideally no medication should be given unless a uterine contraction monitor is used. Mother nature has actually done a very good job designing the reproduction process. It is important for us to support the process, not interrupt it with unnecessary interventions, potentially causing harm along the way. Hope this hasn't upset anybody who has had any bad experiences whilst using this stuff and all I can say is to those of you who haven't - you have been very lucky, I also think this info is important for all the women out there who are still using this stuff for themselves during pregnancy, and cannot understand why this stuff DOES NOT come with warnings.

Mike