Women who stop taking antipsychotic medication during pregnancy are at risk of relapsing

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-28 02:00

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Women with a psychotic disorder who stop taking their medication during pregnancy are at a higher risk of relapsing, according to international researchers who say the relapse risk may be lower if they stop taking their medication before they become pregnant. The researchers analysed the health and prescription data of 2000 women in Europe with primary psychotic disorders and 1292 women with bipolar disorder to see how their choices around their medications impacted their chances of needing inpatient psychiatric treatment during pregnancy up to three months postpartum. The researchers say stopping antipsychotics for a primary psychotic disorder during pregnancy was linked to around a 60% increased risk of relapse compared to those who stayed on their medication, with those who stopped their antipsychotics before they became pregnant also seeing an elevated relapse risk, but not to the same degree. The link between stopping medication and relapse was not apparent for the women with bipolar disorder, the researchers say, though they say their data on this was limited and should be interpreted with caution.