MONTREAL - A new study suggests major birth defects that strike as many as 2,000 babies each year in Quebec could be avoided.
Universite de Montreal researchers found that more than six per cent of pregnant Quebecers take prescription drugs that are known to be dangerous for fetuses.
Study author Anick Berard says these congenital malformations could be prevented with better communication between physicians and patients.
She believes the statistics are similar for pregnant women across the country.
The study, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, examined data from more than 100,000 Quebec women who were pregnant between 1998 and 2002.
Berard says the potentially dangerous medications include drugs to treat anxiety, epilepsy and severe acne.
She says half of the expectant mothers who took the potentially harmful prescription drugs opted for abortions.
Berard says that abortion rate is 11 per cent higher than in the rest of the population.
