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in collaboration with
Dr. Yves Dour (pharmacist)
Medical validation:
June 30, 2022
Medication and pregnancy do not necessarily go hand in hand. This is the subject of the new prevention campaign of the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM). The opportunity to review the good gestures to adopt.
In order to inform and raise ever greater awareness among pregnant women or women wishing to become pregnant, as well as their relatives, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) is relaunching its prevention and awareness campaign. Objective, recall the good reflexes to adopt during pregnancy, but also during breastfeeding.
Pregnant women and medication: caution is required
The slogan of this campaign? “Pregnant, medication is not just any old thing“. The message of the campaign has the merit of clarity. It invites women to discuss with their doctor and/or gynecologist so that they adopt good habits, listed as follows by the ANSM:
- anticipate pregnancy with your doctor or midwife;
- do not self-medicate;
- do not stop treatment alone;
- always inform health professionals of her pregnancy.
The messages received by the ANSM will be relayed on the WeMoms application, available on the phone, which brings together a community of more than one million young mothers.
The video of this campaign will again be broadcast, this time on Youtube, in order to raise awareness among new pregnant women or women wishing to have children.
A more than useful intervention, according to Dr. Yves Dour, pharmacist:
“The placental barrier that protects the fetus is permeable to certain molecules such as drugs and this exposes the future baby to molecules that can either be harmful or make them dependent. Hence the importance of warning the general public of these proven risks“.
Follow your pregnancy week by week
Risks to the fetus
Drug use should never be taken lightly. Indeed, depending on the stage of pregnancy, drugs can be dangerous for the fetus.
“No medication is harmless, even paracetamol. Taken at regular doses during pregnancy, it would entail risks of malformation of the fetus, particularly in males, and other hematological risks.“, confirms Dr. Dour.
Certain treatments can also promote the onset of uterine contractions, which can lead to miscarriage or premature delivery. Others will modify certain physiological balances.
Among the main risks retained by the drug agency are:
- Malformative effects: they result in malformations of the embryo (heart abnormality, hare’s lip, limb formation defect, etc.).
- Fetotoxic effects: they disrupt the child’s growth and/or organ maturation (low birth weight, kidney damage, etc.) and generally appear in the second trimester of pregnancy.
- Neonatal effects: they are related either to the treatment itself, or to the deprivation of a drug (withdrawal). They most often appear at the end of pregnancy or during childbirth.
- Effects “after birth”: these are cognitive disorders, behavioral disorders, etc., which appear a few years later (some sequelae even occur in the second generation). This risk is present throughout pregnancy, regardless of the trimester.
This is why it is necessary to seek advice from your doctor before taking any medication.