'Prenatal chemo safe for babies'
NEW DELHI: Now, would-be mothers undergoing chemotherapy can rest easy.
A study has confirmed that chemotherapy during pregnancy does not cause developmental problems in children born later.

A new research - to be presented at the ongoing 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress - says children born after their mothers were treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy appear to be unaffected by the experience in terms of development of their mental processes and the normal functioning of their hearts.

Professor Frederic Amant will tell the Congress, "This is the first time children of 18 months and older have been examined after chemotherapy during pregnancy and the news is reassuring in respect of the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive and cardiac outcomes." However, he will say that a significant number (47) of the 70 children born from 68 pregnancies were delivered pre-term and the researchers found that prematurity but not chemotherapy affect these children's cognitive development significantly.