Certain Antibiotics Raise Risk of Birth Defects in Newborns

Boston (DbTechNo) - A new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked two common antibiotics to increased risk of birth defects in newborn babies.

The class of antibiotics found to be dangerous for children are nitrofurantoins and sulfonamides, commonly prescribed to treat women with urinary tract infections.

According to researchers of the study, women who took these antibiotics during their pregnancies were more likely to give birth to children with anencephaly, a fatal malformation of the skull and brain.

While it is important to know the dangers certain drugs can pose during pregnancy, the researchers note the importance of not avoiding all antibiotics when they are necessary to heal sickness.

“The most important message is that most commonly used antibiotics do not seem to be associated with the birth defects we studied,” said lead author of the study, Krista Crider, a geneticist with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

The study is published in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.