Medication List for Prenatal Visits: Copy the Labels, Mark Gaps and Ask the Right Team
Make one current list from the medicines and remedies you actually use, including prescribed, over-the-counter, herbal and homeopathic products. Copy the label accurately, keep the product strength separate from the amount and schedule you take, mark unknown details, and bring questions to your pharmacist or maternity team without changing treatment yourself.
Updated 2026-11-07 (UTC)
Include ordinary shop products as well as prescriptions
A prenatal medicine list is useful when it tells the professional which actual products you use. Cambridge University Hospitals’ appointment guidance asks for prescribed medicines, over-the-counter medicines, herbal remedies and homeopathic remedies. It asks for each medicine’s name, what it is for and how often it is taken. This is a concrete hospital example of the list’s contents; confirm your own clinic’s requirements. Source 1
Do not silently omit an occasional product because it comes from a supermarket, is used only some days or is described as natural. The NHS medicines-in-pregnancy page asks people to discuss medicines and remedies with a doctor, midwife or pharmacist. It specifically warns against stopping a prescribed medicine without first checking with a doctor. Source 2
This page organises information. It does not label a product safe or unsafe, choose a dose, advise a missed-dose response or compare treatment options. If a medicine question cannot wait for the routine visit, use the appropriate professional contact now rather than finishing this list first.
Keep the package wording separate from your use
| Field | What to copy or write | If unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Product name | Name on the actual container; brand and named ingredient where printed | Bring the package or ask a pharmacist |
| Form and label strength | As written: tablet, liquid, cream or other form; exact units | Do not infer from a similar product |
| What you actually take | Amount and timing according to your current instructions; recent use where relevant | Describe the gap to the professional |
| Reason or recommending person | Your own explanation or who advised it | Write “not sure” rather than invent an indication |
| Questions or discrepancy | Conflicting list, unclear label or instruction as written | Ask who should verify and update it |
The label strength and the amount you take answer different questions. A strength printed on a container is not automatically one whole dose, and a brand name alone may not identify the product. Preserve the wording and units; this worksheet does not convert tablets to liquid, add ingredients across products or calculate a replacement schedule.
Add supplements and other remedies you use to the information you plan to discuss, with the actual label where available. The extra record fields are an original organising choice, not a mandatory national form. Ask the clinic whether it wants the packages, a list, particular printouts or another format.
Make the copy current without editing the clinical record
Date the personal list when you check it and identify where the information came from: current container, prescription instructions or a previous list. If a portal list differs from what you are using, keep both facts visible and tell the team. A personal note saying “corrected” does not itself update the hospital record.
When an item was stopped under professional instructions, identify that instruction rather than quietly leaving two competing versions. If you are uncertain which instruction applies, ask the prescribing or maternity team; do not choose between them using a generic article.
Put a short question next to each real gap: “Which exact product should this record name?”, “Is this list current?” or “Who should clarify these different instructions?” Keep the question separate from a plan to start, stop or alter the product. NHS guidance applies the professional check to both prescribed and shop-bought medicines.
Bring a findable list and preserve privacy
Keep the current version with your appointment materials. A chosen helper can help locate packaging or write the question if you want that assistance. They do not need your account password or authority to answer treatment questions for you. CUH also recommends bringing questions and a pen and paper for notes.
Original appointment wording
Patient: Here is my current list, checked on [date]. This row copies the product label, and this separate field says how I use it under my current instructions.
Patient: I am uncertain about [exact missing detail]. Please tell me who can verify it and which record should be updated.
The wording is constructed, with no patient or medicine assessment behind it.
During hospital admission, tell staff about medicines you take and follow the unit’s management arrangements. Sara Ward’s published information asks patients using their own medicines to make the midwife aware and discuss self-administration with staff. Bringing a medicine does not itself authorise taking it on a ward. This is a local example, not an instruction for every hospital. Source 3
Keep the completed list privately and use your service’s instructed channel when it needs to be shared. For requested arrival documents and paper or digital notes, use the separate admission-document directory.
Three fictional record checks
These cases check information quality, not medicine suitability.
Example 1: An old list says Product A; the current container has a different full name. Should you replace the name by guesswork?
Record the discrepancy and bring the actual container or wording for professional verification.
A similar name is not evidence of an identical product.
Example 2: A remedy is used only occasionally and has no prescription. Can it be omitted automatically?
Include the actual product and relevant use in the information to discuss.
CUH includes over-the-counter, herbal and homeopathic remedies; prescription status is not a completeness test.
Example 3: The list is complete but the instructions are unclear. Does a completed worksheet authorise a dose change?
No. Ask the relevant professional to clarify before changing treatment.
Information completeness is separate from a treatment decision.
Sources
- CUH: Before your appointment. Actual medicine-list categories, name, reason and frequency; question and note-taking preparation. Checked 2026-11-07.
- NHS: Medicines in pregnancy. Professional check and not stopping prescribed medicines without checking; no drug-specific efficacy, safety, dose or treatment claims adopted. Main review date 5 September 2022, with a later 2025 update block. Checked 2026-11-07.
- CUH: Sara Ward. Local communication and self-administration discussion during admission, not universal ward permission. Checked 2026-11-07.
Keep your own record
Save this blank text record and complete it privately. It contains no prefilled patient information.
Download the blank medicines record (TXT)