Over-the-counter painkillers increase risk of complications in pregnancy

PREGNANT women who use painkillers throughout their pregnancies are one-and-a-half times more likely to have complications, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen found there were higher instances of pre-term birth, still birth, neonatal death and physical defects among women who regularly took over-thecounter pain relief such as paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Between 30% and 80% of women globally take painkillers to relieve common pregnancy symptoms, flu, fever and rheumatological conditions. However, researchers say current advice on which medicines are safe for pregnant women is conflicting.

More than 151,000 pregnancies were analysed over a 30-year period and looked at medical notes for those who had taken five common painkillers: paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin, diclofenac and naproxen.

The figures showed the number of women taking painkillers throughout their pregnancies doubled from 2008 to 2015.

While regulators have said paracetamol is safe for pregnant women to take, they have warned about taking non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen and aspirin after week 30 of pregnancy.