Antibiotic use in pregnancy and spontaneous abortion

The safety of antibiotics during pregnancy has been assessed in a nested case-control study conducted in Canada.1 Although evidence from previous studies has not produced a clear picture, concerns remain over a possible link between antibiotic use during pregnancy and spontaneous abortion. In particular, the authors questioned the fetal safety of macrolides, quinolones, tetracyclines, metronidazole and nitrofurantoin.

The study used data from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort, an ongoing population-based cohort with prospective data collection on all pregnancies of women covered by the Quebec Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, from January 1998 to December 2009.¹ The authors defined spontaneous abortion as having a diagnosis or procedure related to spontaneous abortion …