Chinese Herbs for Tendons and Ligaments: Gu Sui Bu
Gu Sui Bu is called the mender of shattered bones, but it earns its place in
Patient Guides · Herbs & Pregnancy
Willard Sheppy is a licensed acupuncturist (LAc) and Founder of Valley Health Clinic specializing in using Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat acute injuries and chronic conditions, and to improve sports performance and rehabilitation.
I get asked this constantly, and the honest answer surprises people.
Yes. Chinese medicine is very safe to use during pregnancy. In general, I have no problem with people taking formulas while they’re pregnant.
And I still tell my patients to stop.
Those two things are not a contradiction, and the reason why is worth explaining properly.
The short version: most Chinese herbal formulas are safe in pregnancy, and some were written specifically for it. But I advise patients to stop taking formulas once they’re pregnant — not because the herbs are dangerous, but because pregnancies end for many reasons, and no woman should be left wondering whether she caused it. That’s a decision about peace of mind, not pharmacology. A small number of formulas are genuine exceptions and should be stopped regardless.
Chinese medicine did not stumble into pregnancy care recently. The Jin Gui Yao Lue, written around 200 CE, has an entire chapter on the diseases of pregnancy. There are formulas in the canon designed to calm a restless pregnancy, and formulas used specifically to prevent miscarriage.
This is also not a historical curiosity. Roughly a third of pregnant women in Taiwan use Chinese herbal medicine at some point during pregnancy, and across the United States, the UK, Australia, Europe, and Africa, herbal product use in pregnancy has been reported anywhere from ten to seventy-four percent of pregnancies depending on the population studied.
So the practice is old, it is enormous, and it is ongoing.
My reasoning has almost nothing to do with the herbs.
Pregnancies stop for many reasons. Most of them have nothing to do with anything the mother did. But if a pregnancy ends while she is taking an herbal formula, she is going to ask herself a question: Did I do something wrong? Could I have done something different? Did I cause this?
And it does not matter how much reassurance she gets. It does not matter what the research says. That question lingers.
I am not willing to hand a patient that. So I tell them to stop.
Stop taking formulas when you're pregnant. Not because they're bad, not because they're wrong, not because they will hurt the baby — but because you will always wonder. It's just human nature. Stop the formulas mainly for peace of mind.
— Will Sheppy, L.Ac.
Everything above is about formulas in general. A smaller group of formulas carries a real, specific caution, and this comes from inside the tradition — not from outside nervousness about herbs.
The category to know is blood-moving formulas. Herbs whose job is to break up stasis can also stimulate uterine contractions. That is the same property that makes them useful in the right patient and a problem in a pregnant one.
A practical example from our own shelf: Glow Tea is built on Gui Zhi Fu Ling, which contains Tao Ren and Mu Dan Pi — two dedicated blood-breakers. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia lists this formula as one for pregnant women to use with caution, and many clinical references go further and call it contraindicated. It comes off the list at a positive pregnancy test.
Its counterpart, Copeia, is the opposite case — Dang Gui Shao Yao San sits in the pregnancy chapter of its source text and is used through pregnancy in Japan today. Even so, my peace-of-mind rule still applies.
Individual herbs carry their own cautions too. Yi Mu Cao and certain blood-moving formulas are flagged for the first trimester in particular.
This is exactly the reason to work with a practitioner rather than a search result. Including this one.
If you are trying to conceive and taking herbs, decide in advance what you will stop and when. Making that decision at a positive test, in the moment, is harder than it needs to be.
Educational content rooted in 20+ years of clinical practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Not intended to replace consultation with a qualified healthcare practitioner or your obstetric provider.
Generally yes. Chinese medicine has treated pregnancy for close to two thousand years and has formulas written specifically for it. That said, formal safety research is thinner than the length of that tradition suggests, and a smaller group of formulas — particularly blood-moving ones — carries genuine cautions.
Blood-moving and stasis-breaking formulas are the main category to avoid, because the same action that breaks up stasis can stimulate uterine contractions. Gui Zhi Fu Ling is a common example. Individual herbs including Yi Mu Cao carry first-trimester cautions. Ask your practitioner about your specific formula rather than relying on a general list.
Tell your practitioner today, not at your next appointment, and tell your OB or midwife what you have been taking. Most formulas are not a cause for alarm, but blood-moving formulas should be stopped immediately.
Often because they are answering different questions. “Is this formula pharmacologically dangerous?” and “Should you be taking it?” are separate. My own answer is to stop — mostly so that if something goes wrong, you are never left wondering whether you caused it.
A different question with a different answer, and generally a more comfortable one — acupuncture is widely used throughout pregnancy. Ask your practitioner about it separately from herbs.
Gu Sui Bu is called the mender of shattered bones, but it earns its place in
Two classical fertility formulas from the same ancient text. One dissolves, one nourishes. Here is how
Copeia Tea is built on Dang Gui Shao Yao San — one of the most used
