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Medicine and Pregnancy

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You still can use many medicines when you are pregnant or nursing. Use this guide and talk to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist about keeping you and your baby safe.

Know the Facts

  • If you're not pregnant yet, you can help your chances for having a healthy baby by planning ahead. You can make choices about which medicines to use before you get pregnant. Always talk to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist first! It's very important that you keep getting treatment for any health problems.
  • Your heart and kidneys work harder when you are pregnant. This makes some medicines pass through your body faster than usual. Your doctor might need to give you a higher dose of your medicines or make you take them more often.
  • Some drugs can harm your baby during different stages of your pregnancy. At these times, your doctor might tell you to stop taking your regular medicine until it is safe to go back on it. Your doctor may put you on a different medicine that is safer for your baby.

Read the Label and Ask Questions

  • The law says that all drug labels must list the risks for women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant.
  • Your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist can help you choose the medicines that are right for you.

Don't take:

Aspirin

• Don't take aspirin during the last 3 months of your pregnancy, unless your doctor tells you to. Aspirin can cause problems for your baby, or cause problems when you are in labor.

Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil)

• Like aspirin, it may cause problems during the last 3 months of pregnancy and when you are in labor.

Products like herbs, minerals, amino acids

• No one is sure if these are safe for pregnant women, so it's best not to use them. Even some "natural" products may not be good for women who are pregnant or nursing.

Vitamins

  • Women who are pregnant should not take regular vitamins. They can contain doses that are too high.
  • Ask about special vitamins for pregnant women that can help keep you and your baby healthy.

To Report a Problem

Contact the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:
Website: www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/
Phone: 1-888-463-6332

To learn more:

These Web sites can tell you more about the risks of certain drugs before, during, and after pregnancy:

FDA Pregnancy Registries
www.fda.gov/womens/registries/

The Safe Motherhood Initiative
http://www.safemotherhood.org/init_what_is.htm

August 2005

    
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