Evidence of Placental Transfer of Acetaminophen

Abstract

Various surveys have shown that pregnant women frequently take mild analgesics. The most widely used nonprescription analgesics are aspirin, acetaminophen, and its precursor phenacetin. Acetaminophen has been detected in the urine of ten out of 250 women attending an antenatal clinic in Australia.1 We have recently studied and reported on the kinetics of salicylate elimination by newborn infants of mothers who ingested aspirin before delivery, either in single small doses2 or regularly in large doses.3