Reluctance to prescribe medication risks the health of pregnant women

(© Image: Adobestock) - An unwillingness among healthcare professionals to prescribe and dispense otherwise recommended medications is putting the health and lives of pregnant women at risk, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. The research, published in BMJ Open and involving researchers at UCL, the Centre for Reproductive Research & Communication at BPAS, Cardiff University, and Pregnancy Sickness Support, highlights the experiences of women whose pharmacists had refused to dispense prescriptions made by their GP. The study analysed survey responses from 7,090 women and interviews with 34 women who were pregnant or had been pregnant in the last five years, and found that women were made to feel "guilty" or like "the worst mother" for seeking medication to treat serious conditions. Several participants even resorted to self-prescribing and discontinued their advised treatments without medical consultation - due to fears about foetal harm. This resulted in either hospitalisation or exacerbation of symptoms. Now researchers are calling for healthcare professionals to "work harder to ensure pregnant women are able to access the right medicines for themselves and their baby". Co-author Professor Irene Petersen (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health) said: "The findings in this study match what we have seen when we have studied pregnant women's electronic health records.