What is the Mother Safe Program? Background and Tasks / 대한주산의학회잡지

ABSTRACT

The anxiety of pregnant women who are receiving drug therapy is mainly caused by their misperception of the safety and risks of medications. In developed countries, teratology information services successfully provide pregnant women and their health-care providers with evidence-based teratogen information. In our country, the Korean Motherisk Program started to provide prenatal teratogen-risk counseling approximately 10 years ago first to women referred to the clinic, later by e-mail, and more recently over the telephone. The Program has also established international collaborations which propelled its capability to gain experience and obtain information on the safe use of medications in pregnancy. Since 2010, we have a unique opportunity to reduce the gap on teratogen information across our country and among medical providers including physicians, pharmacists and nurses through the Mother Safe Program supported by the Ministry for Health and Welfare. Similar to what is occurring in other developed countries, this program intends to provide pregnant women and their health-care providers with evidence-based information on their medications in order to reduce unnecessary pregnancy terminations and decrease their anxiety on the potential risks of medications prescribed during pregnancy.