Wellbeing of Women

2009 Grants

Pregnancy outcomes after maternal exposure to topical corticosteroids

Professor Fenella Wojnarowska (Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Department of Dermatology) and Dr Ching-Chi Chi,
£24,787 over 12 months

LAY TITLE: Safety of topical corticosteroids in pregnancy

Topical steroid creams/ointments are the most commonly prescribed skin medicines. Women may need topical steroidsfor treatingskin problems during pregnancy. However, the data on the safety of topical steroids in pregnancy are limited and unclear. Topical steroids are often only labelled in the prescribing information as “should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.”Doctors are often reluctant to prescribe topical steroids to pregnant women, while pregnant women worry about their adverse effects on the babies. This frequently leads to undertreatment with resultant uncontrolled itching accompanied by distress, lack of sleep, which may affect their health and quality of life. Further research on the safety of topical steroids in pregnancy is thus needed.

We will conduct a study by using anonymised clinical data from the Health Informatics Centre to see if there are problems with pregnancies or the children may have congenital malformations after maternal use of topical steroids. Our research will provide further insights into the safety of topical steroids in pregnancy so that doctors and women can be confident in judging their use during pregnancy. Our research thus contributes to the wellbeing of pregnant women along with their children.

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