For young women facing chemotherapy as part of a range of treatments for breast cancer, the question of fertility post-treatment is of particular concern. But the results of a phase III clinical trial mean that women might be able to have their cancer treated, and still go on to have children. Watch the video interview with Dr. Halle Moore The…
Sickle cell disease not always a barrier to pregnancy
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
Lacking an alternative, doctors are prescribing opioid-based drugs for pregnant women in pain
Research published in May 2014 revealed considerable numbers of expectant mothers are taking opioid painkillers. Just overa fifth of the 1.1 million pregnant women enrolled in the US social healthcare program Medicaid received a prescription for these drugs in 2007. These figures represent an 18.5% increase overthe number of prescriptions of opioids dispensed to pregnant women back in 2000. However,…
Low doses of aspirin could help some women conceive
Questions surrounding drug use and pregnancy don’t start just when a woman is expecting a child. There are also healthcare professionals and academics thinking about treatment at an earlier stage: how medication can affect the chance of a woman conceiving. In April 2014, one group of scientists published research on how regular low-dose aspirin affects a woman’s chance to get…
Read more > Low doses of aspirin could help some women conceive
Cancer and pregnancy: what mothers have to say
Behind the complex web of ethics, legislation and emotion that surrounds drug use during pregnancy are many personal stories. And sometimes, it’s easy to forget that for every academic, theoretical debate over whether or not to treat a pregnant patient, there’s a real person at the center of this discussion. But there are places that celebrate these women and the…
I wouldn’t change a thing
What would you endure to have a baby? Before her son was born, Helen Broadley (not her real name) was battling Rheumatoid Arthritis and it took her two years to conceive, suffering a miscarriage along the way. Instead of feeling excitement at the positive pregnancy test, she and her husband spent much of the pregnancy worrying about how her condition…
How access to data can give doctors answers
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…
