Prescribing change, expecting more
For women that carry a genetic disease – such as the blood disorder sickle cell disease – pregnancy may seem an unrealistic ambition. Apart from the fears of would-be parents that their child may inherit the disease, a condition like sickle cell disease makes a complicated pregnancy more likely. But that doesn’t make it impossible. Choosing the right medication is…
Read more > Sickle cell disease not always a barrier to pregnancy
Electronic healthcare databases could help make life easier for healthcare professionals worried about whether or not to prescribe drugs to pregnant women. Academics from several European countries published research in early 2014 that shows there is already a wealth of information available to doctors on drug use in pregnancy. When combined, these databases have the potential to be a valuable…
Pregnant women expect quite a bit from their healthcare providers, even more so if they have a disease that requires supervision and treatment. We asked some members of our advisory board what their biggest challenges are when it comes to providing pregnant women with a disease – or those who are planning to get pregnant – the appropriate access to…
Read more > The information vacuum and challenges to appropriate care
Moving the project forward and getting validation on our program’s objectives were key discussions during our first advisory board meeting on March 24, 2014. Meeting via teleconference, we discussed how differentiating ourselves from other debates linked to pregnancy is important, and so is clarifying the purpose of the initiative. The new branding and identity of the program, which we were presented…
Read more > First advisory board meeting for Pregnancy and Medicine Initiative
For many HIV-positive women, pregnancy can seem a remote prospect. To begin with there is the natural concern that their illness could prevent them from seeing their child grow up. But there is also the question of the antiretroviral drugs that are essential to their health. Could the drugs they take during pregnancy affect the development of their child? The…
Breaking Pregnancy Taboos recently hit a milestone with the creation of our advisory board. We are proud to introduce the first four advisory board members, each one having shown a keen interest or expertise in the field of pregnancy and medication. We welcome Dr. Frédéric Amant, Head of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Leuven; Dr. Aparna Kamat, an…
When it comes to drug labeling, the small print is vitally important. It tells us what to expect when we take a medicine. It reminds us of who should take it, and how often, and what to do if something goes wrong. And there’s an important regulatory side to it as well: pharma firms have to make sure that their…
Read more > Reading the small print: drug labeling and pregnancy
