According to World Health Organization (WHO), a vast majority of people in Africa and Asia rely on herbal medicine for their primary health care needs. The concomitant use of traditional and biomedical systems of care is common in both rural and urban areas in Africa. Use of herbal medicine and traditional systems of care by expectant mothers as well as lack of disclosure to healthcare practitioner has an influence on both health-seeking behavior and outcomes of care. The broad objective of this study was to assess the utilization of herbal medicine among women in Embu Provincial General Hospital .The specific objectives of the study were: a) to determine the prevalence of use of herbal medicine in the study group, b) to determine the socio-demographic factors associated with herbal medicine use in the study group, and c) assess health-seeking behaviour, disclosure to healthcare practitioner and perception of safety and efficacy among users and non-users. It was a cross-sectional survey of 165 randomly selected women. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire administered by an interviewer or self-administered in presence of interviewer. Quantitative data was entered into SPSS version 16.0 and analyzed descriptively (means and frequencies). Chi-square test was used to compare differences between categorical variables at 0.05significance level. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze for joint effect of more than one independent variable. The prevalence of herbal medicines use during pregnancy, labour and post-partum period among women attending antenatal clinic at Embu Provincial General Hospital (PGH) was high (70%).Age, distance to the nearest health facility, employment status and number of children were found to be significantly associated with use of herbal medicine. The use of herbal supplements in pregnancy is likely to be relatively high in pregnant Kenyan women and it is important to ascertain which supplements (if any) women are taking. Pregnancy care providers should be aware of the common herbal supplements used by women and of the evidence regarding potential benefits or harm. It is essential that health care personnel teach their patients about possible interactions between herbs and prescription or over-the counter medications.

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