Medicine Use Among Pregnant Women in Ibadan, Nigeria: Common, but Not Always Safe

In Ibadan, Nigeria, many pregnant women turn to unprescribed and herbal medicines. This is a big concern because these medicines can harm their unborn babies. Scientists studied 571 women and found that 31. 9% used unprescribed medicines and 21. 7% used herbal medicines. They wanted to know why women used these medicines and what happened to their pregnancies. Women with more education and higher incomes were less likely to use unprescribed medicines. So were women who went to antenatal care often and took malaria prevention medicine. But women with many children and those who had to stay in the hospital during pregnancy were more likely to use unprescribed medicines. After considering other factors, only education and taking malaria medicine mattered. Women who used herbal medicines had similar reasons, but none were significant after considering other factors. Using these medicines didn't affect pregnancy outcomes much. The study shows that many pregnant women in Ibadan use medicines that aren't prescribed or aren't proven safe. This is a problem that health workers should pay attention to and teach women about during antenatal care.