Skip to main content
The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners logoLink to The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
. 1975 Sep;25(158):631–645.

Morbidity and drugs in pregnancy

The influence of illness and drugs on the aetiology of congenital malformations

The Birmingham Research Unit of the Royal College of General Practitioners
PMCID: PMC2157811  PMID: 1237621

Abstract

In a prospective study involving 9,000 pregnant women, no cause-and-effect relationships have been established between morbidity recorded or drugs taken during early pregnancy and subsequent congenital malformations. The relationships that have been identified are largely explained by the influence of a history of a previous abnormal outcome of pregnancy (including abortion) and, to a lesser extent, by the influence of maternal anxiety on the diagnosis of doubtful malformations. It is also very unlikely that any drug in common use in 1964 had even a minor influence on congenital malformations recognisable in the first six weeks of life.

Full text

PDF
631

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Crombie D. L., Pinsent R. J., Fleming D. Imipramine in pregnancy. Br Med J. 1972 Mar 18;1(5802):745–745. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5802.745. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Crombie D. L., Pinsent R. J., Slater B. C., Fleming D., Cross K. W. Teratogenic drugs--R.C.G.P. survey. Br Med J. 1970 Oct 17;4(5728):178–179. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5728.178-c. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. EDWARDS J. H. Congenital malformations of the central nervous system in Scotland. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1958 Jul;12(3):115–130. doi: 10.1136/jech.12.3.115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HORDER J., HORDER E. Illness in general practice. Practitioner. 1954 Aug;173(1034):177–187. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Leck I. Etiology of malformations. N Engl J Med. 1965 Oct 14;273(16):864–866. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196510142731607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lowe C. R. Congenital malformations and the problem of their control. Br Med J. 1972 Aug 26;3(5825):515–520. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5825.515. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. McCredie J. Embryonic neuropathy. A hypothesis of neural chest injury as the pathogenesis of congenital malformations. Med J Aust. 1974 Feb 9;1(6):159–163. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Nelson M. M., Forfar J. O. Associations between drugs administered during pregnancy and congenital abnormalities of the fetus. Br Med J. 1971 Mar 6;1(5748):523–527. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5748.523. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. SLATER B. C., WATSON G. I., MCDONALD J. C. SEASONAL VARIATION IN CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES. PRELIMINARY REPORT OF A SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE RESEARCH COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL OF THE COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1964 Jan;18:1–7. doi: 10.1136/jech.18.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. South J. Teratogenic effect of anticonvulsants. Lancet. 1972 Nov 25;2(7787):1154–1154. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)92768-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stevenson A. C., Johnston H. A., Stewart M. I., Golding D. R. Congenital malformations. A report of a study of series of consecutive births in 24 centres. Bull World Health Organ. 1966;34 (Suppl):9–127. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES