Pregnancy is a time full of countless decisions — but too often, it’s met with more questions than clear answers. Despite its importance, too many basic pregnancy health questions are still met with opinions, anecdotes, pseudoscience, or no answers at all. Questions like:
Is Tylenol or Advil safer?
Can I keep taking Adderall?
How much caffeine is OK during the first trimester?
Can I keep using my face creams?
Is it normal?
The reality is, many pregnancy decisions are made without solid evidence.
Over 90% of pregnant people take at least one medication during pregnancy, yet fewer than 10% of medications approved in the last ~40 years have sufficient data to determine pregnancy safety. [CDC]
This is in part because pregnant people have historically been excluded from clinical research – in fact, women weren’t required to be included in any clinical trials until 1993!
This lack of reliable evidence leaves patients guessing, providers frustrated, and research efforts stalled.
