Painkillers
If you pop a few pain pills every time you feel a tension headache coming on or feel the twinge of a stiff muscle, you might have to break this habit very quickly now that you’re pregnant. Full-strength aspirin is not good for pregnant women-especially in the last three months. It might increase bleeding tendencies in the mother and in the fetus (which is especially dangerous for babies born prematurely). When taken late in pregnancy, aspirin might delay the onset of labor, reduce the strength and frequency of contractions, and increase the length of labor. Aspirin can also increase the risk of hemorrhage at delivery and cause bleeding problems in the newborn. That’s an awful lot of damage for such a “safe” medication. In addition to aspirin, there is a long list of over-the-counter medications for the treatment of pain that you should avoid because they contain both aspirin and caffeine . Popular ones include:
Anacin Analgesic Tablets Cope Excedrin Extra Strength Vanquish Analgesic caplets
Another type of pain reliever to be avoided during pregnancy is the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (called NSAID). It includes ibuprofen (found in Motrin, Advil, Motrin IB, and Nuprin) and naproxen (found in Anaprox and Naprosyn). These drugs are relatively new on the pain-relief scene and not too much is known about their effect on pregnancy. It is thought that if used late in a pregnancy, NSAIDs can cause problems similar to the ones caused by aspirin. Unless your doctor says differently, it’s best to avoid these pain relievers in the last three months of pregnancy. Acetaminophen (the pain-relieving ingredient in products like Tylenol and Datril) is the best choice for pain relief during pregnancy—but use it with caution. A new study suggests that pregnant women in their second and third trimesters might want to limit their use of Tylenol. In a study of more than 9,000 pregnant women, researchers found that frequent use of the painkiller acetaminophen—also known as paracetamol—after the 20th week of pregnancy might increase the risk of the babies wheezing as young children. Women who took acetaminophen daily or most days doubled the risk of their children beginning to wheeze when they were 3½ years old. Heavy use of aspirin was also associated with a higher risk of wheeze, but only in children under six months old. The researchers recommend that if painkillers are needed, expectant mothers should still take acetaminophen rather than aspirin, but they should not use it every day.
