Experts document nature’s simple pregnancy test

Women have been having babies since time began. Despite the fact that missed menses was a sure sign, in past times, they have also devised ways to find out if they were pregnant.

In the African culture, particularly South West Nigeria, various plants are used in detecting pregnancy. But the knowledge on the use of plants in detecting pregnancy in South West Nigeria is an art that is going extinct. In some cases, the plants used are no longer known.

Now, scientists are worried about the gap in the knowledge regarding traditional practice of detecting early pregnancy. These plants require to be identified and their potency for pregnancy tests ascertained.

Researchers at Olabisi Onabanjo University in a new survey of plants used in detecting early pregnancy in the Remo and Ijebu areas of Ogun State have listed leaves of five plants used for detecting pregnancy.

These are Culcasia scandens (Agunmona in Yoruba), Ipomoea mauritiana(giant potato,  atewo or atewo-edun in Yoruba), Boerhavia diffusa (Etiponla or Olowojeja in Yoruba), Launea taraxacifolia (African lettuce or Efo yanrin in Yoruba)and Chassalia kolly( Isepe agbe in Yoruba or Tutugbo or Okunadie in Igbo).

The 2017 study published in the Journal of Intercultural Ethnopharmacology, involved Adediwura Fred-Jaiyesimi and Jolaade Taiwo, both from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu Campus, Ogun State.

In traditional medicine, the female could be asked to crush the leaves of B. diffusa or C. kolly or wash her hands with some of the aqueous extracts. Signs of itching and burning sensation are usually used traditionally to confirm pregnancy.

Traditionally in pregnant women, the symptoms often observed when these plants extracts are used include severe pruritus, itching, and restlessness which can be managed traditionally by applying palm oil to affected areas.

The researchers involved herb sellers, traditional medical practitioners (TMP), and midwives from Sagamu, Ikenne, Isara, Ago Iwoye, Ijebu-Oru and Ijebu Igbo in this survey on plants used in detecting early pregnancy.

In conjunction with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, women who had their pregnancy confirmed using the conventional pregnancy tests were included in this study.

The study also compared the effectiveness of two of these herbs for early pregnancy test with the conventional pregnancy test strips using the urine of women in their first trimester and those who visited the antenatal clinic for the first time.

For the leaves, the method adopted is that used traditionally in which urine is poured in a container on the leaf. The development of spots on the leaves is believed to be a confirmation of pregnancy. This method is similar to the “wheat and barley” method used in the ancient Egypt for detecting pregnancy.

Topical and urine tests of plants in detecting pregnancy were designed to mimic procedures used in traditional medicine for detecting pregnancy.

Apart from the pregnancy test carried out for the women in the laboratory, pregnancy was further confirmed using the pregnancy test strips.

In the study, the researchers’ investigation of the pregnancy detecting potentials of these leaves listed Culcasia scandens the most effective, followed by Ipomoea mauritiana. Boerhavia diffusa while Launea taraxacifolia and Chassalia kolly, all have similar potency.

Also, the hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol extracts of B. diffusa and C. kolly exhibited itching and burning sensation as well as restlessness in the animals studied while the urine of pregnant women caused black spots on the leaves of L. taraxacifolia.

The researchers suggested that the black spot effect of urine of pregnant on Launea taraxacifolia leaves was possibly due to the combination of one or a combination of some of its chemical constituents with the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone in pregnant women. The hormone is found in high concentrations in pregnant women.

Urine tests go way back, though. One of the oldest descriptions of a pregnancy test comes from ancient Egypt, where women who suspected they were pregnant would urinate on wheat and barley seeds.

If the wheat grew, they believed, it meant the woman was having a girl; the barley, a boy; if neither plant sprouted, she wasn’t pregnant at all.

When this method was tested scientifically in 1963, it was found that for 70 per cent of pregnant women the grains really did begin to sprout.

Another tradition was that the woman should drink a brew of beer and dates; if she felt dreadfully sick or had to vomit, that was taken as confirmation of pregnancy.

Similarly, a homemade pregnancy test involves the woman urinating directly on the leaves from the dandelion flower, preferably in the morning.

After 10 minutes, the urine-saturated leaves are checked. If there are red blisters that have formed on the leaves, this is a positive pregnancy result.