Maternal high-dose folic acid during pregnancy and asthma medication in the offspring.

Purpose: Low-dose folic acid supplementation (0.5 mg) taken during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk for childhood asthma. The effect of high-dose folic acid (5 mg) advised to women at risk for having a child with neural tube defect has not been assessed so far.

Identifying associations between maternal medication use and birth defects using a case-population approach: an exploratory study on signal detection.

Background: The effects of many drugs on the unborn child are unknown. In a case-population design, drug exposure of cases is compared with that of a source population; this kind of study can be useful for generating signals.

Objective: To see whether a comparison of drug use rates from the birth defect registry EUROCAT NNL (cases) with prescription rates from a population-based prescription database, the IADB (population), could be used to detect signals of teratogenic risk of drugs.

A population analysis of prescriptions for asthma medications during pregnancy.

Background: It is important to control asthma during pregnancy. However, some studies indicate that women stop or change their asthma medications when they become pregnant.

Objective: We used a population database to analyze changes in prescriptions for asthma medications to patients before, during, and after pregnancy.

Periconceptional folic acid use: still room to improve.

Background: Folic acid use before and during pregnancy prevents neural tube defects. Since 1995, six surveys have been carried out among pregnant women to measure their knowledge and use of folic acid. The results of the most recent survey in 2009 will be discussed and compared with earlier surveys.