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Pregnancy: beware of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

No nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken, even briefly, in the second half of pregnancy. Pregnant women should be prescribed painkillers that do not put the foetus at risk, paracetamol in particular.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly taken for pain relief or to reduce fever. When they are taken during pregnancy, they can cause serious adverse effects on the unborn child.

There have been some 40 published cases of children exposed to NSAIDs in utero (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.) and who suffered serious adverse effects, in particular cardiac and renal. 8 children died and 4 others suffered long-term effects.

These serious adverse effects occurred after the mother took NSAIDs for benign pains, during a brief period at the usual dosage, and without a medical prescription in around 25% of cases.

It is important to inform pregnant women of the risks of NSAIDs, sometimes taken as self-medication, without women being able to identify them as such. Prescriptions using drugs' real names, or INNs (International Nonproprietory Names), and not commercial names, would give everybody a clearer picture.

NSAIDs should be avoided, in the second half of pregnancy, even as a brief treatment. Paracetamol is the best painkiller to be taken during pregnancy.

©Prescrire March 2006

Source: "Gare aux AINS en deuxième partie de grossesse" Rev Prescrire 2006 ; 26 (270) : 188-191.

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