Q: After years of treatment finally I got pregnant. Now I am 6 weeks pregnant. The cardiac activity is present and everything seems to be normal. My doctor is giving me Life 5000 weekly and Folvite. Is it safe to take this injection weekly till the 16th week? I also have asthma and have been using Seroflo 125 inhaler, which contains steroids. Will this affect my baby?

A:You are still not 27 years old; hence I don't know why you underwent treatment for years. In any case Life is the brand name of a medicine called Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) that is given in certain selected cases up to 16 weeks of pregnancy. There will be no adverse effect. Very small amounts of medicines are absorbed when taken through inhalation route. Hence there is nothing to worry about Seroflo. With regard to Folvite, what you need is a simple combination of folic acid and iron such as Hemsi. Too many supplements mixed in one capsule often contain inadequate quantities of various ingredients and serve no purpose while giving false sense of security. Besides one should always take medicines of well reputed companies that produce quality products. Shortage of folic acid can have very serious repercussions on the baby. General statement on selection of brands: There are scores, sometimes hundreds, of brands of the same medicine. Against about 300 pharmaceutical manufacturers in western countries like Britain, there are over 20,000 producers in India that market more than 40,000 brands. Most manufacturers do not have quality testing laboratories. Hence selection of brands is important. Many companies give incentives to prescribers to patronise their products. Patients should check the reputation of manufacturers before consuming medicines.