Journal
OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
Volume 131, Issue 5, Pages 789-798Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002579
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Funding
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: RTI International [U10 HD063036]
- Case Western Reserve University [U10 HD063072]
- Columbia University [U10 HD063047]
- Indiana University [U10 HD063037]
- University of Pittsburgh [U10 HD063041]
- Northwestern University [U10 HD063020]
- University of California-Irvine [U10 HD063046, UL1TR000153]
- University of Pennsylvania [U10 HD063048]
- University of Utah [U10 HD063053]
- Clinical and Translational Science Institutes to Indiana University [UL1TR001108]
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OBJECTIVE: To characterize prescription and other medication use in a geographically and ethnically diverse cohort of women in their first pregnancy. METHODS: In a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of nulliparous women followed through pregnancy from the first trimester, medication use was chronicled longitudinally throughout pregnancy. Structured questions and aids were used to capture all medications taken as well as reasons they were taken. Total counts of all medications taken including number in each category and class were captured. Additionally, reasons the medications were taken were recorded. Trends in medications taken across pregnancy and in the first trimester were determined. RESULTS: Of the 9,546 study participants, 9,272 (97.1%) women took at least one medication during pregnancy with 9,139 (95.7%) taking a medication in the first trimester. Polypharmacy, defined as taking at least five medications, occurred in 2,915 (30.5%) women. Excluding vitamins, supplements, and vaccines, 73.4% of women took a medication during pregnancy with 55.1% taking one in the first trimester. The categories of drugs taken in pregnancy and in the first trimester include the following: gastrointestinal or antiemetic agents (34.3%, 19.5%), antibiotics (25.5%, 12.6%), and analgesics (23.7%, 15.6%, which includes 3.6%; 1.4% taking an opioid pain medication). CONCLUSION: In this geographically and ethnically diverse cohort of nulliparous pregnant women, medication use was nearly universal and polypharmacy was common.
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