Drugs in Pregnancy
We seem to have forgotten as a society that drugs pose risks - Dr. Allen A. Mitchell
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Too Many Pills in Pregnancy
The thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s left thousands of babies with deformed limbs because their mothers innocently took a sleeping pill thought to be safe during pregnancy,
In its well-publicized wake, countless pregnant women avoided all medications, fearing that any drug they took could jeopardize their babies’ development.
I was terrified in December 1968 when, during the first weeks of my pregnancy, I developed double pneumonia and was treated with antibiotics and codeine. Before swallowing a single dose, I called my obstetrician, who told me to take what was prescribed, “reassuring” me that if I died of pneumonia I wouldn’t have a baby at all.
In the decades…
Resources
Women Need Answers On Drug Use During Pregnancy. Here’s How To Improve Research
For decades, it’s been taboo to test medications on pregnant women. But doctors, patients, and public health officials are increasingly arguing that it’s unethical not to include them in research. So new ideas for changing the research culture are emerging.
ADHD Meds During Pregnancy Appear To Have Low Risk Of Birth Defects
Researchers found no increased risks for amphetamines medication, but they found a small increased risk for congenital heart defects in newborns exposed to methylphenidate in the first trimester.
Antacids During Pregnancy Tied to Asthma in Children
Using antacids during pregnancy is linked to asthma in offspring, a systematic review of research has found.
Ask an expert: What’s safe to take during pregnancy?
We receive many questions regarding the safety of using various over-the-counter and prescription medicines and supplements while pregnant. Here is our expert's responses to the most-recent questions.
Is It Safe to Take Medication While Pregnant?
Pregnancy was not always off-limits when it came to medication. Before the 1960s the placenta was generally thought of as an impenetrable barrier, protecting the fetus from contaminants. However, after 10,000 children were born in the late 1950s and early 1960s with birth defects as a result of their mothers taking thalidomide, opinion swung in the other direction.
Is Smoking Weed While Pregnant Really So Bad?
Medical marijuana use carries less stigma, unless you're pregnant.
Light Drinking While Pregnant Is Probably Safe
So why are women being told otherwise?
Permeable Boundaries: How Mothers' Meds Affect a Fetus
We are all too aware of the fetus’s vulnerability, in which the placenta seems not an unbreachable barrier but the merest wisp. What is the placenta capable of blocking, I wonder, and what does it allow to pass through?
That New Study On Pregnant Women and Tylenol Isn’t Worth Worrying About—Yet
A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics reports that children born to women who took acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, during pregnancy might have a marginally higher risk of behavioral problems later in life. While findings like these will hopefully inspire further research into the potential side effects of what is currently the only painkiller available for pregnant women, they shouldn’t be cause for anyone to stop taking the drug altogether.
Weighing The Risks And Benefits Of A Drug Prescribed To Pregnant Women For Extreme Morning Sickness
"Some patients would decide to terminate rather than take medicine during pregnancy," Fejzo said of women in the post-thalidomide era. "They're so scared. It is a big problem."
We’re beginning to learn how moms’ antidepressants can affect fetuses
A new study suggests antidepressants affect babies’ brains, but more research is needed.
Too Many Pills in Pregnancy
Now, however, the latest findings about drug use during pregnancy have ignited new concerns among experts who monitor the effects of medications on the developing fetus and pregnancy itself. During the last 30 years, use of prescription drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy, when fetal organs are forming, has grown by more than 60 percent.
MotherToBaby
The experts behind MotherToBaby have created fact sheets that answer frequently asked questions about exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding. MotherToBaby Fact Sheets are available in both English and Spanish and can be downloaded for free. Currently available fact sheets are listed below by category of exposure. All medications are listed by generic name. The generic name can be found on your prescription or medication packaging listed as the Active Ingredient, or in parentheses after the medication’s brand name.
Drugs In Pregnancy
The FDA has categorized the potential teratogenic risk of medications by an A, B, C, D, X system.
Medications that Are Safe during Pregnancy
Women who are between four and 12 weeks pregnant may safely take the following over-the-counter medications. Follow all directions on the container for adult dosage/use.
Treating for Two
Women and healthcare providers don’t have enough information to answer questions about medications and pregnancy. Treating for Two is CDC’s prescription for this problem. Treating for Two aims to improve the health of women and babies by working to identify the safest treatment options for the management of common conditions before and during pregnancy.
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