An Overview of Using Delestrogen During Pregnancy
Delestrogen® (
estradiol valerate) is a prescription estrogen hormone replacement medication. There is no legitimate medical reason for pregnant women to use estrogen medications, including Delestrogen.
Delestrogen creates a unique problem when inadvertently used during pregnancy, as one injection lasts for quite a while (at least a month), and there is no way to "take back" or remove the medication once it has been injected. This means that even if pregnancy is detected very early (and Delestrogen is stopped immediately), a woman who has been using Delestrogen may expose her fetus to the medication for quite some time.
Delestrogen and Pregnancy Category X
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a pregnancy category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category X is given to medications that should not be used during pregnancy in any circumstance, usually due to serious problems that could occur (such as birth defects or miscarriages). For these medications, the possible risks always outweigh the possible benefits for pregnant women.
Although Delestrogen is a Category X medication, it does not appear to increase the risk of birth defects or other problems. However, because there is no accepted, legitimate medical reason for pregnant women to use Delestrogen, and because the risks are not fully understood, it should not be used during pregnancy.
It is important to understand that estrogens (such as Delestrogen) are not effective for preventing miscarriages or other problems in pregnancy.
Add this article to your Favorites
Email this article
Print