Antiepileptics During Pregnancy Likely Not Harmful to Child’s Health

US Pharm. 2017;42(5):36.

Aarhus, Denmark—Previous studies have shown that antiepileptics taken during pregnancy could cause congenital fetal malformations and affect the child’s brain development. However, a new study of 963,010 children born between 1997 and 2012 found that those whose mothers took antiepileptics during pregnancy (n = 4,478) did not visit the doctor more often than children who were not exposed to these agents in utero, and being born to a mother who took antiepileptics during pregnancy appeared not to harm the child’s health. There remains a lack of knowledge regarding the general health of children exposed to antiepileptics in utero, but this new study is reassuring for women who need to take these medications while pregnant.