The Healthy Baby Resource

Prenatal Care

Bendectin

From 1956 until 1982 Bendectin was a prescription drug used to treat morning sickness in pregnancy. Bendectin was a combination of an antihistamine (doxylamine succinate), an antispasmodic (dicyclomine hydrochloride) and pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6). Although these products had been approved for marketing individually, they were not specifically approved for use in pregnancy. And the combination product with the three ingredients was not tested to determine whether it could cause birth defects before it was put on the market. Studies and clusters of case reports have linked Bendectin or its ingredients to limb defects, heart defects, and oral clefts.