Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Pregnancy Related Problems in Sokoto State, Nigeria doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v2i11.1
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Abstract
The use of plants during pregnancy is a common practice in Africa. In Nigeria, despite modern medical antenatal prescriptions, most women resort to traditional medicine to ensure fetal development and safe delivery. Yet, there is a scanty botanical data on the plants used. There is need to document these plants used by pregnant women in order to offer integrated antenatal care and identify potential interactions or contraindications. This study was carried out to document the medicinal plants used traditionally in the treatment of pregnancy related problems within Sokoto metropolis. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to Traditional healers, Traditional Birth Attendants and Herb Sellers. A total of 70 respondents were interviewed, majority of these respondents were Traditional Birth Attendants (52.9%) and females (77.14%). Over seventy-four percent had practiced for more than 10 years and majority (76.2%) were above 50 years of age. A total of 25 species of medicinal plants, belonging to 16 families were recorded with the Fabaceae family having the highest number of species, followed by the Combretaceae and Capparaceae. Leaf (44.9%) was the most common plant part used and decoction (44%) was the most common method of preparation of the medicines. Most of the herbs are administered orally (94.3.7%). Celosia laxa had the highest Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) while Acacia nilotica had the highest Fidelity Level (FL) and RFC combination and can be said to be the most important plant in this study. Scientific validation of the biological properties of the surveyed plants is recommended.
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