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Malformations, autism, hyperactivity… Drugs at risk for the baby during the

The agency national security of drug (ANSM) is launching an awareness campaign on Wednesday 2 June to warn women of the risks of certain drugs during the pregnancy.

“Pregnant, medication is not just any old thing! “, warns the slogan of this campaign, declined through educational videos on social networks, 140,000 posters sent to health professionals, inserts in the magazine press, interviews with experts or a partnership with the Youtubeur doctor Corentin Lacroix ( WhyDoc).

Warning against self-medication

“The aim is to trigger in society a reflex equivalent to that of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy”, explains the ANSM, at the initiative of the campaign.

While nearly 7 in 10 women say they are fully informed about the risks associated with alcohol or tobacco consumption during pregnancy, they are only three in ten to say so when taking medication, according to a survey by l ‘ViaVoice institute.

In practice, 36% of women pregnant with their first child have taken a drug on their own initiative, a figure which rises to 48% among pregnant women who are not the first pregnancy.

Or “Pregnancy is a special period during which the intake of medication should generally be avoided” because even the most common, such as some painkillers or anti-nausea drugs, can “Have immediate or future repercussions on the unborn child”, explains the ANSM.

The risk of malformations (of organs or limbs) is greatest in the first trimester of pregnancy, especially with medicines containing thalidomide (sedative and anti-nausea), isotretinoin (treatment of severe acne) and valproate ( treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorders).

Dangers of malformations

Taken later in pregnancy, other medicines likeibuprofen (anti-inflammatory and pain reliever) or treatment for high blood pressure may slow the growth of the fetus or the proper development of the kidneys.

Certain treatments can also be involved in the appearance of developmental disorders (autism, hyperactivity).

“This risk is not 100%, fortunately: it is not because I am going to take a drug that it will have an effect” on the unborn child. But only one take “May sometimes be sufficient to generate an effect, including unintentional termination of pregnancy”, specifies Céline Mounier, director of surveillance at ANSM.

Two to three percent of babies are born with a major malformation and a European study attributes 5% of cases to taking medication by the mother. On a French scale, this would represent 800 to 1,200 births per year out of 800,000.

These dangers also concern products often wrongly perceived as harmless, such as herbal medicines and essential oils, warns the drug gendarme.

Dialogue with caregivers

Conversely, one in six women who took a prescription drug stopped it without medical advice, mainly because she did not want to take risks for her child, while any stopping or modification of treatment must also be decided on advice. medical, especially for chronic diseases.

So, “An unbalanced diabetes can have consequences for the woman and the unborn child”, Céline Mounier warns.

The agency wishes “Encourage dialogue” with caregivers as soon as the pregnancy is planned, because some drugs produce effects for several months and others are risky from the first weeks of pregnancy, at a time when women are still unaware that they are pregnant.

The ViaVoice survey was conducted online among women aged 18 to 44 in two waves: in November 2019 with a sample of 1,586 women, then from October 29 to November 9, 2020 with 2,000 women.

In France, information on the risks associated with drugs during pregnancy has been reinforced in the wake of the scandal of Dépakine (valproate), a drug against epilepsy and bipolar disorders whose dangers for the fetus, known for a long time. date, were slow to be reported in the notice.

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