This sheet talks about exposure to prucalopride in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider.
What is prucalopride?
Prucalopride is a medication used to treat adults for chronic idiopathic constipation. It comes in tablet form and is taken orally (by mouth). It is sold under the brand name Motegrity®.
Other forms of constipation may be treated by over-the-counter (OTC) laxatives. For more information about OTC laxatives, please see the MotherToBaby Fact Sheet: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/laxatives/pdf/.
I take prucalopride. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?
Studies have not been done to see if prucalopride could make it harder for a woman to get pregnant.
I just found out that I am pregnant. Should I stop taking prucalopride?
Talk with your healthcare provider before making any changes to this medication. They can go over your options, including the risks and benefits of treating or not treating your condition.
Does taking prucalopride increase the chance for miscarriage?
Miscarriage can occur in any pregnancy. Studies have not been done to see if prucalopride increases the chance for miscarriage. There have been reports of women who used prucalopride during clinical trials. While there were some miscarriages reported, some of these pregnancies had other risks factors for miscarriage, and some of the reports did not have complete information about the pregnancies or outcomes. At this time, it is not known if prucalopride increases the risk of miscarriage.
Does taking prucalopride in the first trimester increase the chance of birth defects?
In every pregnancy, a woman starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a baby with a birth defect. This is called her background risk. There are no human studies looking at exposure to prucalopride during pregnancy.
Animal studies done by the manufacturer did not show an increase in birth defects with exposure to prucalopride.
Could taking prucalopride in the second or third trimester cause other pregnancy complications?
It is not known if prucalopride can cause pregnancy complications. There are no human studies looking at exposure to prucalopride during pregnancy.
Does taking prucalopride in pregnancy cause long-term problems in behavior or learning for the baby?
It is not known if prucalopride can cause long-term problems in behavior or learning.
Can I breastfeed while taking prucalopride?
There are no published studies looking at the use of prucalopride during breastfeeding. The manufacturer reports an unpublished study that indicates a relatively low amount of prucalopride is passed into breastmilk. Until more information is known, watch the baby for diarrhea. Be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about all of your breastfeeding questions.
If a man takes prucalopride, could it affect his fertility (ability to get partner pregnant) or increase the chance of birth defects?
There are no studies looking at possible risks to a pregnancy when the father takes prucalopride. In general, exposures that fathers have are unlikely to increase risks to a pregnancy. For more information, please see the MotherToBaby fact sheet Paternal Exposures and Pregnancy at https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/paternal-exposures-pregnancy/pdf/.
MotherToBaby is currently conducting a study looking at prucalopride use in pregnancy. If you are interested in learning more about this study, please call 1-877-311-8972 or visit https://mothertobaby.org/join-study.
Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Biorepository at UC San Diego is conducting a study looking at prucalopride and breastmilk. If you would like to participate or learn more, please visit https://mommysmilkresearch.org/participate.
Selected References:
- Motegrity® Prescribing Information. Available online at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2018/210166s000lbl.pdf. Accessed on September 11, 2019.
OTIS/MotherToBaby recognizes that not all people identify as “men” or “women.” When using the term “mother,” we mean the source of the egg and/or uterus and by “father,” we mean the source of the sperm, regardless of the person’s gender identity.
