Pro-Life Pharmacology???
I was impressed by these paragraphs from my pharmacology textbook:
Pregnant and breast-feeding women may have both chronic diseases and acute problems that require drug therapy. In pregnancy the drug is really going to two people, so how the drug may affect the growing fetus is a consideration. The benefit of any drug to a pregnant patient must be carefully weighted against the possible (or potential) risk to the fetus. It is important for pregnant women to avoid as many drugs as possible, especially those drugs with teratogenic potential (i.e., likely to cause malformations or damage in the embryo or fetus).
[...]
Factors such as what drug the mother takes, how much is taken, and the age of the fetus when the drug is taken are related to different types of malformations. Taking a drug during the first 2 weeks after conception (before implantation) results in an all-or-nothing affect. The ovum either dies of exposure to a lethal dose of a teratogen of recovers completely with no adverse effects. The critical period for teratogenic effects in humans lasts from about 2 to 10 weeks after the last menstrual period. This period is the time of organ development (14-56 days), during which any teratogenic drug taken by the mother may produce major abnormalities in the embryo. [...] Clearly it would be best if all women could stop taking any drugs before they got pregnant and not resume them until the baby is born. Always ask about the possibility of pregnancy when giving drugs to a woman of childbearing age.
Pregnant and breast-feeding women may have both chronic diseases and acute problems that require drug therapy. In pregnancy the drug is really going to two people, so how the drug may affect the growing fetus is a consideration. The benefit of any drug to a pregnant patient must be carefully weighted against the possible (or potential) risk to the fetus. It is important for pregnant women to avoid as many drugs as possible, especially those drugs with teratogenic potential (i.e., likely to cause malformations or damage in the embryo or fetus).
[...]
Factors such as what drug the mother takes, how much is taken, and the age of the fetus when the drug is taken are related to different types of malformations. Taking a drug during the first 2 weeks after conception (before implantation) results in an all-or-nothing affect. The ovum either dies of exposure to a lethal dose of a teratogen of recovers completely with no adverse effects. The critical period for teratogenic effects in humans lasts from about 2 to 10 weeks after the last menstrual period. This period is the time of organ development (14-56 days), during which any teratogenic drug taken by the mother may produce major abnormalities in the embryo. [...] Clearly it would be best if all women could stop taking any drugs before they got pregnant and not resume them until the baby is born. Always ask about the possibility of pregnancy when giving drugs to a woman of childbearing age.
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