Women's Health Prescribing

A safe prescription in women's health begins by locating the patient in time: could pregnancy occur, is the patient pregnant or breastfeeding, or is the patient in the menopausal transition? The answer changes drug selection, contraindications, dosing, monitoring, and the urgency of follow-up. The next screen is not simply a medication list. It includes blood pressure, migraine phenotype, thromboembolic history, smoking, breast and liver disease, renal function, uterine status, pregnancy intentions, and the patient's priorities. A highly effective method may still be inappropriate if its estrogen risk is unacceptable, while a locally acting or progestin-only option may solve the same problem more safely. In Canada, nurse practitioner prescribing authority is established provincially. Apply the standards, formulary, controlled-substance rules, and collaborative or referral requirements of the province in which you practise. For contraception, use the Canadian Contraception Consensus and relevant WHO medical eligibility guidance; the CDC's 2024 U.S. MEC is a U.S. reference, not Canada's national prescribing standard. The sections that follow connect eligibility to workup, treatment choice, and monitoring. Pregnancy-specific decisions deserve a separate pause because severe hypertension, eclamptic seizure...