Painkillers? Prozac? Brazilian Blowout? Hotline Counsels Pregnant Women On Risks

    By Carey Goldberg Reprinted from Common Health Joy Shapiro of Framingham, Mass., was the sort of hyper-cautious expectant mother who doesn’t just cut out alcohol and caffeine. She worried about the ingredients in everything she consumed or put on her body, from fitness drinks to sunscreen. But thanks to a referral from her obstetrician, she had a secret weapon against her anxiety: Patricia Cole, the program coordinator for MotherToBaby Massachusetts — also known as the Pregnancy Exposure Infoline — whom she “bombarded” with queries. “At one point, I emailed her like 20 ingredients that were in my face cream to say, ‘Are any of these going to be a detriment to my pregnancy?’” Shapiro says. “You’re essentially living for two, and you want to make sure you’re not doing anything that could harm your child.” Cole helped Shapiro navigate not just food and cosmetics but medications — prescription steroids, acid reflux, nasal sprays. The sorts of decisions that have become commonplace, nearly universal, in a country where 9 out of 10 pregnant women take at least one medication during pregnancy, and 7 out of 10 take a prescription drug. “Less than 10 percent of approved medications have enough data to show what, if any, concerns there are for fetal effects.” – Dr. Cheryl Broussard, CDC Many of the old concerns about risky exposures during pregnancy — leaded paint, thalidomide — have faded, but in this nation of prescription-fi...
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