Poison in the Womb

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BBC Radio 4 - Poison in the Womb

Kerry Hudson explores the effects of a drug activists are calling the 'silent thalidomide'

Kerry Hudson explores effects of a drug given to pregnant women throughout the 20th century on both the them and their children in a scandal activists call the 'silent thalidomide'

Kerry Hudson explores  the ripple effects of a drug given to pregnant women throughout the 20th century, not only on them but their children, in a scandal activists call the 'silent thalidomide'.

Diethylstilbesterol, or DES, was prescribed to women in Britain from 1940 to the 1970s - initially expectant mothers to prevent miscarriage (though quickly found to be ineffective) and later to dry up milk supply in forced adoptions or where mothers had to quickly return to work.

Sources estimate that anything from 10 thousand to 300 thousand women in Britain were prescribed the drug, and in the US that rises to around 5 million. It was only in 1978 that it was banned after being found to increase the likelihood of cancer. 

But DES didn't just impact the 'DES mothers' who were initially prescribed the drug. Studies show the impact is generational; daughters and granddaughters seem to be at higher risk too. Research has found that there's an increased likelihood of developing breast and cervical cancer. A third of DES daughters are thought to have been born with or developed some form of abnormality of the cervix, uterus or fallopian tubes, resulting in an increased risk of infertility, ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages and premature births. DES daughters are 50 per cent more likely to start the menopause early. Some studies even suggest that sons and grandsons of 'DES mothers' are at greater risk of testicular cancer.

Around the world there have been court cases, public apologies and compensation pay-outs, yet in the UK, where the drug was invented, it's barely known about. Kerry wants to know why, while the last victims given the drug are still with us and their offspring have answers to why their health has been so inexplicably blighted.

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