Q&A: Can a fever or Sudafed harm my unborn baby?

by Dr. Gerard M. DiLeo

I am 17-week pregnant and am concerned with the possibility of birth defect. I was running a fever(99F) during week seven and did not know I was pregnant. I took Sudafed and some anti-biotics (classified as "B") for couple of days. I thought the fever brought my endometriossis back. (I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Endo last year and had a LAP to clean it up). Do you think the fever or the medicine I took could damage my baby? What kind of damage? What kind of prenatal tests will help identify possible damage even if it is small? I have AFP done last week and still waiting for the result.

In humans, Sudafed has not been found to cause damage. I use it in my practice. Fever does not affect endometriosis and certainly won't cause it or make it come back. Your fever wasn't enough to make me suspect you have put your baby at risk. If you're concerned, the best test would be a level III ultrasound by a perinatologist, but this would be very aggressive for such an unsuspicious set of circumstances.

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