A mother taking illegal drugs during pregnancy increases her risk for anemia, blood and heart infections, skin infections, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases. She also is at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases. Drugs can cause problems throughout your pregnancy. For example, the early part of pregnancy is the most critical for the health of a fetus. This is when the main body systems are forming. Using drugs during this time can cause severe damage. Drugs can have harmful effects on the fetus at any time during the pregnancy, their nature depending on the timing of exposure.
Here are some resources to help women who are or have been taking drugs - prescription, non-prescription, herbal, and illicit drugs are all discussed.
March of Dimes - Discusses risks, long-term outlook, and other contributing factors. This article also talks about the use of Ecstasy and other amphetamines during pregnancy.
National Institute on Drug Abuse - A NIDA Survey that provides First National Data on Drug Use During Pregnancy.
The survey found that an estimated 113,000 white women,
75,000 African-American women, and 28,000 Hispanic women
used illicit drugs during pregnancy.
Pregnancy and the Drug Delimma - This resource discusses pregnancy and drug use, challenges in clinical research, knowledge gaps, treatment decisions, and more.
Australian Government - Department of Health and Aging - Prescribing medicines in pregnancy, 4th edition, Australian categorisation of drugs
4Women.gov's Pregnancy and Medications Section - Discuses very useful information for women who are taking drugs while pregnant.
The FDA system ranks drugs as:
Category A - drugs that have been tested for safety during pregnancy and have been found to be safe. This includes drugs such as folic acid, vitamin B6, and thyroid medicine in moderation, or in prescribed doses.
Category B - drugs that have been used a lot during pregnancy and do not appear to cause major birth defects or other problems. This includes drugs such as some antibiotics, acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspartame (artificial sweetener), famotidine (Pepcid), prednisone (cortisone), insulin (for diabetes), and ibuprofin (Advil, Motrin) before the third trimester. Pregnant women should not take ibuprofen during the last three months of pregnancy.
Category C - drugs that are more likely to cause problems for the mother or fetus. Also includes drugs for which safety studies have not been finished. The majority of these drugs do not have safety studies in progress. These drugs often come with a warning that they should be used only if the benefits of taking them outweigh the risks. This is something a woman would need to carefully discuss with her doctor. These drugs include prochlorperzaine (Compazine), Sudafed, fluconazole (Diflucan), and ciprofloxacin (Cipro). Some antidepressants are also included in this group.
Category D - drugs that have clear health risks for the fetus and include alcohol, lithium (used to treat manic depression), phenytoin (Dilantin), and most chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer. In some cases, chemotherapy drugs are given during pregnancy.
Category X - drugs that have been shown to cause birth defects and should never be taken during pregnancy. This includes drugs to treat skin conditions like cystic acne (Accutane) and psoriasis (Tegison or Soriatane); a sedative (thalidomide); and a drug to prevent miscarriage used up until 1971 in the U.S. and 1983 in Europe (diethylstilbestrol or DES).
Please feel free to add any to this list by leaving your comments below.
