Study: Chemotherapy During Pregnancy Does Not Harm Baby

Children Unharmed by Chemo During Pregnancy

Children whose mothers received chemotherapy treatment for cancer while they were pregnant appear to be unaffected by the experience in terms of their mental processes and the functioning of their hearts, new research found.

The findings, which will be presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, show that a majority of babies born to women who got chemotherapy during pregnancy were born preterm, which did have an effect on their cognitive development.

Of the 70 babies born from the 68 women in the study, 47 were born preterm. Researchers found that the children that had been born preterm fell below the normal IQ range, but that incidence of congenital growth and development issues was similar to that of the general population – cognitive development was in a normal range for most of the children.

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