Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to kid’s behavioural problems

Acetaminophen, long the mainstay of a pregnant woman’s pain-relief arsenal, has been linked to behavioural problems in children born to mothers who used it during pregnancy.

Research published Monday by the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that a woman’s use of acetaminophen at 18 and 32 weeks of pregnancy was associated with greater odds that when the resulting child was seven years old, his or her mother would report a range of problematic behaviours.

Compared to women who reported no acetaminophen use at 18 weeks of pregnancy, those who took the medication at that point of gestation were 42 per cent more likely to report hyperactivity and 31 per cent more likely to report conduct problems in the children they bore.

Women who took acetaminophen at 32 weeks of pregnancy were 29 per cent more likely than women who did not to report emotional difficulties in their child at age seven. Children born to mothers who took acetaminophen late in their pregnancy were 46 per cent more likely to experience a wide range of behavioural difficulties than were children born to moms who took no acetaminophen at that point.

Finding a link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and an outcome affecting the child is no proof that acetaminophen is the cause of the outcome. But the authors contend that the study results do heighten concerns that fetal exposure to acetaminophen can give rise to neurodevelopmental problems.

Several epidemiological studies have linked acetaminophen use during pregnancy to ADHD-like behaviours in the child. Research performed on mice has suggested that the medication alters brain development by disrupting hormonal function in the developing foetus. And several other mechanisms of injury have been suggested.