Second-generation antipsychotics increase risks of pregnancy complications

Finland: Prenatal exposure to second-generation antipsychotics (S-GAs) increases the risk of pregnancy complications relating to impaired glucose metabolism, a recent study in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology has suggested. Neonatal problems are common and occur similarly in both first-generation antipsychotic (F-GA) and S-GA users. 

Because of the increasing use of S-GAs among pregnant women and conflicting data on their safety. Heli Malm, Helsinki University and Helsinki University Hospital, Tukholmankatu, Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues investigated the association between S-GA use during pregnancy and neonatal complications using nationwide register data. 

The researchers conducted this population-based birth cohort study using national register data extracted from the "Drugs and Pregnancy" database in Finland, the years 1996–2016. The sampling frame included 1,181,090 pregnant women and their singleton births. Women were categorized into three groups --  exposed to S-GAs during pregnancy (n = 4225), exposed to first-generation antipsychotics (F-GAs) during pregnancy (n = 1576), and unexposed (no purchases of S-GAs or F-GAs during pregnancy, n = 21,125).