Table 4.
Most probably-safe and potentially-risky medications used during pregnancy: modified classification from US-FDA and AU-TGA
| Probably-safea | Potentially-riskyb | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Therapeutic class and INN | ATC code | n (%) | Therapeutic class and INN | ATC code | n (%) |
| Antimalarials | Antimalarials | ||||
| Quinine | P01BC01 | 536 (22.6) | Quinine | P01BC01 | – |
| Amodiaquine/Artesunate | P01BF03 | 161 (6.8) | Amodiaquine/Artesunate | P01BF03 | 85 (3.58) |
| Artemether/Lumefantrine | P01BF01 | 9 (0.4) | Artemether/Lumefantrine | P01BF01 | 8 (0.3) |
| Dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine | P01BF05 | 11 (0.5) | Dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine | P01BF05 | 12 (0.5) |
| Artesunate | P01BE03 | 1 (0) | Artesunate | P01BE03 | 2 (0.1) |
| Analgesic/antipyretics | Bacterial vaccines | ||||
| Paracetamol | N02BE01 | 447 (18.9) | Tetanus vaccines | J07AM01 | 272 (11.5) |
| Antibacterial agents | Antibacterial agents | 9 (0.4) | |||
| Amoxicillin | J01CA04 | 169 (7.1) | Neomycin | D07CB01 | 4 (0.2) |
| Erythromycin | J01FA01 | 112 (4.7) | Cotrimoxazole | J01EE01 | |
| Ceftriaxone | J01DD04 | 41 (1.7) | Ciprofloxacin | J01MA02 | 137 (5.8) |
| Antiprotozoal agents | Antiparasitic Agents | 13 (0.5) | |||
| Metronidazole | A01AB17 | 83 (3.5) | Albendazole | P02CA03 | |
| Metronidazole | G01AF01 | 19 (0.8) | Mebendazole | P02CA01 | 48 (2.0) |
| Antifungal agents | Analgesic/Antipyretics | 22 (0.9) | |||
| Miconazole | G01AF04 | 133 (5.6) | Metamizole | N02BB02 | |
| Nystatin | G01AA01 | 63 (2.7) | Lysine acetylsalicylate | N02BA01 | 17 (0.7) |
| Vitamins | Sedatives | ||||
| Vitamin C | A11GA01 | 78 (3.3) | Diazepam | N05BA01 | 10 (0.4) |
| Multivitamins | A11AA05 | 75 (3.2) | Anti-inflammatory | ||
| Antispasmodics | Diclofenac | M01AB05 | 12 (0.5) | ||
| Phloroglucinol | A03AX12 | 320 (13.5) | Ibuprofen | M01AE51 | 5 (0.2) |
| Butylscopolamine | A03BB01 | 28 (1.2) | Antiretrovirals | ||
| Drotaverine | A03AD02 | 15 (0.6) | Combivir | J05AR01 | 1 (0.0) |
| Antiemetics | Zidovudine | J05AF01 | 5 (0.2) | ||
| Metopimazine | A03FA01 | 44 (1.9) | |||
| Metoclopramide | A03BB01 | 32 (1.3) | |||
| Levosulpiride | N05AL07 | 20 (0.8) | |||
| Meclozine | R06AE55 | 11 (0.5) | |||
| Anti-allergic agents | |||||
| Cyproheptadine | R06AX03 | 32 (1.3) | |||
| Chlorphenamine | R06AB04 | 16 (0.7) | |||
AU-TGA Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, US-FDA United States Food and Drug, ATC Anatomical Therapeutic Administration Chemical, INN International Non-proprietary Name
Women may have used more than one medication
Study sample, n = 2371. These medicines have been used by 1345 women of the study
aExcluding iron+folic acid for anaemia prevention
bExcluding sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy