Pregnant women have plenty to worry about – from eating right to watching what medications they take. Before a woman realizes she’s pregnant, she may accidentally consume things that are unhealthy for her and the baby, such as alcohol or unsafe medications. One thing that women are most concerned about is whether or not the birth control pills they took before conception will lead to birth defects.
Luckily, that question has been answered.
According to a report by NPR, a study in Denmark that covered more than 880,000 births found that the overall rate of defects was consistent among women who had never taken the pill at all, those who used the pill before conception, and those who continued to take the pill in early pregnancy before realizing that they were pregnant. Overall, the study found about 25 defects per 1,000 births for all three groups of women.
This study is extremely important for pregnant women throughout the world because about 16 percent of women of childbearing age in the United States take birth control pills. When these pills are used, the failure rate of those pills is less than one percent – even so, nearly no woman can take her pill at the same time every day. Because of this, most embryos are exposed in some way to the pill and its effects. Additionally, the pill can linger in a woman’s body for a few months after conception, even after she stops taking it.
The findings within this study are reassuring for women who have used the pill but did not know they conceived or took the pill before conception. This isn’t the first study conducted on the subject, but it is certainly one of the more advanced studies to be published. The study confirms what previous research has already stated: There is no increase of birth defects when a woman uses birth control before or even after conception. This finding was published in the medical journal BMJ, which is used to determine patient and prescription data for contraceptive prescriptions.
While the study did not conclude that birth control pills lead to birth defects, there was a small group of women within the sample that showed a higher risk of one type of defect, known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The likelihood of this defect increased when a woman used birth control early on in her pregnancy, but there were only three cases out of the 880,000 births monitored. Therefore, these results may be more genetic chance than a common risk.
If your baby suffered from a birth defect due to medication or medical malpractice, you may have a valid claim against the liable party. To find out, you will need to speak with a CT medical malpractice attorney. Contact Berkowitz Hanna today to schedule a no-obligation case evaluation.
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