Abstract

A REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON DRUG UTILIZATION IN PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

Dr. Minu Mathew, Dr. Renoy Philip* and Dr. Jemi Elza

ABSTRACT

Pregnancy is definitely an extremely emotional time and expectations are high. Women are apt to expect to have a perfect baby, so many are un-realistic about the risks of pregnancy. Drugs play a key role in protecting, maintaining and restoring health, but they are not appropriate alone to provide acceptable healthcare. The study of prescribing pattern is a component of medical audit, whichstrive for monitoring, evaluation and necessary modifications in the prescribing practices of the prescribers to achieve rational and cost effective medical care. Primarily, concerns were about the teratogenicity of medications. The Thalidomide disaster in the 1960s focused attention on specific birth defects. Drugs can affect the pregnancy in adverse ways. For example, drugs can cause hypertension to the mother, hypoxia to the fetus and deplete an essential nutrient. Approximately 2% of all live births are associated with a congenital anomaly and has been estimated that about 5% of these were caused by drugs.The prescription of harmful drugs is more commonly associated with drugs for occasional use rather than for drugs with chronic conditions. The use of drugs during pregnancy and lactation is controversial and presents great challenge to clinicians. There is a need to educate and counsel women of childbearing age, regarding the advantages and disadvantages of drug use during pregnancies, with special reference to alternative therapies and self-medications.

Keywords: Audit, Drugs, Pregnancy, Prescribing Practice, Lactation.