No, purslane and palm oil won’t prevent miscarriage

“NATURAL TREATMENT TO TIGHTEN THE CERVIX AND PREVENT MISCARRIAGE,” begins a message posted on Facebook in Nigeria.

It claims a mixture of purslane and palm oil will prevent miscarriage.

“Look for a good handful of fresh leaves of purslane, crush them to make a purée to add palm oil and to give food to the woman suffering from the miscarriage. This quantity is sufficient for the treatment,” it reads.

But will this mixture prevent miscarriage?

Avoid herbal mixtures

Purslane is a small, fleshy plant from the Portulacaceae family. It has a reddish stem and spoon-shaped leaves and flowers.

“I haven’t read any literature on this remedy, so I wouldn’t advise any woman to take it,” Zakari Muhammad, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Nigeria’s Bayero University Kano, told Africa Check. “The claim should be ignored.”

He added: “There is nothing anyone can do to prevent miscarriage. It mostly happens during the first trimester, or first three months, of the pregnancy. Miscarriages can happen for several reasons, many of them out of anyone’s control.”

Muhammad also said pregnant women should not take herbal mixtures.