Guidance provided by: Dr. Xiu Kui, Chief Physician, Department of Gynecology, Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital
Many women are unaware of their pregnancy until later. Some women may experience cold or cold-like symptoms due to hormonal changes after implantation, and unknowingly take some cold medicine. They only realize they are pregnant when their period hasn't arrived yet. At this point, in addition to excitement, they begin to worry: Is the baby healthy after taking cold medicine? Should I keep the baby or terminate the pregnancy?
Because medications used during pregnancy can cross the placental barrier and enter the fetus, they can have varying degrees of impact on the fetus's growth and development. Some medications can even cause miscarriage, birth defects, or death. Therefore, medication use during pregnancy needs to be approached with extreme caution.
Does that mean that after taking the medication, all children should be deprived of pregnancy?
Actually, that's not entirely true. There are many types of drugs, but not every drug will cause serious adverse effects such as birth defects in fetuses. Currently, based on the risk of drugs to the fetus, they are generally classified into five categories: A, B, C, D, and X. Category A drugs have been proven to be harmless to the fetus; Category B drugs have been proven harmless in animal experiments, but research in humans is lacking; Category C drugs lack adequate animal and human studies, or have been found to have adverse effects on animals, but there are no relevant human studies; Category D drugs have been studied to pose a risk to the fetus, but their use is sometimes considered when weighing the benefits and risks of treatment; Category X drugs are those for which the risks to the fetus outweigh the benefits, and may cause birth defects or other serious adverse effects.
Besides the varying degrees of impact different levels of medication have on the fetus, the timing of medication administration is also a crucial factor. Generally, the sensitivity of a fertilized egg to external influences during its development into an embryo and fetus can be divided into three stages: an insensitive period, a sensitive period, and a low-sensitivity period.
The insensitive period refers to the first two weeks of pregnancy, specifically 14-28 days after the last menstrual period. During this time, the effects of medication on the embryo are either "all" or "no." In other words, if medication is accidentally taken during this period, there are two possible effects on the embryo: either the medication has an "all" effect, meaning the embryo will be lost in early pregnancy, or the medication has no effect on the embryo, allowing it to continue developing normally.
The sensitive period, from week 2 to week 12 of pregnancy, is the period of embryonic cell division and proliferation, and is extremely sensitive to external influences. If medication is taken accidentally during this period, the drug may cross the placental barrier and reach the fetus, interfering with the normal differentiation of embryonic tissues and cells, thus leading to malformations.
The low-sensitivity period: This refers to the period after 12 weeks of pregnancy. During this stage, the fetus transitions from cell division and proliferation to a process reliant on cell proliferation. Therefore, by this stage, the fetus has passed the most dangerous period of development, and its susceptibility to external influences is greatly reduced, significantly lowering the risk of birth defects from medication. However, this does not mean that medication can be taken indiscriminately during this stage. Since the fetus's various functions are not yet fully developed, inadvertent medication use may still affect the growth and function of certain organs, such as liver and kidney function, reproductive function, or neural development. Therefore, if medication is necessary for treatment during this stage, it must be used under the guidance of a doctor, and close monitoring is required during medication use.
Therefore, if you discover you are pregnant after taking medication, don't immediately declare a "death sentence" for the fetus. What you need to do is consult a specialist at the hospital as soon as possible. The doctor will consider factors such as the medication taken and the timing of its use. If it is determined that the baby can be kept, the pregnant woman should relax and avoid being anxious and fearful, as these negative emotions can also affect the baby's healthy development. Of course, besides the effects of medication, many other factors, even unknown ones, can affect fetal development. Therefore, pregnant women still need to have regular prenatal checkups throughout the pregnancy. If any abnormalities are found, they should follow the advice of a specialist to ensure a healthy birth.
Correspondent: Peng Wenbin
Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital
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