List Of Routine Antenatal Drugs Given In Hospital To Pregnant Women

There is a list of antenatal drugs. They are also called prenatal vitamins. They are routine drugs given to pregnant women. They have different functions.

Pregnant woman

Food alone may not be able to provide all the vitamin needs of a pregnant woman or adequate enough. The major reason for antenatal drugs is to supplement food vitamin and mineral and eventually prevent miscarriage, prevent birth defect and protect the mother. Pregnant women who fail to take them stand a higher risk of any of the above.

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In the hospital, pregnant women who attend antenatal or clinics are placed on routine drugs. There are five routine drugs given to pregnant women in Nigerian hospitals. Let us take a look at them and why they are important.

List Of Routine Antenatal Drugs

Iron/Fesulf/Ferrous Sulphate

Iron is one of the building blocks of red blood cells (RBC). The RBC if pregnant women double. So they need to make extra RBC. The only way to do it is to consume the building blood, one of which is iron.

In the hospital, iron is part of the routine antenatal drugs given to pregnant women. It comes as a red tablet in a sachet or cup. The package is always labeled fesulf, ferrous sulphate or fesolate. You will never see the word iron.

Dosage: During pregnancy, you need 27 milligrams of iron a day. Daily oral iron supplementation with 30 mg to 60 mg of elemental iron is recommended for pregnant women.

The equivalent of 60 mg of elemental iron is 300 mg ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, 180 mg ferrous fumarate or 500 mg of ferrous gluconate. It should be started early in the pregnancy.

Folic Acid

Folic acid is a man-made form of a B vitamin called folate. Folate plays an important role in the production of red blood cells and helps your baby's neural tube develop into their brain and spinal cord. These include Spina bifida which is incomplete development of the spinal cord or the vertebrae and Anencephaly which is incomplete development of major parts of the brain.

Dosage: For the first three months of pregnancy, 400 mcg a day will do. Then from months four to nine of pregnancy, the recommended dose is 600 mcg daily. Folic acid should be commenced as early as possible (ideally before conception) to prevent neural tube defects.

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Calcium

Calcium is a supplement for strong bones and teeth. For the first few months, you may not need it. But as the baby begins to develop bones, your need for extra calcium will increase. Unfortunately, the body cannot produce calcium. It can only be gotten from what we take in.

Dosage: daily recommended dose is 1000 mg daily. The daily dose may increase to 1300 mg for young pregnant women. However, medical doctors don't prescribe this high strength due to the fear of kidney stones. This is because most food contains Calvin and high calcium deposits in the body can cause kidney stones. The dose commonly prescribed is 100-300 mg daily.

Vitamin B Complex

Honestly, there are many vitamin B. Most of them are very valuable in pregnancy. A good example is folic acid. However, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and nicotinamide are also important. Vitamin B-1 is vital to the healthy growth and function of organs, including the brain and heart. The body needs vitamin B-2 to break down fats and drugs. Niacinamide or nicotinamide is a form of vitamin B₃ found in food and used as a dietary supplement and medication. As a supplement, it is used by mouth to prevent and treat pellagra. However, it's importance on pregnancy is still under debate.

Dosage: one tablet every day.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is so abundant that it may not be added to routine antenatal drugs. However, it is a powerful antioxidant that boosts the immune system of both mother and baby. Vitamin C also helps in the build up of collagen, a protein responsible for strong structure of the body. This will benefit the child a lot. Lastly, help your baby to absorb iron and build up stores for later use.

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Dosage: a tablet comes in 100mg. So 200mg taken every 8 hours will do.

Fansidar

Fansidar is not actually consider a routine antenatal drug. Bit die to its importance, I decided to add it.

Fansidar is a drug containing Sulfadoxine (1500 mg)/Pyrimethamine (75 mg) is given to pregnant women as a single therapeutic dose. It is use for preventing malaria infection. Malaria in pregnancy is very deadly. Prevention in endemic countries like Nigeria can save millions of lives.

Dosage: all three tablets taken at once every three months. It should be avoided in the first trimester.