Some women believe that taking contraceptives in pregnancy will likely result to some congenital anomalies in their babies. A new study debunks this notion and finds no link between use of oral contraceptive and risk of birth defects.
It cannot be denied that pill is the most preferred birth control method; however, there is no concrete basis if sex hormones really impact the development of a fetus inside a woman's womb. Amid the growing concern, American and Danish researchers studied the association between risk of birth defects and use of contraceptives before and during conception.
The study utilized Denmark's national medical registries data of all live births, birth defects and medical conditions of mothers between Jan. 1, 1997 and March 31, 2011. Prescription information was also scrutinized to check use of oral contraceptive leading up to and in early pregnancy.
Results reveal that less than 3 months before pregnancy, 8 percent of mothers quit taking oral contraceptives, whereas only 1 percent stick to using oral contraceptives during conception. Researchers found no causal relationship between the two.
Lead author Brittany M. Charlton confirms previous studies that postulated no association of birth defects following exposure to exogenous sex hormones. Furthermore, the study revealed that between women taking control pills before or during pregnancy and women who have never taken control pills, birth defect rates were the same, which is 25 in every 1,000 infants. Researchers still yielded consistent results even after birth defects were broken down and categorized into subgroups.
"Women who become pregnant either soon after stopping oral contraceptives, or even while taking them, should know that this exposure is unlikely to cause the fetus to develop a birth defect," Charlton said. Nevertheless, Charlton made it clear that the study has not proven their causal relationship but has only found a link.
