Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

It is no wonder that people are concerned whether Phenylephrine is safe during pregnancy.

The drug could constrict the blood vessels that deliver blood to the uterus and so it is possible that the baby won’t get enough oxygen.

If the mother takes the medication during the first trimester, the baby could end up having birth defects.

Should you use it?

This is a kind of medication that is often used in case of congestion and it is also known to be an emergency medication to increase blood pressure.

It is believed that it presents risks to pregnancy, but the truth is that there is only little information available about it.

It is a known fact regarding taking Phenylephrine during pregnancy that the FDA is using a category system to categorize the medication according to their effects on pregnant women.

According to this system, this medication is a category C medication, which means that it has not been tested on pregnant women but it looks like it didn’t harm the fetuses in case of animals.

Also remember that the FDA also gives associates this category with the drugs that haven’t been tested on animals and humans.

Besides the problem that has been mentioned before, there is another threat in case the medication is used along with oxytocin or other kinds of drugs. As a result women could enter labor or they could have very high blood pressure.

Additionally, the research that has been done regarding the drug shows that it could be associated with different kinds of birth defects, like umbilical hernia or clubfoot. Nonetheless there is need for even more research to have accurate results.

The risks usually prevent women from taking Phenylephrine while being pregnant but there are also some emergency cases when this isn’t the women’s choice to make.