Drugs and Pregnancy: Is it Safe to Take Drugs During Pregnancy?

Is it safe to take drugs during pregnancy? This is a commonly asked question by many potential mothers but there is certainly no simple answer to it. As the foetus grows in the womb, its sensitivity to foreign influences changes gradually. The most sensitive period is usually the first 3 months of gestation (the first trimester), when the beginnings of the body's organs are formulated.

Clinical trials, for sure, can't be performed on pregnant women, and thus our information about the possible effects of drugs on the foetus is limited. To date, all our knowledge has come from observations of the infants born to mothers who had used the drugs that were not known at that point of time to be teratogenic(to cause abnormalities in newborns). Some of the examples include those who used thalidomide or diethylstilboestrol during pregnancy; those who over-consumed alcohol and hence produced the "foetal alcohol syndrome"; some who had to take certain drugs such as antiepileptic phenytoin to encounter existing disease; or those who used narcotics such as heroin that had caused the unborn infant to be addicted.

Apart from this, there is also a lot of information collected through the various studies on pregnant animals, which have alerted researchers to many potential teratogenic drugs.

Statistics have shown that many women do take drugs during pregnancy. One study reported that 92 per cent of women took at least one drug during their gestation, and a small percentage took more than ten!

There are occasions where pregnant mothers need to to take drugs, for instance, women who suffers epilepsy. This is because the risk presented by a seizure during pregnancy may be much higher than the risk of foetal abnormalities by the anticonvulsant drug. Essentially, the decision to become pregnant while taking medication should be made only after the potential mothers have consulted from doctors or professionals and considered the risks rationally.

Some drugs have been well documented as being teratogenic and should be avoided during pregnancy. For example, anticancer drugs, diethylstilboestrol ( a synthetic oestrogen) and someantibiotics such as the tetracyclines. The hardest part has always been the consideration of whether the expected benefits of the drugs outweigh the possible disadvantages and risks. This is usually a very difficult decision-making, mainly due to the lack of information. A good rule of thumb is to avoid taking drugs during pregnancy (especially during the first 3 months) unless there is an emergency that may affect the mother's health. If drugs must be used, the dose should be as low as possible.