' Sudan JMS Vol. 8, No.1. Mar 2013 13 b|z|˙t˜ T|v˜x Drugs use during pregnancy at Medani Maternity Hospital, Sudan AbdElrahium D. Haggaz 1 , Samah Ahmed 2 , Gasim I. Gasim 3 , Duria A. Rayis 2 , Ishag Adam 2 Abstract Background: There is a limited knowledge on use of drugs during pregnancy including beneficial and possible adverse effects of drugs on both the mother and the fetus. Objective: To investigateepidemiology ofuse of drugs during pregnancy. Methods: Across sectional hospital based study at Medani Hospital during the period December 2011. After signing an informed consent, a pre-tested questionnaire was used to gather data from each parturient mother on her age, parity, level of education, antenatal care visits and use of drug during the index pregnancy. Results: The vast majority (334; 98.2%) of the interviewed women used drugs during the index pregnancy. Around ten percent (35; 10.5%) of these women used the drugs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The majority (266; 78.2%) used the drugs in third trimester and the rest used it in the second trimester. The most common drugs used were antibiotics, tonics, antimalarials and antiemetic. Conclusion: There is a very high rate of drug use in this setting. Antibiotics and antimalarials drugs were the most used drugs. Keywords: drugs, pregnancy, antibiotics, antimalarials, Sudan. ost women use prescribed drugs during pregnancy from categories C, D, or X of the United States Food and Drug Administration risk classification system, therefore this highlights the importance of the need to understand the effects of these medications on the developing fetus and on the pregnant woman 1, 2 .There is a limited knowledge on use of drugs during pregnancy including beneficial andpossible adverse effects of drugs on both the mother and the fetus. The vast majority of thedata on drug exposure during pregnancy are from _________________________________________________ 1.Faculty of Medicine, University of Geizera, Medani, Sudan 2.Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. 3.Medical College, Qassim University, Gassim, Saudi Arabia *Corresponding author: Prof. Ishag Adam Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum Tel: +249912168988, Fax: +249 183771211, ishagadam@hotmail.com the developing countries where the pharmacovigilance and drug registry systems are in place 3, 4 . This is not the case in developing countries where the assessment of drug exposure in pregnancy is complicated by high parity and clinical complaints ofseveral endemic diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis where it is difficult to dissect the disease and the drug adverse effects 5-7 . Furthermore in countries with less resource, recording of drug exposure during pregnancy is inadequate. In most of the developing countries there is no baseline data on birth outcomes that can be used in assessmentregarding the effect of these drugs. In sub-Saharan which is endemic for communicable diseases anti-infectivedrugs are often used during pregnancy, and thus they should always be considered in any drug exposure assessment in these areas 8-10 . The situation may be different where drugs used for chronic diseases are likely to be used by pregnant women in developed countries. The M