Obtaining drug exposure histories during pregnancy

One hundred fifty-three pregnant patients were included in this study to verify the amount of drugs ingested during their pregnancies. The results demonstrate that, unknown to the physician, pregnant patients take a variety of pharmacologic agents. The patient's medical record is considered grossly inadequate in documenting an accurate assessment of a patient's exposure to drugs taken during pregnancy. Drug histories were obtained utilizing the hospital pharmacist drug history interview and home diary. Validity testing of the pharmacist's drug history and of the medical record history was not performed. The patient's compliance for utilizing the home diary for drugs or chemicals taken during their pregnancy was 83% (127 patients). It was shown that the usual methods of drug history documentation will identify only 30% of the actual drug exposure to the fetus.