i was just wondering if there are drugs out there that do not cross the placenta? i’m not a junkie, but i was just wondering, i mean, what if i were hurt real bad? i don’t like pain, it is not my friend (this really huge bee type thing almost attacked me today). i also ask this because i know that drugs are tested to see if they cross the placenta, so it seems that somewhere they must have found some that don’t.
Right, some do, and some don’t. But since some of the ones that do can cause such ghastly birth defects, a good rule of thumb is to assume that everything crosses the placenta, and then to look up the particular drug you have in mind, to find out for sure.
Behold the formidable resources of the Internet! Allow me to introduce you to my favorite search engine.
Type in the name of the drug, along with “crosses placenta”, see what comes up.
If you were hurt badly enough that you needed serious painkillers, you’d need to be under a doctor’s care anyway, and you’d have to discuss this. In any case, if you’re pregnant or think you might be, you SHOULD get prenatal care. Really. It’s very important.
Pain is not my friend, either. However, I’m pretty sure that ALL drugs cross the placenta. If you drink alcohol, the baby is gonna get a little bit of it. If you drink a lot of alcohol during your pregnancy, you risk having a fetal alcohol syndrome baby, which will cause all sorts of problems throughout the child’s entire life.
It’s almost impossible to prescribe medical treatment over a message board, even for the most experienced doctor (and I am not a doctor, by the way). I strongly, STRONGLY urge you to confide in a doctor, who can take your medical history and who can tell you what will likely work in YOUR circumstances.
i am under doc care, and i don’t plan on taking anything, exept tylenol, which is allowed by my doctor (only when i had a bad fever, i even withstand all the headaches i’ve had) and my prenatal vitamins. i was just curious, jeez!
Acetominophen (Tylenol)–crosses placenta. Check with your doctor again, JWhee. 
Aspirin–crosses placenta, ditto.
Oxycontin–ditto.
Methadone–ditto.
Heroin–ditto.
Codeine–ditto.
Morphine–ditto.
Marijuana–ditto.
Ibuprofen–ditto.
Also, here’s a list, of “Drugs in Pregnancy”.
http://www.perinatology.com/exposures/druglist.htm
Drugs that cross the placenta may not have a harmful effect on the fetus at supervised dosages/ stages of development. Your MD will know what to perscribe in what dosage. If you were badly hurt your body would concentrate its resources on your major organs----brain and heart are necessary, placenta/uterus are not. If there is no Mom, there is no baby. If you were badly hurt, your doctors would follow the same line of reasoning. Pain is not your friend, but if keeping you comfortable meant adverse effects for your baby there’d be some choices you and your doctor would have to face.
Wear your seatbelt, stay off ladders and stepstools and take care of yourselves.