How to Take Medication While Pregnant

Video Transcript

"You are not feeling so good today. You have this sniffly nose, a bad headache, cramps, back pain. I'm Dr. Jill from Tampa, Florida, here to tell you how to take medication in pregnancy. I recommend if you don't need it, don't take it and the reason is you don't want to introduce anything to the baby that you don't have to. There are certain over the counter medications that are very safe in pregnancy. In a nutshell things like Tylenol, Benadryl, Sudafed, Tums, antacids, Metamucil, all of those are safe in pregnancy but don't go overboard. Now let's say something is a little more serious and you have gone to your doctor and they have prescribed medication. I think it is generally safe to say that your doctor wouldn't prescribe something to you if it were harmful to the baby. If he or she was prescribing something that could be harmful then they would tell you beforehand and explain it to you and tell you why they feel that medicine is important to you and your child. The other option is talking to your pharmacist. Pharmacists can be very beneficial in giving you advice on how to take your medications. They can recommend and tell you the risks and the benefits involved with the medications but remember your healthcare provider prescribed them for a reason so take the pharmacy's advice and use it as a tool but remember you can always ask your healthcare provider. I'm Dr. Jill from Tampa, Florida, telling you how to take medications when you are pregnant."