Women taking antibiotics after having unprotected sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy are wasting their time and money, maternal health experts have said.
The experts said antibiotics can’t be used as contraceptives, adding that there is no scientific evidence to back their effectiveness in preventing pregnancy, even when used immediately after sexual intercourse
They stated further that women who are in the habit of regular intake of antibiotics are at risk of destroying important vaginal flora (good bacteria).
The women, the experts warn, may also develop infections that are resistant to antibiotics.
According to News Medical, an online open-access medical and life science portal, a healthy vaginal flora protects the body against urogenital infections.
“It is made up of many different types of bacteria, the predominant bacteria being lactobacilli.
“These beneficial or “good” bacteria play a key role in defending against infection. Lactobacilli provide protection against microbes from the external environment, as well as microbes that reside in the vagina”, says News Medical.
Speaking in an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Akwa, Anambra State, Dr. Stanley Egbogu, said no known antibiotics can prevent pregnancy.
Egbogu said, “Using antibiotics as contraceptives is not science-based.
Unfortunately, a lot of women are doing it. Some even take antibiotics with quinine tablets. High doses of quinine can kill the embryo- a formed baby though quinine is antimalarial and not antibiotic. Quinine is used in treating malaria in pregnant women.
“But when a person takes an excessive dose, it can lead to abortion. Hence, some people say it is an abortifacient.
“That is why when you prescribe it for some women, they become afraid because they know it can cause abortion. But antibiotics can’t be used to prevent pregnancy.
“It is totally wrong for women to take antibiotics after sex. It is a waste of money and resources. It can cause antibiotic resistance.”
The gynaecologist also noted that excessive antibiotic intake by women could affect their normal vaginal flora.
“In a woman’s private area, there are some anti-bacteria that normally inhabit there.
“Those bacteria are not harmful to the woman; instead they prevent harmful bacteria from coming to live there. Now, when you take excessive antibiotics, they can kill those normal bacteria that are protective and cause the pathogenic ones to come and live in the vagina. This can also lead to candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis,” he stated.
PUNCH