Pharmacotherapy during pregnancy, childbirth and lactation: Principles to consider

Pregnancy, childbirth and lactation pose unique challenges in terms of drug therapy. The pregnant mother and her unborn child are exceptionally vulnerable from a physiological, clinical and ethical point of view. This warrants careful consideration of a number of important aspects, which could firstly influence the decision to opt for drug therapy, and secondly the specific agent that is selected for each indication. In this article, an overview is given of these important aspects.