Could your over-the-counter pain killer be raising your chance of miscarriage?  A new study out of Canada contends that taking anti-inflammatory drugs prior to pregnancy or in the first trimester could as much as double your risk.

Via MSNBC:

Common anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen may increase the chance of miscarriage if they are taken early in pregnancy, a new study suggests.

Risk of miscarriage more than doubled in women who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, during the first 20 weeks of gestation, according to researchers who scrutinized health records from nearly 50,000 Canadian women.

The study appears in the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“I would strongly suggest that women take no non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during the first trimester,” said study co-author Anick Berard, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Montreal and director of the research unit on medications and pregnancy at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ste. Justine.”If a woman is taking an NSAID for a chronic condition she really has to talk to her health care provider to see if it’s feasible to stop at least during the first trimester.”

The study found that the rate of miscarriage for women using NSAIDs was 35 percent, compared to 15 percent among women who didn’t take the medicines.  However, they are unsure if any other factors may have played into the equation, such as whatever health issue the women were taking the drugs for in the first place.