Data on the effects of prescription medications in pregnant women is sorely lacking, since they have been excluded from the clinical trials that are performed to assess a drug’s effectiveness and safety. That's about to change, however.

Pregnant women with hypertension commonly use two antihypertensive drugs - labetolol and atenolol. The FDA has recently funded research at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Washington to determine the appropriate doses and effects of these agents for treating hypertension in pregnant women.

In an earlier survey, the FDA found that the average number of prescription drugs taken during pregnancy was three for each woman, excluding prenatal vitamins, iron preparations, or medications taken at the time of delivery. That number increased with age - the number of prescriptions was five among women over the age of 35. Evaluating prescription drugs in women is a priority of the U.S. Public Health Service’s Office of Women's Health.

Related information: Treatment - Drug treatment | Hypertension & Pregnancy