A New Study Has Found That Chemotherapy Drugs Do Not Seem To Harm A Woman's Growing Baby, But Delivering Early So That The Expecting Mother Can Begin Chemotherapy Can Be Dangerous To The Baby.
A new study has found that chemotherapy drugs do not seem to harm a woman's growing baby, but delivering early so that the expecting mother can begin chemotherapy can be dangerous to the baby.
A new study has found that chemotherapy drugs do not seem to harm a woman's growing baby, but delivering early so that the expecting mother can begin chemotherapy can be dangerous to the baby. A team of researchers in Belgium "who studied the health and mental development of children born to mothers treated for cancer in pregnancy found they were not affected by chemotherapy, but were harmed if they were born prematurely, either naturally or by induction." (Source: Fox news) Frederic Amant, a gynecological oncologist at the University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, led the research. Amant stated that doctors treating pregnant women who have cancer should not induce early delivery if possible. He said that there is no need for women to have abortions or hold off on treating their cancer with chemo beyond the first trimester. The researchers found that if chemotherapy is given after 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy, the very small amount of the drugs that cross the placenta do not appear to harm the growing baby. The study was small - it examined 70 babies born as a result of 68 pregnancies. Therefore, the research team plans to conduct a larger study. "At this stage we do not know the full, long-term consequences of prenatal chemotherapy, including its effect on the children's fertility and likelihood of developing cancers when they are older," Amant said. More on prematurity Babies born at 39 weeks or later have half the risk of dying Blood test might predict premature birth Progesterone could reduce preterm birth by 45%