Which anti-seizure medications are safest to take while pregnant?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-03-19 02:00

Australia; International; VIC

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Some common anti-seizure medications are much safer to take while pregnant, according to Australian and international research. Many women with epilepsy need to continue taking anti-seizure medications while pregnant, despite these medications potentially coming with an increased risk of major birth defects for their baby. To find out the differences in risk between different anti-seizure medications, the team collected data on nearly 10,000 pregnancies in women with epilepsy taking one of eight common medications up to a year after birth to assess the different risks. The researchers say the birth defect risk was lowest for levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, and lamotrigine, and a shift in usage over time from higher-risk medications valproate and carbamazepine to levetiracetam and lamotrigine has been associated with a 39% decrease in the overall prevalence of birth defects within the group.