What to do if you take medicine during early pregnancy

We all know that being able to conceive a healthy baby is very important for every woman, and women's body resistance is relatively low in the early stages of pregnancy, which makes it particularly easy for some diseases to occur. Often in this situation, many women do not know that they are pregnant and have to take medicine in the early stages of pregnancy. Sometimes they are always afraid of affecting the health of the fetus. Let us now understand what to do if you take medicine in the early stages of pregnancy?

What to do if you take medicine during early pregnancy:

Beware of "taking the wrong medicine" during the teratogenic sensitive period of fetal development

During the development of the fetus, there is a teratogenic sensitive period, which is from 33 days after amenorrhea to 12 weeks of pregnancy. During the teratogenic sensitive period, the various organs of the fetus begin to differentiate. If the expectant mother takes medication, it is likely to cause serious harm to the development of the fetus's organs. For example, if the fetus is affected by drugs during heart development, it may cause congenital heart diseases such as atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect.

How to remedy the situation if you accidentally take the wrong medicine during the teratogenic sensitive period?

Pregnant women who take the wrong medicine during the teratogenic sensitive period are in a high-risk pregnancy and should receive prenatal eugenics counseling and prenatal diagnosis. These examinations include B-ultrasound screening in the first trimester (11-13 weeks) and color Doppler ultrasound in the second trimester (20-24 weeks); Down syndrome screening in the early and second trimesters; chorionic villus sampling at 7-10 weeks; amniocentesis at 16-20 weeks; and umbilical cord blood testing after 20 weeks. These late measures can effectively detect many fetal malformations or developmental abnormalities, and expectant mothers can consider whether to keep the fetus based on the diagnosis results and doctor's advice.

Does taking medicine during the non-teratogenic sensitive period have any effect on the fetus?

The teratogenic sensitive period is from 33 days after menopause to 12 weeks of pregnancy. So, what are the consequences if you accidentally take medicine in the first 33 days after menopause? During the first 33 days after menopause, the fertilized egg is undergoing cell division and the number of cells is growing, but it has not yet differentiated into organs and tissues such as the head, hands, and heart. The impact of drugs on the embryo is an "all or nothing" effect, that is, the impact caused by the drugs is either extremely severe, resulting in miscarriage of the embryo, or completely fine, and the embryo continues to develop without deformities. Therefore, if expectant mothers accidentally take the wrong medicine during this period, they do not need to worry about drug-induced teratogenesis if the fetus shows no signs of miscarriage.

After 12 weeks of pregnancy, the effect of drugs on the fetus will be smaller than that during the teratogenic sensitive period, but the fetus's nervous system is still developing and will continue until after birth. Therefore, the use of drugs by pregnant mothers after 12 weeks may still have a certain impact on the fetus. Therefore, pregnant mothers must not take drugs without authorization and must follow the doctor's advice.

We all know that women cannot take some medicines easily during pregnancy, some of which may cause fetal malformations. Through the understanding of what to do when taking medicines in early pregnancy, we know that many women have such symptoms without knowing they are pregnant. They must be dealt with in time. Women must pay more attention to their own health problems. For example, if the menstrual period does not come on time, they must be treated in time.