Using oxycodone, codeine or hydrocodone painkillers in the first trimester of pregnancy might increase the risk of birth defects, including intellectual disabilities, heart problems and spina bifida, according to a recent CDC study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NPR's "Shots" reports.
Prescription Painkiller Use Early in Pregnancy Linked To Serious Birth Defects
March 4, 2011 — Using oxycodone, codeine or hydrocodone painkillers in the first trimester of pregnancy might increase the risk of birth defects, including intellectual disabilities, heart problems and spina bifida, according to a recent CDC study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NPR's "Shots" reports.
The study analyzed data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and found that women who used opioid drugs immediately before becoming pregnant or during the first trimester were twice as likely to have a child born with a serious heart defect, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which the left side of the heart fails to develop properly. While heart defects were the most significant birth defect in infants of women using the drugs, researchers found smaller increases in congenital hydrocephaly, which can cause intellectual disabilities; congenital glaucoma; and gastroschisis, in which an infant is born with its intestines outside the body. The study is also the first to link spina bifida -- a condition in which the backbone and spinal canal fail to close before birth -- with opioid use in pregnant women.
Although the overall increased risk in birth defects associated with opioid use during pregnancy was small, nearly 3% of women say they used prescription opioid painkillers while pregnant.Researchers first linked opioid use during pregnancy and birth defects in the 1970s, but physicians' prescribing habits have not changed since that time, according to CDC epidemiologist and study leader Cheryl Broussard (Shute, "Shots," NPR, 3/2).
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