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Antibiotics are commonly used to treat infections but a new Canadian study revealed that antibiotics use in early pregnancy can lead to spontaneous abortion or miscarriage.

The researchers from the University of Montreal reiterated that while the risk of antibiotics use in early pregnancy increased the risk of miscarriage, the overall risk was very low. The researchers took data from cases of pregnancies that resulted in miscarriage from 1998 to 2009.

Out of the 96,000 cases studied, there were 8,700 that had instances of use of antibiotics. The classes of antibiotics that were associated with the increased likelihood of women miscarrying before 20 weeks of pregnancy include macrolides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, and sulfonamides, ABC News reported.

The study on antibiotics use in early pregnancy supports the guidelines on use of quinolones and tetracyclines, as these classes have been associated with risks of unborn children having birth defects. The study also revealed that the miscarriages happened in women who were living alone, older, and had multiple health issues. The study also believes that the infections that occur may contribute to the miscarriage and increase the risk, CNN reported.

The study noted that the first-line treatment like penicillin does not show any increased risk. While the research claims it is a comprehensive analysis of antibiotics use in early pregnancy, critics of the study are dismayed that it was there were several limitations that were not discussed and that the findings were overstated.

The study on antibiotics use in early pregnancy overlooked the fact that quinolones and tetracyclines are not part of the list of antibiotics prescribed during pregnancy, which means that those miscarriages happened very early in the pregnancy and was missed by the prescribing physician.

The researchers however believe that their study on antibiotics use in early pregnancy gives women and doctors more options in treating infections, since pregnant women are not included in randomized controlled trials for new drugs.