Why Taking Antibiotics During Pregnancy is a Bad Idea

By Dr. Mercola

Story at-a-glance

• Recent research shows children whose mothers took antibiotics during their pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma, compared to those whose mother did not take antibiotics
• Children predisposed to asthma due to their mother having the condition were twice as likely to develop asthma if their mother used antibiotics during the third trimester, compared to those whose mother did not use antibiotics
• The baby gets his or her first "inoculation" of gut flora from the mother’s birth canal during childbirth, which is why a mother’s use of antibiotics during pregnancy may predispose the child to asthma and a variety of other ailments, including neurological dysfunction and autoimmune disorders
• The frivolous use of antibiotics, not just in medicine, but also in food production, is the root cause of skyrocketing antibiotic resistance
• Between the years of 1993 and 2005, the number of Americans hospitalized due to the antibiotic-resistant “superbug” MRSA skyrocketed from about 2,000 to 370,000. Currently, MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections kill about 60,000 Americans annually, and account for billions of dollars in health care costs

FULL STORY