Viagra may reduce the risk of pregnant women needing an emergency C-section, study finds
A study has found that giving pregnant women Viagra pills during labor can reduce the risk of an emergency cesarean section.
Women who received the little blue pills also had a lower risk of fetal distress.
Sildenafil citrate – the generic name of the drug sold as Viagra – works to treat erectile dysfunction by widening blood vessels and increasing blood flow.
Researchers believe it may also increase blood flow in the uterus of pregnant women, which would allow more oxygen to reach the fetus. So they conducted a study with 208 subjects.
Half were given up to three doses of Viagra during labor, while the others were given a placebo pill. In the Viagra group, 13 of the 104 women required an emergency C-section. In the control group, 27 women — more than twice as many — underwent emergency surgery.
Researchers have found that giving sildenafil citrate to pregnant women can reduce the risk of emergency caesarean section (stock image)
A study from Guilan University of Medical Sciences found that it should also increase blood flow in the uterus of pregnant women, delivering more oxygen to the fetus.
“Our results show that sildenafil is an effective and safe intervention to prevent fetal distress and reduce the need for emergency cesarean section during labor,” said the gynecologists and obstetricians from Guilan University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
The results of their clinical trial have now been published in the Journal of Reproduction and Infertility.
They said that ‘larger studies are urgently needed to further validate these results and establish their widespread use in labor management’.
Their results echo a similar 2019 Australian study of 300 women, which also found a “promising” 50 percent reduction in the number of emergency surgeries among women who took Viagra during labor.
Fetal distress can occur when the fetus does not get enough oxygen. According to the researchers, it is the reason for 22 percent of emergency caesarean sections performed during labour in the UK.
C-sections carry a risk of complications, such as infection, blood clots, and damage to nearby body parts, such as the bladder.