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Prescribing in pregnancy: drugs and the fetus

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Drug Treatment in Obstetrics

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Abstract

All drugs given to the mother and achieving a concentration in maternal plasma, except for insulin and heparin, cross the placenta to the fetus. With most drugs the process is one of simple diffusion from a high to a low concentration, and the rate of transfer is related to the concentration gradient, to the thickness and surface area of the membrane, and to the diffusion constant for the substance being transferred.

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References

Placental transfer of drugs

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. South-East Kent Health Authority, England

    R. S. Ledward BSc (Manchester), MR Pharm. Soc., MB, ChB (L’pool), DA, DM (N’ham), LRCP, MRCS, MRSH, FRCS, FRCOG, DHMSA (Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Honorary Senior Teaching Fellow)

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Royal London Hospital, England

    R. S. Ledward BSc (Manchester), MR Pharm. Soc., MB, ChB (L’pool), DA, DM (N’ham), LRCP, MRCS, MRSH, FRCS, FRCOG, DHMSA (Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Honorary Senior Teaching Fellow)

  3. Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK

    D. F. Hawkins BSc, PhD, DSc, MB, BS (Lond), MD (Mass), FRCOG, FACOG (Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Emeritus Professor of Obstetric Therapeutics)

  4. University of London, England

    D. F. Hawkins BSc, PhD, DSc, MB, BS (Lond), MD (Mass), FRCOG, FACOG (Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Emeritus Professor of Obstetric Therapeutics)

  5. Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    L. Stern MD, FRCP(C) (Late Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics)

Authors
  1. R. S. Ledward BSc (Manchester), MR Pharm. Soc., MB, ChB (L’pool), DA, DM (N’ham), LRCP, MRCS, MRSH, FRCS, FRCOG, DHMSA
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  2. D. F. Hawkins BSc, PhD, DSc, MB, BS (Lond), MD (Mass), FRCOG, FACOG
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  3. L. Stern MD, FRCP(C)
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© 1991 R.S. Ledward, D.F. Hawkins and L. Stern

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Ledward, R.S., Hawkins, D.F., Stern, L. (1991). Prescribing in pregnancy: drugs and the fetus. In: Drug Treatment in Obstetrics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3296-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3296-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-34900-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3296-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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