Background: Self-medication during pregnancy is of great interest. The use of drugs during pregnancy requires a careful reflection on the benefits to the mother and the risks to the fetus. It is a difficult medical situation for clinicians to select the drug because of the various pharmacokinetic and physiological changes encountered in pregnant women this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and associated factors in worldwide pregnant women by a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the published studies on self-medication during pregnancy. Methods: Searches were carried out at PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were analyzed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies instrument. The extracted data were tabulated and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women was 44.50% (95% CI: 38.92-50.23). The subgroup analysis has shown a difference in the prevalence of self-medication which is influenced by region, Income of countries, and study design. The Heterogeneity, assessed by the statistical test I2 varied from 96% to 99% and was statistically significant. The result of this funnel plot showed that the funnel plot was symmetry with p-value = 0.36, and there is no publication bias. Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that the prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women is relatively high. This requires effective measures and interventions to reduce self-medication. Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.aa.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=312333 ID=CRD42022312333.
Context Worldwide access to medication remains a major public health problem that forces pregnant women to self-medicate with several sources, such as medicinal plants. This alternative medicine is increasing in many low- and high-income countries for several reasons. Objective This a systematic literature review on the prevalence of herbal use during pregnancy from the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. Methods Cross-sectional studies were searched from January 2011 to June 2021 on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. We used the Rayyan website to identify the relevant studies by screening the abstracts and titles. These were followed by reading the full texts to identify the final studies to be included. The data were extracted, and the quality of the studies was assessed using the quality appraisal tool. Results Of the 33 studies included in this review, 19 were conducted in Iran, 5 in Saudi Arabia, 4 in Palestine, 2 in Egypt, and 1 each in Oman, Iraq, and Jordan; the prevalence of herbal medicine use among pregnant women varied from 19.2% to 90.2%. Several plants were mentioned for pain management during the pregnancy period. The findings suggest family and friends are major motivating sources for the use of herbal medicine. Conclusions The wide variety of herbal products used in this study reflects the traditions and geographic diversity of the region. Despite the importance of literature-based data about the use of herbal medicine, it is necessary to obtain knowledge, attitude, and motivation for herbal consumption among pregnant women.
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