How Safe is it Taking Medications With Alcohol During Pregnancy?
One common form of alcohol used in many pharmaceutical preparations is ethanol which is used for medication and as well as cosmetic products to act either as a solvent or as an antimicrobial preservative. Pharmaceutical products with ethanol would fall under Category D of products screened by the US Food and Drug Administration. This category is for drugs which are known to cause various health risks to fetuses when the drugs are taken during pregnancy. Some experts caution against pregnant mothers consuming products that contain ethanol because it is a substance that can cause teratogenesis or congenital defects in the developing fetus. Though a small amount of ethanol might not be harmful to either mother or fetus, some pharmaceutical products do contain significant levels of ethanol which then raises the risks of congenital defects being triggered in the developing fetus. There is no known way in determining how much ethanol is safe for pregnant mothers to consume due to the absence
