Drugs to avoid

Drugs given in pregnancy can adversely affect the fetus in many ways. Anxiety about birth defects is a major parental concern during pregnancy. Doctors, midwives and their patients often seek information about the potential teratogenicity of drugs that are taken by, or prescribed for, the pregnant woman. Because no drug is entirely without side-effects, great caution should be taken when prescribing in pregnancy. The development of knowledge in understanding the use of drugs during pregnancy has been in stalemate in comparison to other areas of therapeutics, due mainly to difficulties in testing new products in pregnant women and lack of good quality research. In this chapter, we review current knowledge of the epidemiology of drug use among pregnant women, drug metabolism in pregnancy, adverse fetal and neonatal effects of drugs and specific effects of drugs that are relatively or absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy.