title: What risks do women face when seeking advice during pregnancy from pharmacies and natural health retailers?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Potential risks to mother and foetus exist with the incorrect use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products during pregnancy. This study aimed to identify the risks that a woman may face when seeking advice during pregnancy from pharmacies and health food stores (HFS) in Greater Wellington (New Zealand).
  
  
  METHODS
  21 HFS and 21 geographically-matched pharmacies were visited by a researcher who sought advice regarding vitamin supplementation and nausea in early pregnancy using a standardised scenario. Any advice given, including details of recommended products, was documented immediately upon leaving the premises. Proportions were obtained and paired contingency table analysis was used to examine the agreement between the matched pairs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A minority of pharmacies (5/21, 23.8%) and HFS (1/21, 4.8%) made primary recommendations for nausea which were supported by Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines, and both pharmacies (14/21, 66.7%) and HFS (7/21, 33.3%) recommended products contrary to these guidelines. A greater proportion of pharmacies gave advice consistent with MOH recommended dosage of folic acid supplementation than HFS (20/21, 95.2% vs 10/21, 47.6%). 2/21 (9.5%) of pharmacies and 4/21 (19%) of HFS gave advice with a potential risk of vitamin A overdose.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacies and HFS in Greater Wellington provided potentially hazardous advice, recommending products, often branded for pregnancy, which contradicted NZ MOH guidelines. Regulatory reform of CAM products and those who sell them is called for in New Zealand.
authors: Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Jefferies
authors: Bridget
authors: B
authors: Healy
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Weatherall
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Beasley
authors: Philippa
authors: P
authors: Shirtcliffe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000592:standards*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards*; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000592:standards*; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D011247:Pregnancy; D012306:Risk; D012651:Self Medication