POSTED: 5:45 p.m. PDT August 14, 2003

Micki Flowers
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Health Reporter

There's a serious warning for millions of women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant: A new study says there are risks connected to taking common painkillers.

MORE ON THIS STORY What are Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs? Read the British Medical Journal Study Note: Paracetamol, Tylenol and Acetaminophen are all the same drug and were found not to put pregnancies at risk.

The painkillers researchers looked at are widely available over the counter.

Results of a new study being released in Friday's edition of the British Medical Journal showed they greatly increase a woman's chances of having a miscarriage.

These new moms we spoke with remembered similar advice from their doctors when they asked about pain remedies during pregnancy.

"My obstetrician told me to take Tylenol, not ibuprofen or aspirin," said Bridget Manley, a new mother.

But here's something they hadn't heard from their doctors: A new study has linked over the counter painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin to early miscarriage.

Researchers asked over 1,000 newly-pregnant women in California, about their use of Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatories, or NSAIDS. Some common names are Advil, Motrin, and ibuprofen .

Women in the study who took NSAIDS increased their risk of miscarriage by 80 percent. The same held true for women who used aspirin.

The risk of miscarriage was higher when the painkillers were taken around conception, or were used for longer than a week.

"It's a little scary. That number seems very high," said Shelly Boice, a new mother.

The good news: women who used Tylenol had no increased risk of miscarriage.

University of Washington Dr. Jeff Ridgeway specializes in high-risk pregnancy. He said doctors hadn't suspected a link between the painkillers and miscarriage.

"So this does open some doors, it gives us some insight into what might be causing these miscarriages early in pregnancy," Dr. Jeff Ridgeway of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Washington.

Dr. Ridgeway emphasizes that for some pregnant women with certain medical conditions, aspirin is still needed.

But by and large, women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, should avoid the painkillers and aspirin.