Sometimes dangerous

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Back pain in pregnant women

And what about painkillers? With regard to ibuprofen, embrytox.de draws on a very high level of experience. The authors write that the vast majority of studies on the use of painkillers in the first trimester have dealt with NSAIDs. They summarise: »Summarising all the data available to date, there are no serious indications of teratogenicity and embryotoxicity in humans«. embryotox.de names ibuprofen as the analgesic of choice alongside paracetamol in the first two-thirds of pregnancy, although it should not be taken uncritically or for several days without medical advice. In the last trimester, neither ibuprofen nor other NSAIDs should be taken. Paracetamol is allowed in every trimester.

In 2021, a consensus statement by scientists in the scientific journal »Nature Reviews Endocrinology« advocated the cautious use of paracetamol in pregnancy because studies showed that paracetamol in pregnancy could possibly be linked to attention disorders and autistic symptoms in the offspring. Experts attach different importance to these results. Some criticise that results with regard to attention deficit disorder or autistic structures in the child’s personality are only borderline significant, but are reported in the population as if it were a problem with serious consequences for the individual. For the latter, the risk seems to be considerably lower if the mother took paracetamol during pregnancy than if she was exposed to stress, an analysis showed. Of course, the risk-benefit analysis of the use of these painkillers during pregnancy should be carried out carefully in any case.