A Study of Prescribing Pattern of Drugs during Pregnancy and Lactation in the Secondary and Tertiary Care Hospitals of Bangladesh: A Cross Sectional Study

Using of prescribed drugs during pregnancy and lactation requires special attention because of having risk of the mothers as well as the health and life of her unborn child. Medicinal abuse usually happens due to lack of abundant information on the use of drugs during pregnancy and lactation. The main objective of this study was to assess the information about the prevalence of the use of prescribed drugs among pregnant and lactating women in Bangladesh. This was a cross-sectional study and conducted at both the Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) and Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH) at Dhaka in Bangladesh. Medicinal prescription copies given to 500 pregnant women and 500 lactating mothers respectively at each hospital, who attended in the hospitals, were collected. While analyzing, it was found that on an average, per prescription of pregnancy and lactation contained 2.216±0.019 (P = 0.50) and 1.199±0.014 (P = 0.05) drugs respectively. The therapeutic classes and both US-FDA pregnancy and Thomas Hale lactation categories of the drugs prescribed to pregnant women and lactating mother were also analyzed. Anti-anemic drugs including iron preparations and vitamin and mineral supplements (37.23%) were the most frequently prescribed medicines at both hospitals. Including vitamin and mineral supplements, 1098 women (49.55%) received drugs from category A; 729 women (32.90%) received drugs from category B; 309 women received drugs from category C (13.94%); 80 women (3.61%) received drugs from category D and no pregnant women received a drug from category X of the US-FDA risk classification system, whereas the highest number (605, 50.46%) of lactating mothers took drugs from L₂ safe category of lactation and 355 (29.61%) lactating mothers received anti-infective drugs from therapeutic classes during visiting at both hospitals. The study shows that the prescription of harmful drugs decreases during pregnancy and lactation in Bangladesh.