No one wants to do any harm to their unborn baby during pregnancy!!! But taking any medications without your doctor’s consultation can do severe harm to your baby. Among those harmful medicines, ibuprofen is one that is not at all recommended to pregnant women. Especially during the third trimester, you should not take ibuprofen.
Ibuprofen is considered as category D medicine in the third trimester meaning that there is significant evidence that taking the medicine during the third trimester could definitely harm your developing baby. Ibuprofen is not recommended during the third trimester doesn’t mean that you can take it during the first and second trimester. Unless your doctor’s consultation, you shouldn’t use the drug.
Here are the most possible side effects of taking ibuprofen during pregnancy:
Ibuprofen is usually used in various over-the-counter pain relief drugs, which is available in the market under the brand names called Advil and Motrin. Ibuprofen is also a component in most of the combination cold medicines.
Risk of abortion: Till now there is no clear evidence about ibuprofen and the risk of abortion. According to the study, frequent use of ibuprofen can inhibit the implantation of the fetus in the uterus, while some other study showed that the use of ibuprofen during early trimester has not any effect on your pregnancy.
Some of the possible concerns: Most of the pregnant women are worries about the use of ibuprofen during pregnancy as it may lead to low birth weight, preterm labor or any birth defects. But there are no studies yet that proved the use of ibuprofen linked to such type of problems to the mother and baby.
Effects during the third trimester: Most of the health care providers suggest not to use ibuprofen especially during the third trimester. Using NSAIDs during the final stages of pregnancy may cause decreased levels of amniotic fluid, cause high blood pressure in your baby’s lungs. But during certain emergency cases, use of ibuprofen is recommended under the strict supervision of your physician.
Other general discomforts: Though ibuprofen can cause some discomforts, the severity of these can even be high during pregnancy. Sometimes it can lead to diarrhea, constipation, headaches, dizziness, rashes, heartburn, stomach upset or pain.
Side effects to your baby: Mothers who took ibuprofen during the first trimester of pregnancy have greater chances to give birth to babies with congenital heart defects. The risk is twice when compared to normal pregnancies.
Blood clotting problems: Usually ibuprofen interferes with blood clotting and there are higher chances for both mother and baby to experience uncontrolled bleeding. Ibuprofen when taken in the third trimester prevents the production of labor-assisted hormones thus resulting in delayed or prolonged labor, which can be risky for both mother and the baby.
