14 DAY TRIAL // A new study carried out by the Emory University School of Medicine concluded that epilepsy drugs may not affect the IQ of babies being breastfed.
This is quite reassuring for nursing mothers, who believed that breastfeeding while taking seizure medication could affect the child's IQ later in life.
The research included 194 pregnant women who were taking one epilepsy drug, and their 199 babies, out of which 42% were breastfed.
At the age of three, the children's IQ was tested, and the results showed that those who were breastfed scored an average of 99 on the test, while hose who were not breastfed, scored an average of 98.
Study author Kimford Meador, MD, professor of neurology, Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Emory Epilepsy Center, said that this is not a significant difference, as the mean IQ in the overall population in 100.
The epileptic mothers were taking either carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin or valproate.
The only observation made by the researchers was that the kids whose mothers were taking valproate had lower IQ scores, regardless of whether or not they were breastfed.
Meador said that the “results showed no difference in IQ scores between the children who were breastfed and those who were not.
“This is very good news for the many women who must take medication to avoid dangerous seizures and are worried about the possible risks of the drugs on their child if they breastfeed versus the many known benefits that come with breastfeeding their babies.”
Breastfeeding has been proved to be extremely beneficial for the child – as it lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, as well as for the mother – decreasing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Meador, also a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), said that “this is one of the first large scale studies related to epilepsy drugs and breast milk, but we know more research is needed on the effects of other drugs for epilepsy, especially some of the newer ones.”
He adds that the AAN guidelines recommend that, if possible, women should avoid taking more than one epilepsy drug at a time while pregnant, as this has been found to rise the risk of birth defects.
Valproate should also be avoided during pregnancy, the AAN guidelines advice, thus limiting the risks of birth defects and effects on cognitive skills.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the UK Epilepsy Research Foundation.