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    Drugs in Pregnancy

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    Deepankar Srigyan
    Drugs used during pregnancy can harm the fetus by acting as teratogens and causing permanent physical alterations. The period from the 8th day to the end of the 8th week of pregnancy is most crucial, as this is when organs are forming and the fetus is most susceptible to structural malformations caused by drugs. Drugs taken later in pregnancy from the third month to birth can still affect the functioning of fetal organs without causing visible defects. The FDA has classified drugs into categories A through X based on their risks during pregnancy, with category X drugs having proven risks that outweigh benefits.

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    Drugs in Pregnancy

    Uploaded by

    Deepankar Srigyan
    441 views2 pages
    Drugs used during pregnancy can harm the fetus by acting as teratogens and causing permanent physical alterations. The period from the 8th day to the end of the 8th week of pregnancy is most crucial, as this is when organs are forming and the fetus is most susceptible to structural malformations caused by drugs. Drugs taken later in pregnancy from the third month to birth can still affect the functioning of fetal organs without causing visible defects. The FDA has classified drugs into categories A through X based on their risks during pregnancy, with category X drugs having proven risks that outweigh benefits.

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    Drugs used during pregnancy can harm the fetus by acting as teratogens and causing permanent physical alterations. The period from the 8th day to the end of the 8th week of pregnancy is most crucial, as this is when organs are forming and the fetus is most susceptible to structural malformations caused by drugs. Drugs taken later in pregnancy from the third month to birth can still affect the functioning of fetal organs without causing visible defects. The FDA has classified drugs into categories A through X based on their risks during pregnancy, with category X drugs having proven risks that outweigh benefits.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    441 views2 pages

    Drugs in Pregnancy

    Uploaded by

    Deepankar Srigyan
    Drugs used during pregnancy can harm the fetus by acting as teratogens and causing permanent physical alterations. The period from the 8th day to the end of the 8th week of pregnancy is most crucial, as this is when organs are forming and the fetus is most susceptible to structural malformations caused by drugs. Drugs taken later in pregnancy from the third month to birth can still affect the functioning of fetal organs without causing visible defects. The FDA has classified drugs into categories A through X based on their risks during pregnancy, with category X drugs having proven risks that outweigh benefits.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Drugs in pregnancy

    Drugs used during pregnancy can have temporary or permanent effects on the fetus. Any drug
    that acts during embryonic or fetal development to produce a permanent alteration of form or
    function is known as a teratogen.

    Contents
    [hide]

    • 1 Prescribing for the pregnant woman


    • 2 Period of drug use
    • 3 Categories of drugs
    o 3.1 Classification of a few important drugs/vaccines

    • 4 References

    [edit] Prescribing for the pregnant woman


    Many physicians would prefer not to prescribe for pregnant women, the major concern being
    over teratogenicity of the drugs. The apprehension is not necessarily data driven and is mostly
    due to lack of clinical studies in pregnant women. This can result in inappropriate treatment of
    pregnant women and fetus. Use of drugs in pregnancy is not always wrong. For example, high
    fever is harmful for the fetus in the early months. Use of paracetamol is better than no treatment
    at all. Also, diabetes mellitus during pregnancy may need intensive therapy with insulin.[1]

    [edit] Period of drug use


    Pregnancy and development of fetus progresses through various changes. The period of one
    week from fertilisation to implantation of the fertilized egg is called preimplantation period. This
    is an 'all or none' period, .i.e an insult can either cause death or complete recovery. The period
    from the 8th day to the end of 8th week (2nd month) is the period of organogenesis during which
    the organs are formed in the fetus. This is the most crucial time with regard to 'structural
    malformations' and concern over teratogenicity of drugs. From the 3rd month week to the end of
    9 months is the period of fetal maturation. Intake of drugs during this period may modify the
    'function' of the fetal organs rather than causing gross structural malformations in the fetus, for
    example, aminoglycosides can affect the functioning of kidneys and also the hearing mechanism.

    Categories of drugs
    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed a rating system to provide therapeutic
    guidance based on potential benefits and fetal risks. Drugs have been classified into categories A,
    B, C, D and X based on this system of classification. Drugs like multivitamins that have
    demonstrated no fetal risks after controlled studies in humans are classified as Category A. On
    the other hand drugs like thalidomide with proven fetal risks that outweigh all benefits are
    classified as Category X.

    Classification of a few important drugs/vaccines

    Antibacterial agents

    • Category B : Penicillin, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, cephalosporins, erythromycin

    • Category C : Aminoglycosides, chlooquine, quinolones, mebendazole, fluconazole

    • Category D : Tetracyclines

    Cardiovascular drugs

    • Category B : Heparin (LMW)

    • Category C : Heparin (conventional), beta-blockers, calcium antagonists, furosemide,


    digoxin, methyldopa

    • Category D : ACE inhibitors, coumarins, thiazide

    Central nervous system drugs

    • Category B : Acetaminophen, caffeine

    • Category C : Aspirin, clonidine, rofecoxib

    • Category D : Carbamezapine, valproic acid, diazepam, lithium

    Vaccines

    • Category C : Tetanus toxoid, polio vaccine , BCG vaccine, hepatitis A vaccine, hepatitis
    B vaccine and rabies vaccine.

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