Drugs that affect the fetus and newborn infant via the placenta or breast milk

Intrauterine growth restriction is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Using enoxaparin may enhance the placental circulation and improve the intrauterine growth. This study was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of enoxaparin in treatment of intra-uterine growth restriction.

125 women with intrauterine growth restriction were randomized to control group and intervention group (receiving routine high risk pregnancy prenatal care plus daily subcutaneous injection of 40 mg enoxaparin). Prolongation of pregnancy, fetal birth weight, fetal outcome and enoxaparin side effects were compared in 2 groups.

Baseline characteristics were similar in 2 groups. Mean gestational age at delivery was 36.73(±2.71) in enoxaparin group and 36.85(±2.17) in control group which showed no statistically significant difference. Mean fetal birth weight had also no statistically significant difference in enoxaparin and control group (2370.16 ± 580.72 g versus 2456.07 ± 543.06 g). Rate of betamethasone administration, intubation, NICU admission, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, intra-ventricular hemorrhage, hypoglycemia and low apgar score were similar in two groups. No major adverse effect was seen.

Enoxaparin did not prolong the pregnancy and fetal birth weight and did not improve the fetal outcome even in patients with impaired baseline Doppler findings.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between psychotropic medication use during pregnancy and gestational age at delivery, after adjusting for depressive symptom and perceived stress severity.

We analyzed data on singleton live births from 2914 female Pregnancy Study Online participants, aged 21 to 45, with a reported conception from 6/2013 to 6/2018. Women reported psychotropic medication use at 8 to 12 weeks' and ~32 weeks’ gestation. We measured depressive symptoms using the Major Depressive Inventory and perceived stress using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale. Data on gestational age at delivery were based on self-reports and/or birth certificates. We used restricted mean survival time models, stratifying by severity of depressive symptoms (Major Depression Inventory <25 vs. ≥25) and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale <20 vs. ≥20).

Two hundred and ten (7.2%) participants reported using psychotropic medications during pregnancy. Mean gestational age at delivery among women who never used psychotropic medications was 38.2 weeks (95% confidence interval: 37.7, 38.7), whereas it was 37.3 weeks (95% confidence interval: 36.7, 37.9) among women who used psychotropic medications during pregnancy. Results were similar across strata of depressive symptoms and perceived stress.

Our data indicate that the association between psychotropic medication use and gestational age at delivery is not confounded by indication.

A woman's body responds to pregnancy by making a series of profound structural and physiological changes. She burns an additional ∼400 kcal/day at rest and increases her oxygen consumption by ∼33% compared to her nonpregnant state. The average weight gain of a woman is ∼12 kg over the course of pregnancy. Maternal blood volume increases by 30–50% during pregnancy, and the heart chambers enlarge allowing a larger stroke volume. Together with the increased heart rate and decreased vascular resistance to flow, cardiac output often increases by ∼50%. Women who are pregnant hyperventilate and increasingly drive their arterial carbon dioxide tensions down, resulting in a mild compensated respiratory alkalosis. Women retain water during pregnancy, and associated renal changes are dramatic. Effective renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate increase over the course of gestation as renal vascular resistance is decreased. The molecular mechanisms underlying these changes have been little studied.

La artritis reumatoide es una enfermedad que tiene una alta prevalencia en mujeres en edad fértil. Se realiza una revisión de las características de la barrera placentaria, el paso de medicamentos a través de ella y del uso de fármacos durante el embarazo: los que son potencialmente seguros, los fármacos que sólo pueden ser usados si la vida materna se ve comprometida, los fármacos que están contraindicados y aquéllos con información insuficiente sobre seguridad y que por tanto deben ser evitados, en este último grupo se ubican los fármacos biológicos. También se realiza una revisión acerca del uso de fármacos durante la lactancia, periodo en el cual es frecuente un rebrote de la artritis reumatoide.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that is highly prevalent in women of childbearing age. A review is done about the characteristics of the placental barrier, the passage of drugs through it and the use of drugs during pregnancy: those which are potentially safe drugs, those drugs that can only be used if there is a life threatening condition for the mother, drugs that are contraindicated and those with insufficient data on safety and therefore should be avoided, the latter group comprises biological drugs. Also a review is done about the use of drugs during lactation, a period that a flare of rheumatoid arthritis can occur.