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Glaucoma and pregnancy PDF Print E-mail
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Wednesday, 13 January 2010 19:08

How will glaucoma medications affect my baby?

It is important to understand that any glaucoma medication may affect an unborn child. Unfortunately, there is little human data on the use of glaucoma eyedrop medications during pregnancy. For most of these medications, risk cannot be ruled out. Oral (taken in a tablet or pill) carbonic anhydrase inhibitors should be used with caution in the first three months of pregnancy.

Concerns about glaucoma medications should not end with delivery of the baby. If you want to breast-feed your baby, consider that glaucoma medications, like other medications, can be passed on through breast milk. For example, beta blocker medications actually concentrate in breast milk, and should be avoided if possible by nursing mothers.

What can I do to reduce the risk to my baby?

Discuss this in detail with your eye doctor. The first three months of pregnancy are especially critical. It is important to get your eye doctor involved as early as possible in order to plan the best treatment regimen for your pregnancy. It is even better if you can let your eye doctor know if you are planning to conceive. Then, the medication regimen can be planned before the baby is conceived.

When using eye drops, you can reduce the absorption of the medication into your bloodstream by gently pressing on the inside corner of the eye. With this technique, you will minimize the amount of medication that crosses the placenta or get into your breast milk.

scan of optic disc

HRT scan of optic nerve

 

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 21 January 2010 23:32