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According to a recent study performed in Britain, antibiotics can increase the incidence of cerebral palsy in newborns if they are administered to mothers during a "typical" or non-premature labor.
In fact, this study found that nearly three times as many babies were born with cerebral palsy when mothers received antibiotic treatments and their waters were still intact.
Antibiotics, particularly erythromycin and co-amoxiclav, are usually given to mothers during premature labor, which is defined as labor that ensues before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
In cases of premature water breakage, antibiotics can be effective in delaying labor (which can be crucial if babies haven't finished developing in the womb), fighting possible infections, and reducing the possibility of respiratory problems in premature babies. In practice, antibiotics are typically only given to mothers enduring a premature labor.
Researchers analyzed over 1,500 cases: 769 cases in which antibiotics were administered upon full-term birth versus 735 cases in which no antibiotics were used during labor. Roughly 5 percent of the babies exposed to the antibiotics were born with cerebral palsy compared to 2 percent of those who were not.
Experts purport that the link between cerebral palsy and antibiotics is not a direct effect of the medication itself but, rather, the consequence of babies being in the womb longer than they would if antibiotics hadn't been administered.
Since antibiotics delay labor, if a woman's water hasn't broken yet and she takes antibiotics, labor will be prolonged unnecessarily. This means that babies are exposed to a hostile environment of suppressed (yet still present) infection for a longer period of time than they would if the water had broken and they were about to exit the womb.
Currently, the medical community accepts that infections during either pregnancy or infancy are responsible for cerebral palsy. Similarly, antibiotics are still vital to treating infections during pregnancy.
However, for full-term pregnancies and typical labors, medical professionals advise that the use of antibiotics be strictly limited until further studies can shed light on the link between cerebral palsy and antibiotics.
(Source: BBC)
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