The decision to have a child isn’t always an easy one and can be even harder if there is a disease or illness involved. Despite the major advances in medical science, pregnant women still don’t know whether it’s safe to take their medicines… and their doctors are often in the dark too.
Currently, information on pregnancy and medicine is not easily available. So, very often the choices are to either stop taking medicine, to take medicine and live with the uncertainty, or to avoid pregnancy altogether.
What are the options for women with a disease who fall pregnant? What are the prospects for those with cancer, diabetes, heart disease or other diseases who want to have children? And what about those who get sick while pregnant?
This problem has grown from the understandable lack of research and from the “zero risk” approach to medical research and practice. This approach has caused an information void, leaving potential future parents to make an impossible choice: Should a woman with cancer or rheumatoid arthritis take medication without knowing how it might impact her child? Or should she forego treatment during pregnancy, perhaps endangering her own health as well as the health of her child?
Faced with this impossible decision, many choose to renounce having children, or in many cases, are advised not to have children.
Future mothers should have the right to benefit from the progress of science. They should also have the right to access appropriate medical care and accurate, evidence-based information to make an informed decision.
Our goal is to support those who seek more information and want a second, informed, opinion. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a difference.
About the Pregnancy & Medicine Initiative
The Pregnancy & Medicine Initiative is an independent, nonprofit organization that aims to raise awareness and help address the information vacuum concerning the use of medicines and medical treatment in pregnancy.
We serve as an enabler, by connecting individuals, groups, and initiatives across the field of healthcare, we aim to bring this issue to the top of the healthcare agenda and facilitate the conversation around:
- Regulation
- Ethics
- Research
- Care
To achieve this, we need to:
Break the Silence: Start a conversation with future parents and healthcare professionals about pregnancy and medication.
Collect the data: Help collect and share the experiences of pregnant women and healthcare professionals on one platform that is open to all.
Collaborate to find new solutions: Connect people who share a passion for changing the way decisions are made about pregnancy, treatment, and medication.