Pregnant women get bossed around by doctors‚ relatives and even strangers dispensingadvice on what’s best for their baby. But a new study shows the coercion of mothers-to-be is unfair and potentially harmful.
Doctors Carleigh Krubiner and Ruth Faden‚ from Johns Hopkins University in the US‚ said there was a desperate need to “protect women through research‚ not just from research”.
For example‚ 97% of 172 drugs approved in the US between 2000 and 2010 have an “undetermined risk for pregnancy” because they have not been tested on pregnant women.
“There is a pressing need to … gather hard evidence ‚ because drugs such as antibioticsand treatments for asthma and nausea are increasingly being prescribed to‚ and taken by‚ pregnant women‚” said the lead author‚ Indira van der Zande‚ in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Some drugs‚ such as antiretrovirals‚ are lifesaving to people with HIV and must not bestopped during pregnancy. But what about medications like antidepressants?
Cassey Chambers‚ operations manager of the SA Depression and Anxiety Group‚ saidthey received many calls from women nervous about taking medications while pregnant.“We always recommend that a pregnant woman … works with both her obstetrician/gynaecologist and her psychiatrist to formulate a treatment plan for thepregnancy. ”
Blanche Rezant‚ the parent-infant programme manager of The Parent Centre‚ saidthe organisation aimed to equip pregnant women to make informed choices.“Nursing staff and paediatricians say different things to women.
“We take the information to them and they weigh up the pros and cons for themselvesand talk to a counsellor about what to d o‚” she said.
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