Download PDF
Am J Perinatol 1989; 6(2): 244-251
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-999586
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

© 1989 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Drug Ingestion During Pregnancy: Infrequent Exposure in a Contemporary United States Sample

Joe Leigh Simpson1 , 2 , James L. Mills3 , Arthur Morey3 , Boyd E. Metzger1 , Robert H. Knopp4 , Lewis B. Holmes5 , Lois Jovanovic-Peterson6 , Jerome H. Aarons7 , Zane Brown4 , Margot Van Allen4 , Sherman Elias1 , 2 , The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Diabetes in Early Pregnancy Study Group3
  • 1Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee
  • 3National Institute of Child Health and Development, Bethesda, Maryland
  • 4University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
  • 5Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 6Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York, and Sansum Foundation, Santa Barbara, California
  • 7University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
04 March 2008 (online)

Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

Drug ingestion in a cohort of United States women proved consistently lower than in prior United States populations. Participating were 342 insulin-dependent diabetic and 387 control subjects who were enrolled before conception (76%) or no later than 21 days after conception (24%). Drug exposures were then recorded at entry and periodically throughout organogenesis (gestational weeks 6, 8,10). During gestational weeks 1 to 10, approximately two thirds of the subjects were exposed to no agent other than oral iron, oral vitamins, or insulin (diabetic subjects). The mean exposures in gestational weeks 1 to 10 were 0.72 ± 1.05 (SD) for diabetic women and 0.54 ± 0.96 for control subjects; throughout pregnancy, the mean exposures were 1.26 ± 1.66 and 1.58 ± 1.78, respectively. The low exposure frequency in this contemporary United States population is highly encouraging. However, it follows that collaborative cohort efforts may be necessary in order to assess teratogenicity of drugs because relatively few women are now exposed.