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# FDA to study safety of medications during pregnancy
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/fda_safety_of_medications_pregnancy_0101100404/
- Published: 2010-01-02T16:02:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T12:38:04.000Z
- Description: FDA announced a collaboration with the HMO Research Network's CERT, Kaiser Permanente research centers and Vanderbilt University to study medication safety in pregnancy, drawing on records covering about 1 million births from 2001 to 2007 at 11 medical sites.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Drug, Health News, #vivvo-import

By Sheilah Downey

Women may finally be given some guidelines on what drugs are safe to take during pregnancy, according to plans announced this week by the Food and Drug Administration.

There has been a dearth of clinical studies which test the safety of drugs during pregnancy, says the FDA, leaving many pregnant women playing a guessing game. Pregnant women nationwide had to wait months for the clinical trials testing the safety of the H1N1 vaccines, for instance.

"This program is a great example of FDA and the private sector working together to improve the health of pregnant women and their children," said Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration.

The collaborative study would combine medical forces of the FDA with the HMO Research Network Center for Education and Research and Therapeutics (CERT), Kaiser Permanente's research centers and Vanderbilt University.

It is estimated about two-thirds of women who give birth have taken at least one prescription drug while pregnant according to a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study would involve 11 participating medical sites that have health care information on about 1 million births from the past seven years, 2001 to 2007, according to the FDA news release.

As many of the mothers used drugs during pregnancy, the FDA and participating researchers will be able to systematically retrieve the available information under the new program.

"This collaborative effort creates a unique resource to study the effects of medication in pregnant women and their children," said Dr. Gerald Dal Pan, director of the office of Surveillance and Epidemiology at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

"Results of these studies will provide valuable information for patients and physicians when making decisions about medication during pregnancy," he said.

A Steering Committee composed of representatives from each participating site and the FDA will oversee the activities and provide scientific leadership.