Prevalence of use of medicines during pregnancy and its relationship to maternal factors

Introduction There is in Brazil a growing use of industrially produced medicines evert d uring the female reprodutive cycle. During pregnancy two organisms are expo sed to the effects of medicines but in the foetus this may result in toxici ties with possible irreversible lesions. The present study aims at verifyin g the prevalence of the use of medicines during pregnancy in the studied po pulation and its relationship with maternal characteristics, the pharmacolo gical groups used and the source of prescription. Methods The use of medication was evaluated among 1,620 women that gave birth in fi ve public, private and contracted hospitals in the city of S. Paulo between July and September 1993. Results and Conclusions The relation between maternal schooling and kind of assistance in hospitals has revealed social inequality in the access to the several kinds of deliv ery assistance services. The prevalence of use of at least one medicine was 97.6% with an average of 4.2 drugs per woman. The prevalence of use of dru gs by medical prescription and self-medication were 94.9% and 33.5%, respec tively. The most used medications, excluding vitamins, mineral salts and va ccines, were analgesics, antacids, antispasmodics and antemetics. Users of the largest number of medicines were, characteristically, over 29, married of university level, salaried workers and had access to private health serv ices. Medical assistance had a facilitating role in access to the use of dr ugs during the gestational period of the population studied. Women need to be made aware of the potential risks they expose their foetuses to when usi ng so many medicines. Physicians should reflect on their role in contributi ng to the solution to this problem.