The oral contraceptive pill is currently the most popular form of birth control in most areas. Although oral contraceptives are theoretically effective up to
However, due to incorrect dosing, drug interactions or certain medical conditions, about 9% of oral contraceptive users become pregnant during the first year of use.
However, about 9% of oral contraceptive users become pregnant during the first year of use, and some women become pregnant soon after they stop using the pill. This can lead to exposure of their fetus to exogenous sex hormones such as progesterone. To date, there have been only a few studies on the safety of oral contraceptives, and no studies on the relationship between having taken the pill before or during pregnancy and the health of the newborn. Whether these exogenous sex hormones circulating in the mother’s body can have harmful effects on the fetus and how long it takes for the effects of these circulating exogenous sex hormones to be eliminated are questions that are not yet known. Previously, it was reported in the literature that exogenous sex hormones can increase plasma vitamin A concentrations, and that vitamin A
can be teratogenic. It has also been documented that oral contraceptives can reduce serum folate concentrations, which may also contribute to many birth defects. To investigate whether the use of oral contraceptives early in pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects in newborns, Professor Ditte M?lgaard-Nielsen of the Danish Centre for Epidemiological Research conducted a statistical study from January 1997 to March 2011.
The results of a cohort study designed by Professor Ditte M?lgaard-Nielsen of the Danish Centre for Epidemiological Research on 880,694 eligible newborns registered in Denmark from January 1997 to March 2011 were published in a recent issue of the British
The results were published in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal. The Danish National Prescription Registry has records of every citizen’s prescriptions from 1995, and because contraceptive use was so widespread, the researchers divided the population into a long-acting pill group (those who had not taken the pill for more than 3 months before pregnancy, and those who had not taken the pill for more than 3 months before pregnancy).
This was the control group), the recent use group (those who had taken the pill within the first 3 months of pregnancy) and the post-pregnancy use group. The researchers found that, compared with the control group (i.e., those who had not taken the pill more than 3 months before pregnancy), the recent use group (those who had taken the pill within 3 months before pregnancy), and the post-pregnancy use group.
Compared to the control group (i.e., those who had not taken the pill more than 3 months before pregnancy), women in the remaining two groups were generally younger, had a greater proportion of unmarried pregnancies, had lower levels of education, had lower incomes, and were mostly primiparous and more likely to have smoked while pregnant. Even in this context, the researchers found that the incidence of major birth defects in the three groups was 25/1000, 24.9/1000 and 24.8/1000.
This means that the use of oral contraceptives by mothers in early pregnancy did not increase the risk of birth defects in newborns. The researchers further disaggregated the birth defects by system, particularly for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, abdominal cleft, limb defects and urinary tract abnormalities, which have been reported in the literature, and then found that oral contraceptives did not increase the risk of birth defects in any of these systems. In conclusion, the researchers concluded that oral contraceptives taken by mothers in the months before or after pregnancy do not definitively increase the risk of major birth defects. For those mothers who suddenly find out they are pregnant while taking oral contraceptives, there is no reason to worry that their exogenous sex hormones will increase the chance of birth defects in their babies.