Publications

Our Research is Advancing Pregnancy Outcomes

Little is known about the effects of taking most medications in pregnancy because people who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding are currently excluded from clinical trials that occur when a drug is being developed. This means that once a medication is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), it starts being prescribed to patients – including those of reproductive potential – with little to no information about the safety of the drug if used during pregnancy. MotherToBaby engages in research efforts to fill these critical information gaps and to enhance our understanding of whether and how medication and vaccine exposures may affect pregnancy and infant outcomes.

Medication use in pregnancy is common. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 9 in 10 people take a least one medicine during pregnancy and 7 in 10 take a least one prescription medication. Yet fewer than 10% of medications have enough information to determine potential infant risks.

We are proud to contribute to the field of teratology by examining pregnancy outcomes with robust cohort analysis though our in-house research program, MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies. These studies are a series of observational registries that track pregnancy and infant outcomes in people who take a particular medication or receive a certain vaccine during their pregnancy. After the study participants give birth, our research team compares the health of their babies to those who did not take the medication/vaccine to determine if the medication/vaccine exposure increases the chance for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Our findings provide much-needed information on the safety of medication and vaccine use in pregnancy. This information found in our publications can then be used by people and their health providers to make more informed treatment decisions during pregnancy.

View a complete list of research publications from our MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies by visiting the OTIS/MotherToBaby MyBibliography list.