Many pregnant women take medications to treat health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, seizures and depression.If you are pregnant and wondering  if taking medications are safe, you should contact the healthcare provider who prescribed the medication. You may discover that the benefits of  taking these medications outweigh the risks. Your healthcare provider will determine what is best for you and your baby.

Pregnancy may affect the effectiveness of  a medication because of increased blood volume . This makes your heart and kidney work harder and as a result cause medications to pass through your body quicker. Your healthcare provider may therefore switch your medications or you may need to take more medicine. In each case,  he will do so taking into account the health of you and your baby.

Classifications of medications during pregnancy

Medications are classified into categories A, B, C, D and  X taking into account potential risk factors.

Category A : Controlled studies show no evidence of harm.

Category B : Animal studies show no evidence of harm but there have been no controlled studies on pregnant women.

Category C : Animal studies have shown risk to the fetus. However there are no controlled studies in women or studies in women and animals  are not available. This category may be confusing because there is no data available on the medications. Therefore they may be safe or potentially harmful.

Category D : There is positive evidence of potential harm to fetus. However the benefits from it’s use by pregnant women may be acceptable despite the risk. These include conditions that are life threatening to the mother.

Category X : Studies in humans and animals  have shown  abnormalities in the fetus or there is no evidence of fetal risk. This category is not used in women who are or may become pregnant.

What are the alternatives ?

Your healthcare provider wants the best for you and your developing baby. He may employ other techniques such as acupuncture, behavioral techniques or herbal medicine  depending on which medical condition you are dealing with.

NOTE
 

You SHOULD NOT stop taking any medication you are on during pregnancy without first contacting your healthcare provider. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that you and you baby are well cared for .

• take medications as prescribed
• do not share medications
• read labels to look out for warnings , pregnancy indications and potential allergic reactions
• keep records of medications you are taking before and during pregnancy
• ask questions if you don’t understand anything