The BBC has reported that Dr Jim Kennedy, of the UK's Royal College of GPs, believes many medicines carry needless warnings advising against their use during pregnancy because of fears of repetition of a tragedy like Thalidomide in the 1960s.
Since then, and with continued research, many drugs companies have become quite rightly wary of classifying some drugs as suitable for use during pregnancy.
However, Dr Kennedy now believes that the culture of caution and litigation means there are too many medicines that would help pregnant women but which are needlessly being excluded from the list of safe drugs.
What is Thalidomide?
Thalidomide is a drug. It was routinely prescribed to pregnant women to treat morning sickness and as a sedative in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sadly, the effects were unknown until hundreds of severly disabled babies were born, when it became clear that the drug could affect an unborn fetus.
ThinkBaby advice
You should always ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking any drugs (medical, herbal or homeopathic) when you are pregnant.
However, you should not let conditions such as a chest infection go unexamined as some treatments (even some antibiotics) are safe to take and the risk from the infection is far more serious to your unborn baby.
