Fetal Effects of Metoclopramide Therapy for Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy

Abstract

Many pregnant women have nausea and vomiting during the first trimester; these effects may be severe and in some women they continue beyond the first trimester.¹ The cause is likely to be multifactorial, and the disorder is a diagnosis of exclusion.² Since the thalidomide tragedy, there is heightened awareness of the risks of drug therapy during pregnancy in general and of antiemetic therapy in particular.³ Although not licensed for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, metoclopramide is the antiemetic drug of choice in pregnancy in several European countries.⁴ There have, however, been no prospective studies of the fetal effects of metoclopramide therapy in pregnant women.