Pregnancy, drugs in

Certain drugs taken during pregnancy may pass to the fetus through the placenta or interfere with fetal development. This may lead to birth defects. Although relatively few drugs have been proved to cause harm to a developing baby, no drug should be considered completely safe, especially during early pregnancy. For this reason, pregnant women should seek advice from their doctor or pharmacist before taking any drug, including over-thecounter preparations, Problems may also be caused in a developing baby if a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, smokes (see tobacco smoking), or takes drugs of abuse. The babies of women who use heroin during pregnancy tend to have a low birthweight and a higher death rate than normal during the first few weeks of life. Babies of women who abuse drugs intravenously are at high risk of HIV infection.