Expert Debunks 'Raspberry Leaf Tea' Pregnancy Hack

After a mom went viral for saying that loose leaf tea and pineapple helped her have an incredibly quick labor, a medical expert has dispelled her claims.

Justine Glenn, from the U.K., said in a viral TikTok video that "drinking raspberry leaf tea at 32 weeks," walking 10,000 steps a day, and eating pineapple helped her have a "very quick but very painful positive labor."

In the video, posted on her account (@jussyglenn) on August 5, Glenn is pictured cradling her newborn daughter, while sharing the speedy timeline of her delivery. Her waters broke at 1 p.m., and by 5:15 p.m., she was 7 centimeters [2.75 inches] dilated, with her baby "born 6 minutes later." The video has already been viewed more than 5 million times and received almost 500,000 likes.

While Glenn might believe that the loose-leaf tea and pineapple played a pivotal role in her quick delivery, board-certified nurse midwife Kristin Mallon told Newsweek that the most probable reason was likely her active lifestyle.

Mallon, who is a certified obstetrical nurse with more than 20 years of experience helping women of all ages, said that the No. 1 thing that an expectant mother can do for a natural birth with minimal intervention is aerobic exercise.

Mallon added: "When you've attended as many births as I have and worked with as many women through their prenatal care and into their birth, you start to notice patterns. I've seen hundreds of women take red raspberry leaf tea, eat dates, pineapple, oregano, and have castor oil, just to name a few.

"The No. 1 way to have a relatively quick birth is to do a minimum of 150 minutes a week of aerobic zone two exercise. When I see women doing this, they generally have lower risk of diabetes in pregnancy, less chance of needing to be induced or of being overdue. These are also the women who often need less intervention at birth."

Doing zone two aerobic exercise will increase the heart rate to around 70 percent of its maximum, and Mallon said pregnant women should do this for around 30 to 50 minutes at a time. This could be walking on a treadmill, jogging, playing tennis, swimming, or dancing.

After seeing Glenn's viral video, Mallon added that the mom could be linking her quick birth to factors that had very little consequence.

Mallon said: "In all my years of experience and seeing thousands of women give birth, I have not seen the pattern that pineapple or red raspberry leaf tea does anything to decrease the time of labor.

"Perhaps walking 10,000 steps helped this woman, but my suspicion is that she had a propensity towards precipitous delivery, and that's why her labor went quickly. It's probably a story of association and not causation."

When Glenn delivered her daughter at 38 weeks and four days' gestation, she added that her incredibly quick delivery was done with "no tears" and "no pain relief."

At the time of writing, the video has already received more than 900 comments with a mix of reactions. Some commenters have related to Glenn's claims, with many sharing their own similar experiences. One comment reads: "I drank raspberry leaf tea almost my whole pregnancy, and my midwives were in shock with how fast my labor went."

Another person commented: "I swear by raspberry leaf tea. 2 babies, no tearing, both born under 4 hours from first contraction."

However, some TikTok users posted that they tried this, and it made little difference.

"My labors were this fast, or faster, and I did nothing," wrote one user.

Another person responded: "It's not raspberry leaf tea, it's you girl! You did a great job! Well done and congratulations."

Newsweek reached out to @jussyglenn via Instagram for comment. We could not verify the details of the video.

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