Drugs During Pregnancy

Bengt Källén is a professor emeritus of embryology at Lund University in Sweden and head of the Tornblad Institute for embryology. He has been working in birth defect epidemiology since the 1960s, and served from 1964 to 2015 as a consultant at the National Board of Health and Welfare in Stockholm, mainly focusing on the national registration of congenital malformations and analyses of reproduction outcome after exposure to various influences, including drugs. He is one of the founders of the Swedish Register of Congenital Malformations, and of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Monitoring Systems. He has published ca. 400 scientific papers, including numerous articles on congenital malformations, the effects of maternal drug use during pregnancy, and in vitro fertilization.

Introduction.- The alert clinician.- Animal experiments and adverse drug reaction reports.- Some epidemiological principles.- Pregnancy outcomes with the exception of congenital malformations.- Congenital malformations.- Identification of maternal use of drugs.- The problem of confounding.- Statistics.- Lumping or splitting? Paternal use of drugs.- Timing of drug use and effects on the embryo or fetus.- Repeated studies and meta-analysis.- Pharmacovigilance.- Information on the risk with drug use during pregnancy.- Concluding remarks.

"This book addresses the methodology involved in evaluating drug studies. It is intended to highlight issues involved in studies of drugs in pregnancy. It is short and concise and an excellent contribution. The book is written for those with an interest in obstetrical drug studies. This can be physicians, epidemiologists, and other students." (Anthony Shanks, Doody's Book Reviews, December, 2016)