Prepping Medications for Pregnancy & Children

Many survivalists fail to take into account that the medications they are stockpiling may not be suitable for everyone in their party.

Just as certain people may need certain drugs, dosages must be tailored appropriately to the individual. Oral medications are not a “one-size-fits-all” treatment in terms of size, strength, and formulation. Even if a medication works for you, you may be failing to take into account that you might not be alone. Who will you be rescuing when the world collapses? Your spouse? Your children? Your mother? Your neighbors, their two dogs, and their great aunt? Whoever it may be, keep in mind that when prepping meets pregnancy and children, the standard dosages of many medications often do not fit the bill.

Prepping for Children

Treating babies or small children presents additional factors to consider when administering a drug. Some tablets come in adult-strength concentrations that babies and toddlers can’t tolerate or swallow. Small tablets and pills present a choking hazard and, when not stored securely, carry a risk of accidental poisoning if taken by the handful. Certain medications are not approved or available for use in children, as is the case with some of the drugs listed in this book. The ones that are available will typically be in liquid form, and these should be at the top of your list when sifting through the remains of a vacated drugstore. Furthermore, children tend to be more prone to certain types of illnesses than adults are. Check out this list of the 30 Most Commonly Prescribed Pediatric Medications for some ideas on what medications the children in your party may need down the road.

Prepping for Pregnant Women

Is there any chance that someone in your survival group could become pregnant? Likely so, especially if your are facing a long-term apocalyptic landscape as opposed to a temporary natural disaster. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, you should be aware that certain meds can pass to a developing fetus or nursing baby. In fact, almost all drugs pass into breast milk; the concentration is dependent on the milk/plasma ratio, which is listed in most drug references. Alcohol, for example, has a milk/plasma ratio of roughly 1:1, so if your blood alcohol level is 0.09, then your breast milk is likely to be over the limit as well. Before you take any medication, it is important to understand the implications it may have for you and your baby. In the United States, the FDA requires every drug to have a pregnancy category, which assesses the risk of the drug to the developing fetus. Be aware of the following ratings if you are pregnant, and always weigh the costs of administering a medication against the benefits of treatment:

 

Category	Description
A	Controlled studies of pregnant women show no risk in the first trimester
B	Animal studies show no risk, or animals show risk unconfirmed in humans
C	Animal studies show risk, caution is advised, benefits may outweigh risks
D	Evidence of risk to the human fetus, benefits may outweigh risks in serious conditions
X	Risks outweigh benefits

 

Keep in mind that if someone in either of these categories is important enough to include in your survival group, they are also probably important enough to be kept alive. Survival prepping for pregnancy and children means choosing survival medications wisely by anticipating their medical needs in addition to your own.