Painkillers pose risk to pregnancy, says survey

USING certain painkillers such as ibuprofen during pregnancy increase the risk of a woman suffering a miscarriage, according to a survey published yesterday.

Researchers in California studied more than 1,000 pregnant women and found the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increased the risk of miscarriage by 80%. They found the risk was higher when NSAIDs, the group of drugs which includes products such as ibuprofen, were taken around the time of conception, or were used for longer than a week.

The team from the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute also found a similar increased risk with aspirin, although the researchers noted the association was weaker and estimates uncertain due to the small number of aspirin users studied.