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An update on maternal medication‐related embryopathies
Author(s) -
Gheysen Willem,
Kennedy Debra
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.5764
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , context (archaeology) , drugs in pregnancy , teratology , cohort , medline , intensive care medicine , family medicine , obstetrics , psychiatry , fetus , pathology , paleontology , genetics , political science , law , biology
There is a general perception that any exposure to medication during pregnancy poses a potential risk to the fetus. Most available data about teratogenic drugs is derived from animal studies, case reports, or cohort studies. As a result, counseling women and their partners about the safety of drugs during pregnancy can be difficult due to limited information about efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and teratogenicity of some drugs. However, this should always be done in the context of weighing up potential teratogenic risks with the perinatal risks of an untreated medical or psychiatric condition. Ideally, this counseling should occur prior to a planned pregnancy so that medications and treatment of chronic medical conditions can be optimized. It is important that clinicians providing antenatal care are able to confidently manage women including utilizing appropriate resources. This paper aims at reviewing a selected (non‐exhaustive) list of the most commonly prescribed medications considered significant human teratogens and provides recommendations for pre‐conception and antenatal counseling.