Losing a child in the middle of your pregnancy is heartbreaking. It can also be life-threatening and shockingly expensive.
That's why doctors were surprised to discover that some common medications being prescribed to pregnant women can drastically increase the chance of having an miscarriage.
A large-scale study by the University of Montreal published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is making doctors rethink prescribing some antibiotics to pregnant women, Keep reading to find out which.
The study doesn't show that taking antibiotics can cause a miscarriage, but it can increase the risk of having one.
There is a wide variety of antibiotics, and some have much higher risks than others. While one medicine in the study, nitrofurantoin, didn't increase the chance of miscarrying, the others all did.
The most dangerous drugs featured in the study included azizthromycin and clarithromyscin, which can double the risk of a miscarriage.
The riskiest drug, norloxacin, made a woman's chance of miscarrying while taking it 4 times higher.
Other antibiotics shown to increase the risk include:
- quinolones
- tetracylines
- sulfonamides
- metronidazole
These aren't the only concerns either. Doctors already know that some medications can affect the health of the unborn child. For instance, tetracycline can discolor your baby's teeth and affect their bone growth.
This new research is alarming, because pregnant women are often prescribed antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections.
One doctor who wasn't involved with the study also told CBS that he was surprised by the number of pregnant women taking these medicines.
Researchers recommend that pregnant women prescribed antibiotics to treat bacterial infections take the lowest effective dose of their medicine.
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[HT: CBS]
