§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Committee on Safety of Medicines has received any evidence about possible effects of oral contraceptives on subsequent pregnancies including congenital abnormalities.
§ Mr. Moyle,pursuant to his reply, [Official Report, 21st July 1978; Vol. 954, c. 458], gave the following information:
Some studies have suggested that amenorrhoea and diminished fertility may occur when a woman stops taking oral contraceptives but that these are usually temporary. The evidence of which the Committee on Safety of Medicines is aware suggests that oral contraceptives taken before a pregnancy begins are not 448W teratogenic. There have been conflicting reports published about the possible teratogenicity of oral contraceptives taken inadvertently in early pregnancy; no study has demonstrated a cause-effect relationship. The Committee on Safety of Medicines' own study found no evidence that oral contraceptives were associated with congenital abnormalities.