Painkillers and Pregnancy

Those who are going to be first time parents hear a lot about care to be taken during pregnancy. Some have specific questions related to painkillers and pregnancy. We will try to address all those issues in this post.

What are the effects that painkillers can have on the baby?
Painkillers when taken by pregnant woman might result in improper development of the sexual organs of the unborn baby boy which leads to infertility in male child. Studies show that testicular cancer in the after life and undescended testes are some of the effects of taking painkillers. In the last decades the male reproductive disorders are increasing and it is believed that painkillers is one of the factors behind it. Mild painkillers can also act as hormone disruptor s, which effects in the above mentioned results. Some times it is found that regular use of pain killers also lead to miscarriage, early, prolonged or delayed labor, bleeding during the labor, increased contractions which might reduce the blood supply to the unborn child.

What painkillers are safe during the pregnancy?
There are painkillers which are considered to be safe during pregnancy. However the trimester period during which painkillers can be consumed vary depending upon the actual painkiller. Paracetamol is considered to be one of the safest painkiller amongst all. But should be taken only with the suggestion of the doc. Further Painkillers are categorized according to their contents in Acetaminophen and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Acetaminophen is one of the researched and proven painkiller by scientist which can be used during any trimester of the pregnancy. Some NSAID's like Ibuprofen and naproxen are considered to be safe during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

What painkillers are not safe during the pregnancy?
Woman tend to take different type of pain killers and those who do this during their pregnancy have 7 times more chances of affecting the child. Taking painkiller like Paracetamol during 4 and 6 months of pregnancy increases the risk by almost double as woman's are more vulnerable during this time. Some painkillers like aspirin or ibuprofen are said to increase the risk by 4 times. Using two of the painkillers increases the risk 16 times. Basically, all the painkillers should be avoided in the later stages of pregnancy.

Is it a problem if I take painkiller during the days when I consume?
Some people have the knowledge that painkillers are not good for pregnant woman. But due to regular late periods some woman might be unknown to the fact that they are pregnant and might take some painkillers to relieve themselves of pain.