Pregnancy And Hypertension Drugs

This question gets asked again and again by many pregnant woman, and often the answer varies substantially depending on which source it is obtained from. The burning question, are any hypertensive drugs safe to take during pregnancy? The short answer is NO. All hypertensive drugs taken by a mother will be ingested by the unborn child.

Let me start by saying much more research is needed on this subject. The reality is hypertensive drugs which are considered “milder” are usually given to woman to control high blood pressure. Mild high blood pressure during pregnancy can be very normal. And is usually temporary and not harmful to the unborn child or mother in any way.

The drugs that doctors usually administer to pregnant woman with mild hypertension are calcium channel blockers, central agonists, beta blockers, and diuretics. Which all are in fact very strong drugs, contrary to popular belief within the medical community. Inconclusive tests have been done stating that these drugs are safe for the unborn child. However, reports of real life patients have shown that is not the case.

Patients taking the calcium channel blocker Nifedipine or Nifedipine ER, have seen a loss of pregnancy. Even though it is considered a safe practice within the American medical community to administer this drug to a pregnant woman, Nifedipine can be found metabolizing in the liver of the unborn child in animal studies. The reality is any drug administered to the mother can be inadvertently fatal to the fetus.

All drugs which modify the renin system in any way are proven to have negative effects on an unborn child. This includes direct renin inhibitors, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs.