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:

pregnancy medication chart
medication chart
medication chart

drugs in pregancy medication chart

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.


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