International cooperative study on drug use in pregnancy : results from Malta

Abstract

The risks of teratogenesis and other adverse effects on the neonate have created a cautious attitude towards the use of drugs during pregnancy. It is generally believed that drug intake in pregnancy is high and variable in different countries, but the quality of prescriptions and use of drugs by the majority of physicians and women has by no means been adequately clarified. To identify the pattern of drug use in pregnancy a collaborative network was set up by WHO - IRO to collect comparable data on a population large enough to represent the current situation across various ’cultural’ and health care settings. This study has shown that, except in the case of the prophylactic administration of haematologicals during the antenatal period and the intrapartum prescriptions to manage labour actively, the majority of pregnant women and health care professionals in Malta have a conservative attitude towards drug prescription in pregnancy and lactation using medications only when they are considered essential.