Chula Medicine Found Thai Herbal Tea Comparable to Modern Medicines in Stimulating Breast Milk Production

Chula Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, released research results on "Wang Nam Yen" herbal tea to stimulate lactation in mothers after childbirth, especially those who have had a cesarean delivery. The herbal tea yielded as good results as modern medicine and is slated for commercial production and export. 

BANGKOK, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nowadays, modern mothers are more willing to breastfeed because breast milk is rich in nutrients important for their babies' growth and development, yet, they are plagued with the problem of having too little or no breast milk.

"Obstetricians often give Domperidone, which is usually used as an antiemetic drug, to induce breast milk, but these uses are banned in some countries, such as the United States because of the side effects of causing abnormal electrocardiogram," said Associate Professor Krit Pongpirul, M.D., PhD., Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University.

"Wang Nam Yen" herbal tea comes from the research of Mr. Pinit Chinsoi, a pharmacist who had collected herbal formulas in traditional Thai medicine and compared the safety to that of modern medicine. Five herbs were selected: bael, sappanwood (fang), ginger, licorice, and jewel vine to cure fatigue, heavy blood loss, muscle pain, low breast milk, and dizziness which are some of the postpartum symptoms. The formula was named "Wang Nam Yen" in honor of Wang Nam Yen Hospital, Sa Kaeo Province, at which Mr. Pinit was stationed as a pharmacist at that time.

The research team developed a study to test and compare the effectiveness of postpartum breast milk stimulation between "Wang Nam Yen" Thai herbal tea and modern medicine. The study participants were 120 mothers who had a cesarean birth and received nursing care at Sansitphrasong Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani Province, from February-September 2017 under the clinical supervision of Doctor Koollachart Saejueng, M.D., a resident obstetrician at the hospital then.

The results suggest that the mothers who received herbal tea produced more milk than other groups 24 hours after birth, and they produced a similar amount of milk to the group who received modern medicine 48, and 72 hours after birth and performed better than the group that received placebos.

Read the full article at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/116790/

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SOURCE Chulalongkorn University Communication Center