Hi David, I was thinking to recommend nettles to a patient who is pregnant (24 weeks) and tends towards anemia, and also has one kidney (she gave one to her brother). She's considered a "high risk" pregnancy b/c of advanced maternal age and the one kidney, and so was put on baby aspirin as a blood thinner. I read online in a few sources that nettles should not be given if someone is taking a blood thinner like warfarin, but I wonder the relevance if any to the baby aspirin... I also read that it can cause uterine contractions in pregnancy. I know the internet is filled with misinformation and a lot of fear around taking anything in pregnancy. I thought it was quite standard practice to recommend nettles to pregnant women - am I wrong? I know it's not your speciality, but do you have any thoughts on this?

I have not heard that Nettle can cause uterine contractions and do not think this is valid. It does contain vitamin K which could be problematic with warfarin, but most likely will not affect aspirin. You should be aware that Nettle is used to stop bleeding, so it might (but I doubt it) , reduce aspirins blood thinning effect . The Botanical safety handbook has Nettles as a class 1 herb (no CI) and interactions class A (none known).

thank you! v helpful. I am going to get that handbook.