Painkillers Increase Risk of Miscarriage

Women who use certain painkillers early in pregnancy may have an increased risk of miscarriage, a new study suggests. The study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal looked at use of non-aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also know as NSAID, during the first 20 weeks of gestation., Researchers found women in who had used NSAIDs after conceiving, MORE THAN DOUBLED THEIR RISK OF HAVING A MISCARRIAGE.

"We consistently saw that the risk of having a spontaneous abortion was associated with gestational use of diclofenac, naproxen, clecoxib, ibuprofen and rofecoxib along or in combination," said senior researcher Anick Bernard, of the University of Mongtreal's CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center.

Researchers used data from the Quebec Pregnancy Registry, an ongoing registry of all pregnancies in Quebec since 1997. They compared the medical records of 4,705 who miscarried with 47,050 pregnant women who delivered a child. Of the women who had a miscarriage 7.5 percent had filled one or more prescriptions for NSAIDs during pregnancy, compared to less than 3 percent of the women who did not miscarry.

Researches noted that in Canada, most NSAIDs are available through prescription only, and they defined exposure to non-aspirin NSAIDs as having filled at least one prescription for any type of nonaspirin NSAID before a woman became pregnant or during early pregnancy.

How do those kinds of drugs affect a pregnancy? "Theoretically, implantation and normal growth of an embryo depends on a class of drugs called prostaglandins, and these drugs inhibit prostaglandins, a chemical that's important for normal fetal growth," explained Dr Douglas Richard, an OB/GYN at Intermountian Medical Center.

Women shouldn't panic if they are pregnant and taking some of these medications, "because the odds ratio, the increased risk, is really not that high," Richard said. He said a lot of people in general assume that because something is over the counter that it's safe. Richards suggests women shouldn't take any pills during pregnancy, if they can help it, and to contact their doctor if they have questions.