Objectives: To evaluate the quality of counseling provided by community pharmacists to pregnant women.
Methods: Observational study. Three clinical scenarii were selected on the basis of frequent complaints during pregnancy and likely use of medications: (1) headache (2) nausea and vomiting (3) no complaint, but request of a pregnancy test and a decongestive medicine. Four simulated female patients presented themselves to a total of 26 community pharmacies and asked precise questions. The responses were transcribed, compared to the awaited responses, and after the initial conversation a semi-quantitative questionnaire was filled in by the pharmacist.
Results: No pharmacist proposed a drug considered to be contra-indicated during pregnancy. For most drugs, pharmacists knew whether the use during pregnancy was allowed or not. In contrast, too few questions were asked before dispensing medicines, non pharmacological options were most often omitted, and explanations relative to choice of therapy and dosage were usually very limited and sometimes inexistent or incorrect.
Conclusions: This pilot study showed that pharmacist counseling on the medicines (not) to be taken during pregnancy is of good quality, but that there is room for improvement in the following: questions to be asked before dispensing medicines, non-pharmacological options, dosage information, and rationale for choosing a specific drug.