Pregnancy & Medications

By Avni Loya Imagine visiting your doctor while you're pregnant with a chronic condition- anything from arthritis, pain from an infection, or preeclampsia. You ask if a medication is safe to take, but the answer is often: “There isn't enough data.” This answer might seem scary at first, but it doesn't mean what you think. The reality is, there isn't enough consistent data online on how different types of medications affect you and your baby, and even published studies report

By Didi Abdelsalam When people hear someone is taking medication during pregnancy, they automatically assume that it will harm the baby. However, Dr. Waggel explains that understanding medication safety requires examining risk in a more organized, structured way. Pregnancy outcomes can be complicated, and sometimes negative outcomes occur even when no medications are taken, implying that medications are not linked to one another. One important point Dr. Waggel discusses in th

By Samiha Saifudeen Aspirin is a common medication used for pain relief and inflammation. However, during pregnancy it must be used carefully because different doses can have very different effects. Dr. Waggel explained that aspirin in pregnancy should be thought about in two ways: Low dose aspirin and regular dose aspirin. Low dose aspirin is sometimes recommended during pregnancy for medical reasons, while regular doses are generally avoided because they can cause complicat

By: Vibha Gutta The moment a person learns they’re pregnant, advice floods in from every direction: friends, social media, and sometimes even doctors insist, “Stop your meds!” It sounds logical; pregnancy is a time to protect a developing baby, so avoiding any possible medication risk seems safest. But that assumption can be dangerous. Dr. Stephanie Waggel, a perinatal psychiatrist, explains in her women’s mental health videos that blanket advice to stop medications can put b

By: Sarah Ghantiwala I am working with a group of students, under the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Stephanie Waggel, to write a systematic review of the safety of analgesic medications during pregnancy. Dr. Waggel is a mother and physician, so for her, pregnancy and analgesics are not just prevalent in the office, but also in her personal life. Analgesic medications are among the most commonly used drugs during pregnancy, including both opioid and non-opioid agents, yet e