Ethno-pharmacological screening of Vernonia amygdalina and Cleome gynandra traditionally used in Childbirth in Western Uganda

Over 80% of pregnant women in Western Uganda deliver at home with the assistance of mainly traditional birth attendants who use herbal remedies to complete the processes of child bearing in the rural communities. In Uganda, complications resulting from reproductive health related conditions such as maternal mortality and morbidity (20.4%) account for number one problem among the disease burden followed by malaria (15.4%). The national maternal mortality average is 506/100,000 and that has remained stable for over the last ten years. Despite the wide usage of herbal remedies in childbirth, this indigenous knowledge is not well documented and the claims not properly validated through scientific scrutiny under conditions mimicking the indigenous methods of use. This paper will discuss the crude aqueous herbal extracts of Vernonia amygdalina Del. and Cleome gynandra L. that were screened for their bioactivities on the motility of the rat uterus and rabbit jejunum. The ethnopharmacological screening results showed that the aqueous herbal extracts of V. amygdalina and C. gynandra increased rat uterine motility. In addition, aqueous extracts from V. amygdalina caused rabbit jejunum contraction. The aqueous plant extracts of V. amygdalina and C. gynandra that increased the rat uterine contraction may be oxytocic. Since the usage of herbal medicines offers a holistic approach that is lacking in western medicine, integration and safety aspects of herbal medicine development is a concern to the developing countries and globally.