Pregnant women ‘blocked’ from accessing vital medication

Pharmacists, GPs, midwives and obstetricians must work harder to ensure pregnant women are able to access safe and effective medicines, new research suggests.

The research, published in BMJ Open, found that healthcare professionals are often reluctant to prescribe recommended medications to pregnant women with serious medical conditions due to fears of foetal harm.

This is putting the lives of pregnant women at risk, the authors of the study say, and healthcare professionals need to better balance maternal benefit with potential foetal harm when prescribing in pregnancy.

Healthcare professionals overestimate the teratogenic potential of drugs

The study analysed survey responses from more than 7,000 women and interviews with 34 women who were pregnant or had been pregnant in the last five years.

The analysis showed that women were often made to feel “guilty” or like “the worst mother” for seeking medication to treat serious conditions.

Some participants resorted to self-prescribing and discontinued their advised treatments without medical consultation, which resulted in either hospitalisation or exacerbation of symptoms.

When medication was prescribed, healthcare professionals often warned that taking it could result in serious harm to their babies, resulting in feelings of shame and guilt.

The authors of the study say healthcare professionals tend to overestimate the teratogenic potential of drugs – that is the ability of a drug to cause foetal abnormalities or deformities.

While some drugs – including thalidomide, sodium valproate and isotretinoin – do have teratogenic effects, most are safe to use throughout pregnancy for short-term and chronic conditions.

The researchers say this overly precautionary approach is harming the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and causing feelings of guilt and anxiety.

Pregnant women’s needs should not be seen as secondary to those of her child

Clare Murphy, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said: “We need to challenge the prevailing cultural climate in which pregnant women’s own needs are often seen as secondary to those of her foetus because, as our research shows, this can have serious consequences for women.”

Julia Sanders, Professor of Clinical Midwifery at Cardiff University, is now calling for professional groups to “work harder” to ensure women are able to access safe effective medicines throughout pregnancy.

“During the study we heard from many pregnant women who could not access the medications they needed. This particularly related to medicines for severe sickness, pregnancy pain and mental health conditions.

“Some women were blocked from getting recommended medicines because doctors would not prescribe them or pharmacists refused to dispense them. Other women were prescribed medicines, but a lack of information meant they did not have the confidence to take them,” she said.