Use of prescription drugs is common during pregnancy, US study finds

Four in five pregnant women in the United States have a prescription drug dispensed, and nearly half are given drugs that may be harmful to the fetus, a study of Medicaid records has found.

In the study Kristin Palmsten, of the University of California, San Diego and colleagues reviewed outpatient pharmacy records from 2000 to 2007 on 1 106 757 pregnant women who were covered by Medicaid, the health insurance plan …