Visit www. Use of benzodiazepine medications during pregnancy and potential risk for birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, Birth Defects Research. Schizophrenia Research. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Treating for Two: Medicine and Pregnancy. Section Navigation. Results: Currently available information is insufficient to determine whether the potential benefits of benzodiazepines to the mother outweigh the risks to the fetus.
The therapeutic value of a given drug must be weighed against theoretical adverse effects on the fetus before and after birth. The available literature suggests that it is safe to take diazepam during pregnancy but not during lactation because it can cause lethargy, sedation, and weight loss in infants.
The use of chlordiazepoxide during pregnancy and lactation seems to be safe. The analysis for cumulative duration of exposure did not show evidence of a dose-response trend.
However, this type of analysis may not capture the true dose-response association, as we only had access to data on number of exposure intervals during which use of medications were reported. The cumulative exposure within each exposure window may differ substantially between women. Our study is based on self-reported exposure; therefore, underreporting of medication use is a potential limitation. However, self-reported exposure in MoBa has been shown to correlate well with drug prescription data.
While this may be a threat to generalizability and external validity, earlier analysis using data from MBRN has shown that for several exposures and for several immediate birth outcomes, the measures of association did not differ between women enrolled in MoBa and women not enrolled in MoBa. This cohort study found that children born to mothers who were exposed to benzodiazepines or z-hypnotics in pregnancy had slightly lower birth weight, were born at approximately 2 days younger gestational age, and had slightly higher to moderately higher risk of preterm birth compared with children without exposure.
These patterns were only slightly attenuated when controlling for baseline and time-dependent covariates and were primarily associated with exposure in middle and late pregnancy. The lower birth weight in children exposed to benzodiazepines or z-hypnotics was not necessarily due to impaired intrauterine growth and could potentially be explained by earlier delivery.
While the magnitudes of the associations were not necessarily clinically significant, benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics are not first-line treatment for either anxiety or insomnia and should only be used in pregnancy after a thorough evaluation of the benefits and risks for the mother and child. Published: June 22, Author Contributions: Dr Huitfeldt had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported. Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to use our site, or clicking "Continue," you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy Continue. Download PDF Comment. Selection of Study Samples. View Large Download. Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Missing Data eAppendix 2. Statistical Models eReferences eTable 1.
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Self-selection and bias in a large prospective pregnancy cohort in Norway. Get the latest research based on your areas of interest. Weekly Email. Monthly Email. Save Preferences. Privacy Policy Terms of Use.
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