Friday, October 30, 2009

Oral contraceptives and adverse birth outcomes

It has been suggested that the use of oral contra­ceptives near to the time of conception may be as­sociated with an increased risk of some congenital anomalies. Now a study using Canadian data has indicated that oral contraceptive use at this time may increase the risk of low birthweight and pre-term birth.

The study included 1,540 pregnant women who had used oral contraceptives within 3 months of their last menstrual period and 6,108 controls unexposed to oral contraceptives. Oral contracep­tive use within 30 days before the last menstrual period significantly increased the risk of very low birthweight (<1,500 g) 3.2-fold, of low birthweight (<2,500 g) by 93% and of preterm birth (<37 weeks) by 61%. Oral contraceptive use during the period 31–90 days before the last menstrual period did not increase these risks.

Use of oral contraceptives in the month be­fore the last menstrual period increases the risks of low birthweight and preterm birth.

Chen X-K, et al. Recent oral contraceptive use and adverse birth outcomes. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2009;144:40–43.
http://www.mims.com/Page.aspx?menuid=RecentHL&RecentHeaderID=351

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