Antibiotics during Pregnancy

Because of various infections, the need to place pregnant women on antibiotics may arise. While this listing is necessarily incomplete due to space considerations, it will give you a guide to selecting antibiotics for these women.

Penicillins	Safe during pregnancy.
Cephalosporins	Safe during pregnancy.
Erythromycin	Safe during pregnancy.
Azithromycin	Safe during pregnancy.
Tetracycline(incl.doxy)	UNSAFE AT ANY TIME DURING PREGNANCY.
Metronidazole	Safe after 14 weeks. Avoid single-dose therapy. Safety prior to 14 weeks not well-established.
Aminoglycosides	Basically safe during pregnancy, but renal and ototoxicity are potential problems if the dose is high or prolonged.
Clindamycin	Safe during pregnancy.
Chloramphenicol	Probably safe prior to 28 weeks
Sulfa drugs	Safe prior to 34 weeks. After that, babies may develop jaundice if exposed to sulfa.
Quinine	Only to be used in life-threatening, chloroquine-resistant P. Falciparum infections
Miconazole	Safe during pregnancy.
Clotrimazole	Safe during pregnancy.
Quinacrine	Probably safe during pregnancy.
Chloroquine	With prolonged or high doses may cause congenital defects.
Pyrimethamine	Safe after 1st trimester. Add folic acid supplement.
Trimethoprim	Safe after 1st trimester. Add folic acid supplement.
Primaquine	May cause hemolytic anemia in the presence of G6PD deficiency. You may use it if needed.

This information is provided by The Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates, LLC. is a private organization, not affiliated with any governmental agency. The opinions presented here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Brookside Associates or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. All material presented here is unclassified.

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