Women of Child-Bearing Age Should Avoid Taking Addictive Painkillers - East Idaho News
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Women of Child-Bearing Age Should Avoid Taking Addictive Painkillers

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getty 012315 pregnancypills?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1422023376971iStock/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) — Prescription painkillers containing highly addictive opioids that can cause birth defects and other serious problems in early pregnancy are taken by more than a quarter of U.S. women of child-bearing age.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this information Thursday as a warning to women who are thinking about having a child or might be in the early stages of being pregnant.

Although much has been reported about the dramatic increase of overdoses from these medications, this is the first time the CDC has focused on the dangers Vicodin, Oxycontin and other drugs pose to women between the ages of 15 and 44.

While women might stop taking opioid painkillers after becoming pregnant, the problem is that they might not know about their condition until after the first few weeks, especially if their pregnancy was unplanned as about half are in the U.S.

These drugs can affect the brain and spine of the fetus as well as a pregnant woman’s heart and abdominal wall.

In terms of prescription use by women, the rate were highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast. Also, white women are one-and-a-half times more likely to take opioids than black or Hispanic women.


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