Zofran (otherwise known as Ondansetron), is a drug that is used to prevent nausea and vomiting typically brought on by chemotherapy or radiation 2 in cancer patients.. Ninety percent of pregnant women with morning sickness symptoms see improvement just by altering their diets.If that doesn’t work for you, there are two other methods I frequently suggest before prescribing ondansetron:However, if you have severe nausea and vomiting that does not improve with these methods or other nausea medication, your doctor may prescribe ondansetron. Zofran has been used off-label to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. At the end of the test, she asked me, “Does everything look OK?” I reassured her that everything looked as normal as it possibly could.

One method involves looking at registries of children born with birth defects and asking their mothers what medications they remember taking during their pregnancy. Healthcare professionals also prescribe ondansetron during pregnancy to reduce symptoms of nausea and vomiting, also known as “morning sickness.” Read the full scientific article external icon. Even if the increased risk for cleft palate or heart defects turns out to be true, As always, I encourage you to ask questions. COVID-19 Update: Information and resources can be found 2018; 132 (2): 385-394.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Zofran (more commonly known as ondansetron) is used to treat nausea.

However, more recent studies have raised concern over the It’s important to note that another study using similar information I always advise women suffering from morning sickness to start with dietary changes and eliminate “triggers” that cause or worsen symptoms.

She was upset because she had taken the medication for morning sickness – nausea and vomiting during pregnancy – and she was afraid the drug had harmed her baby.Ondansetron was originally used to treat nausea associated with chemotherapy or surgery. For many women, the first weeks of pregnancy are marked by morning sickness.Most recently, Duchess Kate Middleton spent days in the hospital at the start of her pregnancy, plagued by severe morning sickness. The other involves comparing outcomes in children whose mothers received prescriptions for ondansetron to those who received a prescription for another nausea medication. Importantly, a recent large control study by the Slone Epidemiology Center in Boston, Mass, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga, detected a 2-fold increased risk of cleft palate associated with ondansetron taken for NVP in the first trimester of pregnancy … Clearly, neither method is sufficient to give us all the answers we need.Original work suggested no increase in birth defects in women who took ondansetron early in pregnancy. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns about taking ondansetron or Zofran®. If you are pregnant and have taken ondansetron or Zofran® during pregnancy, I want to reassure you that it likely has not affected your baby. Your Pregnancy Matters Ondansetron (Zofran®) is a medicine used to treat nausea and vomiting that may be caused by surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

But, it can also be prescribed to treat extreme morning sickness. Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products. A study from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (To learn more about our work in this area, visit the Parker SE, Van Bennekom C, Anderka M, & Mitchell AA.

In the United States, it rapidly became the most frequently prescribed drug for morning sickness. Last week, I had a patient who was really worked up during her ultrasound. Estimates suggest Definitive studies evaluating the safety of medications, especially during pregnancy, are difficult to find. GlaxoSmithKline – the manufacturer of the drug, which goes by the brand name Zofran – has been hit with roughly 200 lawsuits stemming from claims that exposure to the drug during pregnancy … The FDA warns against Zofran use in pregnancy based on recent studies regarding the association between Zofran use in early pregnancy and congenital cardiac malformations and oral clefts (cleft lip and palate). It is an effective medication that works to block the receptors in your body that trigger the feeling of nausea. Main Findings More in: Get our occasional alerts about new blog posts, upcoming events, opportunities, and more. What is Zofran? The medication can keep you from losing weight or becoming dehydrated, which can harm you and your baby.If you are pregnant and have taken ondansetron or Zofran® during pregnancy, I want to reassure you that it likely has not affected your baby. For ondansetron, physicians have relied on two imperfect methods of study. Even if the increased risk for cleft palate or heart defects turns out to be true, the risk to your baby is still very, very small . Ondansetron for Treatment of Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy and the Risk of Birth Defects. If you have been experiencing morning sickness and nausea during your pregnancy, your doctor may have prescribed or spoken to you about taking Zofran.