ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to assess the safety of prescribed drugs during pregnancy in five Sudanese cities. The sample consisted of 1012 randomly interviewed pregnant women visited hospitals and private clinics in Khartoum, Wad-Medanj, Hassahisa, Almanagil and Qusty cities .The prescribed drugs were thoroughly investigated and assessed according to the Food and Drug Administration's [FDA] Classification of Drugs in Pregnancy. The study revealed that, the prescribed drugs included dietary supplementations and vitamins 53.07%, anti-infective agents 13.8%, antimalarial drugs 8.96%, antihypertensive agents 3.21%, drugs for nausea and vomiting 4.56%. Regarding the FDA classification of drugs during pregnancy, most of the investigated drugs 779 [43.89%] were classified as class A, followed by 382 [21.52%] drugs which are categorized as class B. Howerever, 280 [15.77%] of drugs had no apparent classification in FDA regimen. Furthermore, a great number of the study population [80.24%] did not use drugs without medical consultation. It can be concluded that most of the surveyed drugs were considered safe in pregnancy. Further qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to assess the safety of prescribed drugs during pregnancy