[Teratogenesis and medication induced fetal toxicity]

The administration of pharmacological treatments during pregnancy always arouses concerns, shared both by the medical body and the general public. The drama of thalidomide, the main cause, has been followed by a number of efforts to develop some knowledge on the reality, nature and frequency of risk of malformation and foeto-toxicity, in particular from medications. A more rational approach to pharmacotherapy in the pregnant woman has come about following a position that was less supported and more alarmist. The principal idea that emerges consists of defending a more realistic evaluation of the risk:benefit ratio of pharmacotherapy in a sick pregnant woman, against the temptation of not treating or giving a maladaptive treatment. The second notion, essential in chronic pathologies, consists of supporting the efforts of multidisciplinary teams working in the pharmacotherapeutic management of pregnant women, to avoid errors of strategy that may be both medical and human.