Will taking medication during pregnancy have any effects?

Taking medication during pregnancy can have a certain impact, easily causing damage to the fetus, and in severe cases, may even lead to fetal malformations. Blindly taking medication in the early stages of pregnancy may result in miscarriage, fetal arrest, or fetal malformations. Therefore, in general, unless absolutely necessary, pregnant women should avoid taking medication. If medication is absolutely necessary, it must be done with extreme caution and under the guidance of a professional doctor.

Malformations

During the first three months of pregnancy, when the fetus's organs and viscera are undergoing differentiation, they are susceptible to drug-induced malformations, which can easily lead to deformities in the fetus's limbs, ears, and bones. Estrogens, androgens, and progestogens often cause fetal sexual developmental abnormalities. The anticancer drug methotrexate can cause skull and facial deformities, cleft palate, and other malformations in the fetus. Nitrogen mustard-like anticancer drugs can cause fetal urinary and reproductive system abnormalities, finger and toe deformities, and so on.

Central Inhibition or Nerve Damage

If a woman takes sedatives, tranquilizers, anesthetics, analgesics, antihistamines, or other central nervous system depressants during pregnancy, it can inhibit the fetus's neural activity and alter brain development. The use of anesthetics (such as ether, chloroform, etc.), analgesics (such as morphine, pethidine), and tranquilizers during childbirth can cause central nervous system inhibition or neurological damage to the fetus, resulting in symptoms such as refusal to eat, lack of crying, low body temperature, respiratory depression, or circulatory failure in the newborn.

Hemolysis

In the late stages of pregnancy, if pregnant women use anticoagulants such as dicumarol, large doses of phenobarbital, or long-term aspirin, it can lead to severe bleeding in the fetus, and even stillbirth.

Organ Functional Damage

If pregnant women use aminoglycoside antibiotics such as gentamicin during pregnancy, it can lead to permanent deafness or kidney damage in the fetus. The use of tetracycline after 5 months of pregnancy and long-term use of chlorpromazine can cause retinal lesions in infants. Antithyroid drugs such as thiouracil and iodine can affect the fetal thyroid function, leading to stillbirth, congenital hypothyroidism, or fetal thyroid enlargement, which may even compress the respiratory tract and cause asphyxia.