Unsafe Medications in Pregnancy, Labor, Delivery and Lactation
What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You CAN Hurt You
The use of medications in pregnancy that are not designed nor approved for pregnancy, labor and lactation is called "off-label" use. The chances are quite high that your doctor is guilty of using or prescribing at least one of these drugs to his patients. It even could have been you.
In
some instances, the manufacturers and FDA have even provide detailed
warnings prohibiting the use of such drugs in pregnancy, labor and
lactation, all of which are still being ignored by physicians on a
daily basis.
Below
is a minimal listing of off-label use of medications in pregnancy,
labor,
delivery and lactation. These are NOT FDA-approved
and pose serious risks to mothers and their children:
Perhaps the main reason for the use of medications and the current state of pregnancy and birthing care in the United States is the misconception that "doctors know best".
This statement
represents fallacies on two levels: the first is that doctors are not
taught to view birth for the natural process it is, but are
indoctrinated with a medical perspective which can even include the use
of practices and procedures documented as harmful to pregnant
women (supine pushing, early cord clamping, restricted movement, no
nutrition in labour, routine use of fetal monitoring and the list goes
on) and
the second is that even when they do "know better", there is no
guarantee that they will "do
better".
The best
illustration of this point is the routine use of medications in
obstetric care specifically contraindicated in pregnancy, labor,
delivery and lactation. There are many drugs that are not
FDA-approved that are used on a daily
basis to induce labor, or as part of the cocktail of drugs in epidural,
spinal, or injectable anesthesia. There is no documentation
of their efficacy, long-term effects, delayed reactions, or impact on
pregnant women or babies, including their neurological and general
development.
In short, there is no
telling
what these drugs could do to women and babies in their future.
The cold, hard truth is that electively choosing medications in pregnancy, labor, and delivery exposes the mother and her unborn child to risks that would otherwise not exist. What mother would knowingly do such a thing? The fact of the matter is that mothers don't know what it means to choose drugs in labor.
They are told these drugs
are perfectly safe. They've put misplaced faith in their
doctor to provide quality care . If all mothers had the true
risks of these medications in pregnancy explained to them, how many
would still
choose elective inductions, epidurals, or c-sections?
Not
many, I hope.