Oral contraceptive use doesn't lead to major birth defects

London, Jan 7: The use of oral contraceptive just before pregncy is not associated with an increased risk of major birth defects, says a study. Although oral contraceptives are widely used and very effective, around nine percent of women become pregnt in the first year of use because of missing a dose, taking the pill with other medications, or illnesses, the study pointed out.

The findings should reassure “women who have a breakthrough pregncy during oral contraceptive use or even (those who) intentiolly become pregnt within a few months of stopping oral contraceptive use (because) any exposure is unlikely to cause her fetus to develop a major birth defect,” the researchers said. To examine the association between oral contraceptive use around the time of conception, and into pregncy, with major birth defects, the team of US and Danish researchers carried out a large prospective observatiol study.

All live births, birth defects, and materl medical conditions were alysed from several tiol Danish medical registries between 1997 and 2011.

The fil alyses included 880,694 liveborn infants, 2.5 percent of whom had a major birth defect - like an orofacial cleft or limb defect - within the first year of life

Findings from the study revealed no increased risk of any major birth defect associated with oral contraceptive exposure. The prevalence of major birth defects, per 1, 000 births, was consistent across each group of people that the researchers considered — 25.1 percent for never users, 25 percent for oral contraceptive use more than three months before pregncy, 24.9 percent for oral contraceptive use within three months before pregncy, and 24.8 percent for oral contraceptive use after pregncy. (IANS)