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Pregnant women should always be mindful and careful about what they are taking in their bodies. This includes food, drinks, and certain prescribed vitamins and medicine. Vitamins are essential for pregnant women, however, for medications such as antibiotics, most pregnant women would think twice taking it. A lot of pregnant women are not aware of such drug intake, whether if it's safe for them or not. To know more about antibiotics and pregnancy, read on below.

What Are Antibiotics?

Antibiotics were first discovered and used in the 1940s. These are medication or pills that a person takes to stop bacteria-based infections from coming into their system. It is a broad class of medications and it comes in many forms. Antibiotic medication will work in two ways: either stop the bacteria from reproducing in our bodies or kill the bacteria completely. 

The following are infections that can be cured by antibiotics:

• Bacterial pneumonia

• Dental infections

• Ear and sinus infections

• Bladder and kidney infections

• Sever cough and sore throat

What Can Antibiotics Treat?

Infections that are caused by bacteria can only be effectively treated by an antibiotic. If you have cold and flu illnesses that can be easily caught and are viral, it will not be treated by antibiotics as a treatment. There are different types of antibiotics that are classified in a broad spectrum. Since there are a lot of types of bacteria, there are antibiotics that target all these types of bacteria and some only target specific bacteria. Antibiotics show general symptoms as well, such as gastrointestinal discomforts like nausea and vomiting.

As for pregnant women, there are certain bacteria conditions that they can still get while they are pregnant. Thus, antibiotics should be taken. One of the most common bacteria conditions that pregnant women get is bacterial vaginosis. If a pregnant woman has bacterial vaginosis and is untreated yet, this can lead to more complications during her pregnancy, such as pre-term labor, late miscarriage, and development of an infection of the uterus after birth. 

Are Antibiotics Safe for Pregnant Women?

In general, antibiotics can either be safe or unsafe for pregnant women to take. It will depend on the type of antibiotic that they will take. It is unusual for pregnant women to take antibiotics during their pregnancy. In fact, according to a study conducted by National Birth Defects Prevention that involved 13,000 women, 30% of the respondents had completed at least one course of antibiotics on their first trimester. Most pregnant women take antibiotics when they reach their fourth month of pregnancy. Although it is not common for pregnant women to take antibiotics, this does not make it safe to do always. 

The safest and simplest answer to whether it is safe or not for pregnant women to take antibiotics is some antibiotics are okay and some are not. Antibiotics that are safe for pregnant women are the general ones, such as penicillin, cephalosporins, and clindamycin. However, the other types of antibiotics such as tetracyclines may not be safe. To know what antibiotics should you take, it is always best to consult your doctor or OB gynaecologist.