Medication categories for pregnancy
Prescribed medications before pregnancy
Prescribed medications during pregnancy
Prescribed medications are drugs that only a doctor can authorise (through writing a script) to treat a diagnosed health condition. Each country has their own prescribing rules that regulate which drugs have to be prescribed and which can be obtained over-the-counter.
In an ideal world, no woman would need to take any type of medications during her pregnancy, but this is not always possible. There will always be a few women who will need to take prescribed medications for one reason or another, often after considering the risks and benefits of doing so while pregnant. This can sometimes mean making difficult choices. Choices even caregivers can find hard to make at times.
As a general guide:
Medications should only be prescribed during pregnancy if the expected benefits of the medication to the mother are thought to be greater than any risks to the unborn baby. Where possible, medications should be avoided during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and when a woman is trying to conceive.
While this is a starting point to work from, it is a little simplistic and does not reflect the lack of information we have available about the possible risks of many drugs on the unborn baby. Nor does it cater for the complexity of each woman's individual situation. Therefore, when it comes to prescribing medications, it is not as straight forward as it seems.
Doctors generally face risks themselves when prescribing medications during pregnancy, because they often prescribe them with a degree of uncertainty. This is because in the majority of cases there is insufficient evidence to definitely prove that a substance is completely safe or that substance 'X' will definitely cause problem 'Y'.