Can you take nitrofurantoin while pregnant

The journal Birth Defects Research Part A has published a study looking at the relationship between reported antibiotic use among women with kidney, bladder, or just urinary tract infections all referred to as UTIs just before or during the first trimester of pregnancy and birth defects.

The findings showed that women who used the antibiotics trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, or cephalosporins were at higher risk for one or more major birth defects, as compared to women who only took penicillin.

Read the scientific summary external icon of the study. Untreated UTIs can cause serious problems for the mother and baby during pregnancy.

Therefore, women should consult their doctors and seek treatment if they suspect they might have a UTI. Despite these study findings, it is important to remember that individual birth defects are rare, and women and their doctors should work together to make any treatment decisions.

Treating for Two works to understand trends in medicine use among pregnant women and women of reproductive age, and provide women and healthcare providers with information about the safety or risk of using specific medicines during pregnancy.

Login to my bpac. Remember me. Gynaecology and urinary tract disorders female Infections Pregnancy and reproductive health. Managing urinary tract infections in pregnancy Urinary tract infections UTIs occur commonly during pregnancy. Asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy Asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of pre-term delivery and low birth weight.

Urinary tract infection lower - women. CKS, Available from: www. Hooton TM. Urinary tract infections and asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy. UpToDate Schnarr J, Smaill F.

Asymptomatic bacteriuria and symptomatic urinary tract infections in pregnancy. Eur J Clin Invest ;38 S2 Urinary tract infections during pregnancy. Am Fam Physician ; Car J. Urinary tract infections in women: diagnosis and management in primary care. BMJ ; Antibiotics for asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy. Management of suspected bacterial urinary tract infection in adults: A national clinical guideline. SIGN, Management of infection guidance for primary care for consultation and local adaptation.

One-day compared with 7-day nitrofurantoin for asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol ; Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Prevention of early-onset neonatal group B streptococcal.

Australian Medicines Handbook. Medicine Safety Data Sheet. Asymptomatic bacteriuria and symptomatic urinary tract infections during pregnancy. Urol Clin North Am ;34 1 Regarding the comment re: Norfloxacin being used in place of cephalexin. Sulfonamides include the drug trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, also known as Bactrim. Nitrofurantoin is also called Macrobid.

Both of these medications have been associated with birth defects, including brain malformations, heart defects, and cleft lips and palates, in past studies, though more recent studies have shown the link might not be as strong. But with about 35 percent of privately insured first trimester moms getting nitrofurantoin and 8 percent getting the sulfonamide trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for treatment of their UTI, it seems that some doctors are not following the recommendations.

Those numbers are from a new report released Thursday by the U. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC researchers studied almost , privately insured pregnant women in and found that about 70 percent of women in the first trimester received antibiotics for UTIs.

The most frequently prescribed antibiotics during the first trimester were nitrofurantoin and the sulfonamide trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole the ones that may be dangerous , along with ciprofloxacin and cephalexin. Cephalexin is thought to be safe in pregnancy, but as Dr.