Introduction: - Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) is a medicinally important plant, belonging tornfamily Moringaceae. This plant has been recently getting great popularity in Ethiopia due to itsrnmultiple uses. The leaves of Moringa stenopetala are traditionally used for the treatment ofrnvarious ailments such as malaria, hypertension, and diabetes. The use of Moringa stenopetala isrnknown to be beneficial in different systems of the body. However, there have been no studiesrnconducted to investigate its effects on the developing embryo and fetuses. rnObjective: - This study was conducted to evaluate the possible teratogenic effects of leaves ofrnMoringa stenopetala in wistar rat. rnMethods: - The leaves of moringa stenopetala were collected in Arbaminch, Southern Ethiopia.rnThe leaves were dried and crushed to powder using mortar and pestle. The dried leaves werernextracted by maceration using 80% methanol. The 80% methanolic extract of Moringa leaf atrndoses of 250mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg were orally administered to pregnant Wistar ratsrnfrom day 6 through day 12 of gestation. Embryos and fetuses were recovered on gestational day12rnorrnday-20,rnrespectively,rnandrnwerernquantitativelyrnandrnqualitativelyrnassessedrnforrndevelopmentalrnrnanomalies.rnrnHistopathological examination was carried out on the placenta from both therntreatment and control groups. rnResult: -Results of the present study showed that Moringa exposure during pregnancy mightrnhave teratogenic effects in rat embryos and fetuses at a dose of 1000mg/kg. In the day-20rnexperiment, significant prenatal growth retardation such as reduced fetal weight and crown-rumprnlength (CRL) were observed in near term fetuses of 1000mg/kg (highest dose) Moringa treatedrnanimals. This growth retardation was in excess of those in the pair-fed control and ad libitumrngroup (p