Trump’s Panadol Jab Sends Shockwaves Through Maltese Pregnancies: ‘Have I Harmed My Baby?’

Trump’s Paracetamol Claim Sparks Concern Among Pregnant Women in Malta
By Hot Malta Staff

Valletta – It started with a single sentence on a Florida stage: “They even want you to take a paracetamol when you’re pregnant—nobody knows what that does to the baby.” Within minutes, the clip was racing through Maltese Facebook groups, WhatsApp threads and Nanna’s Viber chats, leaving confusion, memes and genuine fear in its wake.

For a country where 82 % of pregnant women already list “medication anxiety” as their top pregnancy worry—according to last year’s Mater Dei maternity survey—Donald Trump’s off-hand swipe at the humble “panadol” felt less like American political theatre and more like a public-health grenade lobbed into every Maltese living room.

“Suddenly my patients were quoting Trump instead of their GP,” laughs Dr. Claire Zammit, consultant obstetrician at Mater Dei Hospital. “On Monday I had three women refuse post-vaccine paracetamol for 38 °C fevers. By Wednesday, a mother whose premature baby needed pain relief was in tears asking if she’d harmed him in utero.”

The Maltese twist is cultural as much as medical. Paracetamol is the island’s unofficial national comfort blanket: the cure-all slipped into lunchboxes after communion parties, handed out by village band club first-aiders, and stocked in every “minimarket” between Mdina and Marsaxlokk. If Trump had attacked rabbit stew or festa fireworks, the backlash could hardly have been fiercer.

Local influencer-podcast “Tista’ Tkun Mamma” devoted a 42-minute emergency episode that trended #1 on Maltese Spotify within hours. Hosts Martina and Krista read out voice notes from terrified listeners: “I took two panadols for sciatica in week 25—have I ruined my baby’s brain?” A poll run on their Instagram story showed 61 % of 4,300 respondents would “think twice” before using the drug again.

Pharmacists felt the ripple instantly. “We sold 30 % fewer paracetamol packs to pregnant women last weekend,” says Steve Cauchi, supervising pharmacist at Brown’s Pharmacy, Sliema. “Some asked for ‘homeopathic alternatives’; others wanted paracetamol-free flu syrups that don’t actually exist.” Cauchi has now printed Mater Dei’s official antenatal pain-management leaflet and taped it to every checkout counter.

The Malta Medicines Authority moved faster than usual, issuing a bilingual statement within 24 hours: “Paracetamol remains the first-line analgesic and antipyretic in all three trimesters when used at recommended doses. No robust evidence links short-term use to neuro-developmental harm.” Still, the authority’s Facebook post was hijacked by anti-vax commenters, forcing moderators to disable replies.

Beyond statistics, the scare reopened a deeper Maltese wound: the memory of the 1960s thalidomide tragedy that affected at least six local families and still makes grandparents whisper about “those little white pills.” Anthropologist Dr. Anna Vella at the University of Malta argues Trump’s rhetoric plugged straight into that generational trauma. “Maltese pregnancy is already hyper-surveilled—think church blessings, gender-reveal cakes, cousin WhatsApp groups. Add a global figure casting doubt on the safest drug, and collective memory does the rest.”

Yet the episode has also triggered grassroots push-back. Midwife-led Facebook group “Positive Birth Malta” organised a lightning Zoom Q&A with neonatologist Dr. Victor Grech that drew 800 viewers. The Malta College of Family Doctors is distributing car-window stickers reading “Trust Evidence, Not Soundbites” in English and Maltese. Meanwhile, comedian Joe “Il-Bouche” uploaded a satirical reel—Trump clutching a pastizz while warning against “Maltese flaking”—that racked up 200 k views and counting.

Back at Mater Dei, Dr. Zammit has simpler advice: “Fever itself harms babies more than paracetamol ever could. If you’re unsure, ring your midwife, not a meme.” Still, she admits the episode exposed how quickly Maltese mothers can be pushed from caution to panic. “We need local voices—gynaecologists, priests, village midwives—translating science before the next celebrity headline lands.”

Because if there’s one thing Maltese pregnancies don’t need, it’s another imported myth to rival the old wives’ tale that raising your arms above your head strangles the umbilical cord. As one TikTok comment put it: “Trump doesn’t even know where Malta is—let’s not let him write our maternity notes.”