Q: I am 28 years old. I had been taking contraceptive pills for one year, but I missed my periods four months back. My pregnancy test was positive. I was taking the tablet named Loette. I went for a check-up in UAE, where the doctor told me that there will not be any problems with the baby and so we decided to continue with the pregnancy. Now I am in India. I went for my check-up and when I told the doctor that I had taken these pills, she was shocked and said no contraceptives are good. She said it is too late to do anything and just hope for the best. I am really scared after hearing this. What are the problems that I could face with the baby? Please inform me about all the possible problems. I had stopped taking the tablet immediately after I missed my periods. All my scan reports are normal.

A:The constituents of the pill were once known to be associated with malformations in the developing baby. However, there are now reports covering numerous women who took the pill while pregnant unknowingly, and the babies born to such women did not have any malformation that could be related to the intake of the pill. Therefore, most gynaecologists do not advise termination of pregnancy in such cases. Make sure you have been to an experienced ultrasonologist for an anomaly scan at around 20-22 weeks. If you have crossed that period, you can still get one done. Remember, that even in normal women, the rate of congenital malformations is around 1-2%. Also, not all malformations can be diagnosed by an antenatal ultrasound. If you stopped the pill soon after missing the period, I feel there should not be any problem. I am pretty sure you were irregular in taking the pill, otherwise the failure rate is less than 0.1%!