Adopted by the OTIS Board in June 2022

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) opposes laws that prevent people from making informed reproductive choices, or that seek to prevent or criminalize healthcare professionals who inform patients of scientific knowledge or reproductive options. OTIS will continue to provide confidential, evidence-based, scientifically accurate and unbiased information about exposures before and during pregnancy that allows people who are pregnant or who could become pregnant to make informed reproductive choices.

Dr. Jessica Vernon, OBGYN at NYU Langone Health, is an expert on post-birth complications, but after the birth of her daughter she didn’t recognize her own symptoms of postpartum depression. Now Dr. Vernon is on a mission to share her story, and her decision to continue mental health treatment during her current pregnancy. Watch the clip on the Today Show where she recommends MotherToBaby as a resource for others navigating decisions about medication use during pregnancy.

Adopted by the OTIS Board in March 2022

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our friends and colleagues in Ukraine. We have proudly provided education and training on teratogens in Ukraine since 2003 and helped our Ukrainian colleagues to establish their own Teratology Information Service in 2017. We feel a great kinship to the many people our various members have worked with over the years and it is greatly distressing for us to see the current events unfold.

As a professional organization comprised of leading healthcare professionals in the area of teratology, or birth defects, we hope for the safety and health of pregnant and breastfeeding individuals and their children as they deal with the difficult situation in Ukraine and neighboring countries. We are concerned about the increased risk of harmful pregnancy exposures related to warfare, the negative psychological impacts of conflict, the interruption of access to maternal healthcare, and the effects these conditions may have on generations to come. We hope a healthy future is restored immediately for all who are impacted.

We hope you’ll join MotherToBaby and partners around the world for an Instagram LIVE on Thursday, March 3rd at 10a PT/1pm ET for World Birth Defects Day. MotherToBaby experts will be answering questions about COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 

You can participate by:

·        Following @MotherToBaby on Instagram

·        Tap the small badge around the story circles at the top of the screen that says “live” to enter the live stream at 10a PT/1p ET.

·        Once you’re in the livestream, you can ask a question and/or add a comment. Let us know you’re there! World Birth Defects Day is an opportunity to spread the word about preventing birth defects and sharing resources. We hope to see you there on 3/3/2022!

Non-Profit Cites Potential Health Repercussions of Such Flawed Conclusions

December 15, 2021

BRENTWOOD, TN – The non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) and its public-facing service, MotherToBaby, respond to “misleading” new review regarding maternal paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) use. The widely studied drug is healthcare providers’ recommended choice for the treatment of pain during pregnancy.

The response from the world’s leading organization on exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding was drafted after a new review receiving widespread media attention that was published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology suggested pregnant women should not use paracetamol or products containing paracetamol at all. Sura Alwan, MSc, PhD, corresponding author of the organization’s response said such a recommendation can have serious repercussions. “These studies suffer from serious methodological problems,” explained Alwan. “Although the authors acknowledge the vast limitations of past studies on this subject, they do not consider the clinical consequences that will likely result from their premature precautionary statements. There are many examples in which undertreatment of maternal illnesses due to medication hesitancy poses a far greater risk to the fetus and mother than the exposure to the medication,” she added.

More than 50 members of OTIS and its partner organizations, which consist of scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists, and teratology information specialists, signed on to support the response. To read it in its entirety, please visit https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-021-00606-x

More about OTIS and MotherToBaby

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) is a professional scientific society made up of individuals engaged in assessing and evaluating risks to pregnancy and breastfeeding from environmental exposures. Members include, but are not limited to, specialists in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, genetics, dysmorphology, perinatal epidemiology, teratology, behavioral teratology, pharmacy, genetic counseling, nursing, midwifery, maternal and child health, public health, and includes experts that provide MotherToBaby services and researchers that conduct MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies. MotherToBaby is a suggested resource by many federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To learn more about MotherToBaby and OTIS, please visit www.MotherToBaby.org.  

***Media Contact: Nicole Chavez, nchavez@mothertobaby.org, 619-368-3259.