[Drug consumption during pregnancy]

The pregnant women receive different types of medications many of whose safety has not been clearly demonstrated. The drug use profiles vary from community to community which justify to make local studies. Two hundred obstetrical patients were interviewed throughout the prenatal control to obtain data on maternal drug consumption. The patients were interrogated with respect to names of drug products, routes of administration, dosage regimens and prenatal consumption or underlying disease states during pregnancy. The interval between administration of a drug and the time of delivery were also noted. In the prenatal period 79% received at least one product. The average number of drug products was 2 with a range from 0 to 6 different drugs. The principal drugs ingested were: vitamins (32%), antibiotics (24%), iron (9%), antiemetics (7%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic (6%) and acetaminophen (5%). The only variable related to drug consumption was the presence of prenatal complications. This study represent an approach for monitoring the medical quality of prenatal care.