Concluding remarks

Abstract

Of all the medical disciplines, obstetrics in my opinion is the most gratifying. To help a young woman through pregnancy and deliver her child usually will establish a unique relationship. A mother will never forget the man who delivered her babies, that is, if all goes well. Pregnancy and delivery are fraught with many dangers, and drugs represent only one category of hazards. The obstetrician must know them all and must guard his patient against them all. Yet he cannot and must not alert his patient to all, lest she be scared of all the gruesome things that can happen. If pregnancy required informed consent, the birth rate would drop catastrophically. So the obstetrician must carry the burden, and this meeting is chiefly aimed at him. But an infonned public who have some idea of the hazards can make life easier for him, and that is why this meeting has been opened to the press. To the science writers and reporters in the audience, I would like to say that you are faced with a delicate task, to inform without scaring. Leave the specifics out and keep in mind what our distinguished keynote speaker, Dr. Hellman, said. What counts in regard to the drugs of today is the ratio between benefit and safety. The epileptic patient does need anticonvulsants during pregnancy. Without them she might expose the fetus to other hazards such as oxygen deprivation and traumas during seizures. As Dr. Stern said, the fetus is the recipient of unwanted drugs; true—but its welfare may well depend on the mother receiving those drugs. The uterus is still the best test tube for producing babies, even if it does pennit the transfer of drugs and other potentially harmful agents.