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  2. Volume 3 | Issue 1 [January to March]
  3. GARBHASTHAPAKA AND PRAJASTHAPANA DRAVYA IN PREGNANCY: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CLASSICAL BASIS, CLINICAL EVIDENCE AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
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Tushar Tapadiya

GARBHASTHAPAKA AND PRAJASTHAPANA DRAVYA IN PREGNANCY: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CLASSICAL BASIS, CLINICAL EVIDENCE AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

Ayurveda gives particular attention to the care of the pregnant woman (garbhini paricharya). Classical texts name a group of drugs that sustain pregnancy (prajasthapana or garbhasthapaka dravya) and prescribe month-by-month diets and preparations. These drugs, such as Brahmi, Durva, Guduchi and Haritaki, together with widely used antenatal drugs such as Shatavari, are still recommended by Ayurvedic practitioners and appear in commercial antenatal products. This review examines the classical basis, the clinical evidence and the safety considerations relevant to their use. We found no randomised controlled trial showing that any classical garbhasthapaka drug reduces miscarriage, preterm birth or other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The few clinical studies identified were small, often uncontrolled, or registered without published results. By contrast, ginger, an Ayurvedic drug used for nausea, has been tested in twelve randomised trials with 1,278 women; it improved nausea without a significant increase in spontaneous abortion, and the World Health Organization lists it among options for nausea in early pregnancy. The main documented safety risk comes from contamination and from metal-containing preparations. A survey of Ayurvedic products sold online found lead, mercury or arsenic in 20.7%, and a public health investigation in New York identified lead poisoning in six pregnant women using Ayurvedic medicines. Pregnancy is a period in which the absence of evidence of harm cannot be taken as evidence of safety. We recommend restricting antenatal use to plant-only, pharmacopoeial-grade products of established food or classical use, avoiding metal-containing preparations, and establishing pregnancy exposure registries and controlled trials.