Pregnant women are told to stay aware from steroids and ibuprofen because it can have direct effects on the developing baby, so OBs recommend Tylenol. This is a bad idea.
For starters, it has been known for a long time now that acetaminophen is linked to asthma in adults. Then someone asked if acetaminophen use in pregnancy could contribute to the development of asthma in the child after he or she is born. Turns out that the answer here is also a yes. Despite this information, OBs still recommend products like Tylenol for pain in pregnant women.
While my opinion on this topic may be slightly biased, it seems to me that chiropractic care during pregnancy is the ONLY safe approach that will in no way harm your little developing lima bean. Not only safe, but effective as well. Not too shabby.
Just in case you have no fear of your little one developing asthma from popping a few acetaminophen over the course of 9 months or so, hopefully this particular article will help sway you against over the counter wonder drugs.
From this study, I think the scariest take home message is that, out of 64,322 births (there may have been some twins mixed into these numbers, but essentially, it’s a LOT of births), over HALF had used acetaminophen during pregnancy. HALF!!! That just shocks me. Maybe it just illustrates how incredibly permissive we have become in society to drugs regardless of the situation. And understand that if there was ever a sensitive time in life it is during pregnancy.
Here’s the details of the study:
- Children whose mothers used acetaminophen during pregnancy were 37% more likely to have a hospital diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder.
- They were 29% more likely to be on ADHD medications.
- They were 13% more likely to have ADHD-like behaviors at age 7.
- If acetaminophen was used in more than 1 trimester during pregnancy, these percentages were even higher.
Clearly there was a relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and childhood behavioral problems years later. Is there any point at which society will stand up and say that ANY medication during pregnancy should be avoided unless absolutely, positively necessary?
All those pregnant women how had pain during pregnancy are likely cursing me now. However, I can tell you, from 15 years’ experience, that chiropractic care is VERY effective for most of the pains experienced in pregnancy, especially when you combine soft tissue methods along with the adjusting.
And yet, despite this, I find that few OBs will recommend chiropractic care before use of analgesics like Tylenol.
This has to change.