Prescribing in pregnancy. General principles.

Prescribing in pregnancy. General principles.

a drug to a pregnant woman. ' A further reason is undoubtedly the difficulties (often more imagined than real) in performing interdisciplinary research. None the less, progress is being made, and several monographs on the clinical pharmacology ofpregnancy have recently been published.2 This series is aimed at practising clinicians who prescribe drugs for women who are, or who may become, pregna...

Prescribing in pregnancy.

Psychotropic drugs reduce morbidity and mortality related to maternal mental illness but may also cause harm to the foetus, the nature and magnitude of which is not completely understood. Up-to-date information should be shared as fully as possible with the pregnant woman and a treatment plan agreed jointly.

Prescribing in pregnancy.

Principles of conservative prescribing.

Judicious prescribing is a prerequisite for safe and appropriate medication use. Based on evidence and lessons from recent studies demonstrating problems with widely prescribed medications, we offer a series of principles as a prescription for more cautious and conservative prescribing. These principles urge clinicians to (1) think beyond drugs (consider nondrug therapy, treatable underlying ca...

Prescribing in pregnancy. Identifying abnormalities.

Drugs taken during pregnancy create concern whether they are self administered or medically prescribed. The number of mothers who take drugs during pregnancy is not known, but a survey in the United States showed that about 45% ofwomen may use at least one drug on prescription, and many more use drugs bought over the counter.' A recent prospective study in the United Kingdom, however, suggested...