Please dont comment unless you have some knowledge or want to learn from these posts.
That's true, and this is what a discussion board is for. How many times have we been on Google and we find an answer to our question because someone else has asked it before. There are probably many people out there who are experiencing this same thing and would like to learn more or even contribute. Why withhold that knowledge only to professionals sitting in offices, why not make the whole world knowledgeable.
Nini, read this and tell me your opinion:
Before the introduction of low dose preparations, first trimester exposure to oral contraceptives was with birth defects (Thorogood et al, 1993). These birth defects involved the vertebrae, anus, heart, trachea, esophagus, kidney and limbs (VACTERL syndrome) (Nora et al,1976). Most of these studies were retrospective and have been criticized for recall bias (Kricker et al, 1986). There have been a number of well-controlled, unbiased epidemiologic studies refuting the association of oral contraceptives and birth defects (Bracken et al, 1978; Oakley at al, 1973; Lammer at al, 1986). The data from these studies failed to find any increased risk of birth defects after exposure to oral contraceptives.
Studies evaluating the effects of progestin exposure during pregnancy found masculinization of female fetuses resulting in pseudohermaphroditism. One study estimated that 1% of exposed fetuses are masculinized (Schardein, 1980). Most cases of masculinization require that the exposure to progestins occur between the eighth to tenth week of development. Prenatal exposure to oral contraceptives has also been associated with male genital anomalies, specifically hypospadias. However, a recent study that evaluated the prenatal histories of over 2000 males with hypospadias did not find an association with the use of oral contraceptives (Kallen et al, 1991).
Currently, an increased risk of birth defects associated with oral contraceptives is less likely because current preparations have such low doses and the new synthetic progestins have an increased progesterone receptor specificity. Since the introduction of lower dose oral contraceptives and improved synthetic progestins, only a small series of prospective cohort and case controlled studies have looked at the possible risks associated with the use of oral contraceptives during pregnancy (Simpson et al, 1990; Wilson et al, 1981; Wiseman et al, 1984). These studies were unable to find any evidence of teratogenicity in association with oral contraceptives or progestins in appropriate doses. Time and further investigation of lower dose oral contraceptives is required, however, to substantiate these preliminary findings.
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