The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7382 p3
7 January 2006

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NRT use in pregnancy increases risk of birth defects, study suggests

Using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in early pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects, according to data from a study published in the January issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2006;107:51).

Publication of the study follows the decision to make NRT available to pregnant women.

The study involved over 76,000 pregnant women who were questioned about smoking habits and the use of NRT in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It found that children exposed to prenatal tobacco smoking had no increase in the prevalence of congenital malformations compared with non-exposed children.

However, among mothers using NRT compared with the other non-smokers, there was a 60 per cent greater risk of birth defects (relative prevalence rate ratio 1.61 per cent, 95 per confidence interval 1.01–2.58). The authors say that their findings need to be replicated.

A spokeswoman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said: “The MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines takes all studies relevant to medicines licensed in the UK very seriously. The MHRA and the CHM will review this particular study as soon as possible.”