Summary: The Adverse Effects Of Thalidomide

How would one feel if one found out that their newborn child has birth defect such as mental retardation or seizures just hours of being born, that their babies cannot live a normal life because of the decisions you made during the prenatal care? Is it really worth it? There has been an exponential increase in the amount of babies being exposed to drugs before they are even born in the United States. Further evidence sparks this controversial issue practically showing that drug use by pregnant women is evidently considered child abuse. By defining the necessity to realize the drastic consequences of a newborn being stimulated by prenatal drug ingestion, by refuting counterarguments that fear of legal ramifications will hinder pregnant women

Many people might wonder why kids are born differently than what most consider “normal.” Multiple substances are effects that cause these fetus to develop wrong and not in usual routine that is normally seen in pregnancies. If a pregnant woman chose the wrong temptation and consumed substances that are known to cause damage and can be fatal to a baby, these mothers are making the worst mistake of taking the life of their own child away before the baby can experience what life is. Carrying a baby in the womb is one of the most heaviest challenges a woman can face and many females go wrong by falling into various temptations by not having enough information in pregnancies and going on with their daily lifestyle instead of learning about instant fetal deaths.

The unregulated sales of Thalidomide also caused emotional distress and hardship for the future lives of mothers and their infants. The fatal drug 's side effects were displayed in pregnant women’s newborn babies. Infants affected with Thalidomide were born with limb reduction anomalies, congenital heart disease, ear malformations, and ocular abnormalities. The potential to live a long life was inhibited by the handicapped ailments each infant received. This created a lot of health expenses and difficulty obtaining an education. It is also very physically-challenging to perform everyday tasks causing many victims to often experience guilt and depression when realizing how unfortunate their circumstances

In general, with every pregnancy there is a 3-5% chance of having a baby with a birth defect. If a woman takes Thalidomide during her first trimester of pregnancy, the chance of her giving birth to a child with a birth defect increased to a 20%+ chance and the fetal and infant death rate is estimated to be 40% or more due to severe birth defects. (Thalidomide Side Effects on Babies). A portion of the children who suffer from birth defects caused by Thalidomide also suffer from developmental disabilities such as autism. Thalidomide victim survivors still suffer from these symptoms today. How does Thalidomide create all of these issues? The answer is science. The placenta is a very important organ that develops in the womb during pregnancy. The placenta nourishes the baby through through the umbilical cord and gets rid of all waste. The placenta is the first line of defense for the baby. It is a barrier that many harmful substances do not have the ability to cross. Before a pharmaceutical is offered to

For adults, nurses should recognize that these drugs are associated with fetal abnormalities and congenital effects in humans. In addition, stop taking the drugs can cause anoxia.

In the 1950s to 1960s, there was another rise in fetal birth defects called the “thalidomide scare”. Thalidomide was used to relieve morning sickness experienced during pregnancy. This scare caused scientists to realize that certain types of drugs given during pregnancy, affected the development of the fetus. It wasn’t until 1973, when two pediatricians, David Smith and Kenneth Jones, whom specialized in dysmorphology, the study of abnormalities present at birth, published their article on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In their study, they examined eight children to determine what caused their developmental impediments. These children were characterized with growth deficiencies, microcephaly, and impaired cognitive development. All their mothers were alcoholics, which resulted in Smith and Jones to believe alcohol was causing defects in the offspring [2].

There are many different medications that can be administered in hopes to help expectant mothers. In addition to that, a prophylactic transfusion can take place to help increase hemoglobin levels. It is important that both the mother and child are observed throughout the pregnancy for the simple fact that many of these pregnancies result in a caseation delivery (James 2014). In some cases, the use of propranolol and LMWH are used in SCD mothers in hopes to decrease the intensity of SCD effects such as pain and organ problems in both parent and child ( Yawn 2014). Opioid is also used as pain medication in SCD women (Yawn

In the late 1950s, the Thalidomide drug was used in Europe to treat morning sickness in pregnant women among other things. This study involved manufacturing company providing samples of this drug to physicians and compensating them to study the benefits and results of this drug. Although allegedly this drug did not cause any harm to the mother the fetus suffered severe damage as a result. There were thousands of children born with

With an increase in articles discussing external effects that can be avoided to help protect the fetus will help several mothers increase the chance of having a healthier child. Websites such as the CDC in collaboration with other websites can lead to mothers that are properly informed of possible defects that can occur with their child. For a drug to receive pregnancy category research is required. However to find subjects willing to risk their child having a defect to help categories a drug is limited. There are instances where some women may not even be aware that they are pregnant. They may be on an opioid regimen and be total unaware of the damage it could cause their unborn fetus. Once realized by the physician, the mother should be tapered off and place on a pregnancy appropriate therapy of either Methadone or Buprenorphine. There are some mothers that may be addicted to the opioid therapy prior to pregnancy. These mothers require a switch of therapy and behavioral therapy to ensure safety of both the mother and child. Some mothers might be opioid naïve till pregnancy. They may need opioid therapy due them needing surgical procedure (car accident, emergency surgeries), infection, injuries or chronic diseases (such as nephropathy).

The same drug that caused thousands of birth defects is now being utilised as a way to help mouth sores in AIDs patients as well as a medicine to help with pancreatic cancer and other diseases (Feller, 2016). In the 1950’s and 60’s thalidomide was a drug used as a sedative that quickly became primarily for pregnant women with bad morning sickness. However, there were soon many birth defects that came from the mothers who were using thalidomide while pregnant (Winerip, 2013). Instead of giving birth to healthy babies, children were being born without ears or with flippers replacing their arms. The connection between thalidomide and the birth defects were not made right away causing the problem to be widespread. Thalidomide was and still is

This drug was discovered when Leo Sternbach was told to create a drug that was safer than the drugs used at that time. The drugs that were not very safe were barbiturates and meprobamate. Leo Sternbach created 40 different drugs but they did not have an effect on animals. Then after a while he decided to make one of the drugs better. Then he put it on a shelf and then it was forgotten about for a while.

After the thalidomide disaster of the late 1950s, a great amount of scrutiny has been placed on the safety of a variety of substances during pregnancy, from swordfish to psychotropic medications. Psychotropic drugs are commonly viewed as unsafe for use during pregnancy, and women who use them are often judged as irresponsible. The decision to start or continue a pharmacotherapeutic regimen while pregnant is a difficult one, and there are many factors that a mother-to-be has to consider.

Why it is important in our society to know what teratogen is, and some ways to prevent this birth defect in our society. Teratogen is a agent that disturbs the development of an embryo. Well, what exactly causes these disturbances in the embryo? By taking medicine during pregnancy, medicine prescribe to new mothers can cause abnormality in pregnancy. Although many women take medications during pregnancy, the medicine prescribe can be harmful. A example may be a woman during pregnancy comes across morning sickness; therefore, she may ask her doctor to prescribe medicine to treat her morning sickness. A common medicine to take during the 60's was thalidomide. However, over the years researchers found that thalidomide caused partial absence

Illicit drugs such as cocaine, opioids, benzodiazepines, PCP and LSD, and methamphetamines can have harmful and devastating effects on a newborn. If a mom is using these drugs it can cause her to go into preterm labor, have a miscarriage, or have a stillborn birth. Using these drugs will/can cause a newborn to have a low birth weight, respiratory issues, and withdrawal symptoms depending on the amount and frequency of the using the drugs (American Pregnancy Association, 2017). Not every state in the

This article discusses the increase uses of drugs pregnant women consume, although, the author started off with how a thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s where thousands of babies were born with deformed limbs due to mother’s taking a prescribed sleeping pill at the time of pregnancy that was thought to be safe. Despite the fact it is over 30 years and the use of a prescription drug during pregnancy has increase by more than 60 percent. The contributing factors to the increase uses of drugs among pregnant women are pre-exiting condition such as anxiety disorders, depression, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. If a women decided to become pregnant it is advisable to focus on getting healthy, such as