Free Fact Sheets on Exposures During Pregnancy

MotherToBaby is a service of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) that provides evidence-based information to mothers, health care professionals, and the general public about medications and other exposures during pregnancy and nursing.

Teratology is the study of birth defects caused by exposures during pregnancy. OTIS is a professional scientific society of experts that provide the MotherToBaby service and researchers that perform the MotherToBaby pregnancy studies.

Features of MotherToBaby include:

Fact sheets on specific medications, vaccines, maternal medical conditions, and common exposures (eg, alcohol, caffeine, and cigarette smoking). Currently, there are more than 60 medication fact sheets in a question and answer format with references (eg, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, loratadine, metformin, and fluoxetine).

Sample questions from “Fluoxetine (Prozac) and Pregnancy” fact sheet include:

• How long does fluoxetine stay in your body?
• Can taking fluoxetine make it more difficult for me to become pregnant?
• Can taking fluoxetine during my pregnancy cause birth defects?
• Will it cause withdrawal symptoms in my baby?
• Can I take fluoxetine while breastfeeding?
• What if the father of the baby takes fluoxetine?

Experts are also available to answer questions from women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning a pregnancy. This free, confidential counseling service is open to the general public, including health care providers, and available by calling 1-866-626-6847.

Through this service, MotherToBaby experts can discuss the risks of various exposures during pregnancy or breastfeeding, including prescription and OTC medications, vitamins and supplements, alcohol, recreational drugs, vaccinations, diseases, infections, chemicals, pesticides, occupational exposures, and paternal exposures.

The fact sheets and counseling service also provide information on the effect of paternal exposure on the ability to conceive and risks in pregnancy.

The MotherToBaby experts come from different backgrounds in the health care field and include doctors, genetic counselors, nurses, and researchers.

When calling MotherToBaby, the expert will discuss relevant research-based information and explain the possible benefits and risks of the exposure. The expert may ask the caller questions such as the dates during which the exposure(s) occurred and amount (eg, dose) of the exposure. They may also ask about interest in participating in a research study.