Pharmacy

Quebec women taking more medication during pregnancy

Pregnant or breastfeeding women in Quebec are taking more and more medication. “We can see this from the data we’ve been collecting since 2003 on 40,000 women who plan to have a child or are pregnant or breastfeeding,” explains Marie-Pierre Gendron, a master’s student in pharmacy at the Université de Montréal.

Although the data analysis will not be completed until June 2007, Gendron believes that the rise in the overall use of medication comes to approximately 3% over the past five years. The data come from the Centre Info-Médicaments en Allaitement et Grossesse (information centre on medication during breastfeeding and pregnancy, known as IMAGe) at the UHC Sainte-Justine. The centre fields calls from health-care professionals (pharmacists, physicians and nurses) or pregnant women who have questions about taking medication while they are pregnant or breastfeeding, and provides information on drugs that are safe for them to take. Information from calls is entered in a database by name of medication, woman’s age, gestational age, lifestyle habits and education level.

Antidepressants top the list of medications used, based on calls to the centre. That can be explained, says Anick Bérard, Gendron’s research supervisor and an expert on medication for pregnant women, by today’s more stressful lifestyle and improved diagnosis of depression in pregnancy. Nearly 18% of the calls received at the IMAGe centre are requests for information on antidepressants. Next come medications for gastrointestinal ailments, anti-inflammatory drugs and antihistamines. 

Although a previous study conducted by the IMAGe centre showed that a high proportion of women continue to take medication after they become pregnant, many stop taking it for fear of harming the baby. “In most cases, they should continue their treatment,” says Gendron. Véronique is 24 years old and 18 weeks pregnant. “I’ve had several episodes of depression. I stopped taking my medication before getting pregnant because I was sure that the joy of having a baby would prevent me from getting depressed. But that’s not what happened in my case,” she says. She still hasn’t decided whether she will go back on antidepressants, because she worries about putting her baby at risk.

“A good proportion of women who take asthma medication stop taking it, not realizing that uncontrolled asthma can cause asthma later in the child,” says Bérard. The same goes for uncontrolled depression. “Depression is not associated with a risk of congenital malformations. Alcoholism, smoking or a poor diet will have greater effects on the growing baby.” There are very few drugs on the market that have been associated with fetal malformations to date, Gendron says. Besides, the average age of procreation is rising. “Today, women have babies up to the age of 45,” notes Bérard, who also holds the Chair in Medication, Pregnancy and Lactation at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal. “They may have Type 2 diabetes or be taking blood pressure medication. This used to be a very rare situation, but we will certainly be seeing it more and more in the future. “