Choosing medications during pregnancy can be challenging. Opinions vary from person to person as to what medications are safe for the developing fetus. Here are a few medications that are generally safe for women with low-risk pregnancies. Please remember that you should always speak to your doctor before using any type of medications. No medicine can be cleared for all women. Medications should also be avoided as much as possible in the first trimester, when the fetus is developing more rapidly and forming important bodily structures.
The following medications are generally considered safe during pregnancy.
Heartburn: Tums, Rolaids, Mylanta, Maalox
Gas pains: Gas-X, Mylicon, Phazyme
Cough or cold: Robitussin DM, Benylin Expectorant, Vicks Cough Syrup, Cough drops, Vicks VapoRub
Pain relief, headache, or fever: Tylenol, Anacin-3
Allergy relief: Chlor-Trimeton allergy tablets
Constipation, hemorrhoids, and diarrhea: Metamucil, Citrucel, Colace, Dulcolax, milk of magnesia, Tucks, Preparation H, or Anusol
Anti-diarrhea medication: Imodium
Yeast infections and other fungal infections such as athlete's foot: Monistat 3, Gyne-Lotrimin 3, Mycelex 7, Cruex, Lotrimin AF, Desenex, Monistat 1, Vagistat 1, Bio-Statin, Mycostatin, Nilstat, Gynazole 1, Femstat 3, Mycelex 3, Lotrimin Ultra
Insomnia: Benadryl, Nytol, Sominex-2, Unisom Nighttime Sleep-Aid
First-aid preparations: Polysporin, Cortaid, Lanacort
Anti-depressants: Tricyclic agents, Prozac
Note that some cold remedies contain alcohol, so you may want to use them sparingly if at all. Avoid products that contain the decongestants pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine, which can affect blood flow to the placenta. Be careful not to use decongestant sprays more often than is recommended on the packaging, as they can damage nasal passages if used too frequently.
The following medications are generally considered unsafe during pregnancy
Pain relief, headache, or fever: Ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil, Aspirin, Ponstel, Meclofenamate sodium, Indocin, Naproxen, Naproxen sodium, Aleve, Naprosyn, Anaprox, Prevacid, Celebrex, Vioxx, Bextra
Allergy relief: Pseudoephedrine, Afrin, Cenafed, Decofed, Dorcol, Efidac/24, Pediacare, Sinutab, Sudafed, Despec-SF, Lusonal, Nasop, Neo-Synephrine, Otrivin
Remember, just because a medication isn't listed as unsafe doesn't mean that it is safe. Always consider your doctor your final source of information and advice.
Resources
General Pregnancy
Pregnancy at About.com (http://pregnancy.about.com/)
Pregnancy and Parenting at iVillage (http://parenting.ivillage.com/)
Pregnancy Symptoms (http://www.epigee.org/pregnancy/symptoms.html)
Top Ten Signs You Might be Pregnant (http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-symptoms)
Pregnancy Symptoms from MedicineNet (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=79528)
Pregnancy at BabyZone (http://www.babyzone.com/loadpage/topic.asp?topicid=125628)
Childbirth
ChildBirth.org (http://www.childbirth.org/)
Childbirth on WikiPedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childbirth)
Childbirth Photos and Videos (http://technorati.com/tag/childbirth)
National Institute of Health (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childbirth.html)
Unassisted Childbirth (http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/)
Pain Medications During Labor (http://www.babies.sutterhealth.org/laboranddelivery/ld_meds.html)
Labor Pain Meds at Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/labor-and-delivery/PR00105)
Complications
Pregnancy complications at BabyCenter.com (http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy/pregcomplications/index)
Bacterial Vaginosis (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/bacterialvaginoses.htm)
Incompetent Cervix (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/incompetentcervix.html)
Chronic Hypertension (http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregcomplications/1427404.html)
Ectopic or Tubal Pregnancy (http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/ectopic.html)
Gestational Diabetes (http://www.diabetes.org/gestational-diabetes.jsp)
Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/women/pregnancy/fetal/313.html)
Iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy (http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregcomplications/3073.html)
Placenta Previa (http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/placentaprevia/a/previa.htm)
Placental Abruption (http://folsomobgyn.com/placental_abruption.htm)
Pre-Eclampsia (http://www.preeclampsia.org/)
Northrop - English