The news comes after Donald Trump told women to avoid the medicine during pregnancy, claiming it was contributing to rising rates of autism and ADHD in children.
While speaking at the White House in September, the US President said women should talk to their doctor about limiting the use of the painkiller and followed up with stronger language, telling women to ‘fight like hell’ not to take it.
However, new research published in the British Medical Journal today (10th November) reveals there is no evidence to suggest that taking paracetamol while pregnant contributes to children being born with autism or ADHD.
To conduct the research, experts examined nine systematic reviews covering 40 observational studies on paracetamol use during pregnancy and its potential link to autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions in children.
Researchers found that the quality of the studies ranged from ‘low to critically low’ and any apparent associations were likely due to genetics, maternal health, or other shared factors.
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam, senior author of the review at the University of Liverpool, said: ‘Women should know that the existing evidence does not really support a link between paracetamol and autism and ADHD.
‘If pregnant women need to take paracetamol for fever or pain then we would say please do, particularly because high fever in pregnancy could be dangerous to the unborn baby.’
However, one study comprised of 2.4 million Swedish children found slightly higher rates of autism, ADHD and intellectual disability among those whose mothers took paracetamol while pregnant. Though the difference disappeared when siblings were compared, suggesting that genetics or environmental factors, rather than medication, were responsible.
‘If there’s a family history of autism and ADHD, either in the parents or the siblings, then it is likely that that is the reason a child is diagnosed rather than something the mother took in pregnancy,’ Thangaratinam added.
She said the findings should reassure women who might feel guilty about taking paracetamol while pregnant. ‘They might have a child that is autistic with ADHD and we really don’t want them to think it’s because of something they did in pregnancy. That’s a terrible feeling for a mother to have,’ she said. ‘There isn’t anything in the current evidence that suggests mothers taking paracetamol is actually causing autism and ADHD.’
Prof Dimitrios Siassakos, an honorary consultant in obstetrics at University College London, noted: ‘Paracetamol is the safest medication to use in pregnancy, and has been used by the majority of pregnant women globally for several decades without any impact on autism and ADHD.
‘It is also the safest to use if there is maternal fever, whereas untreated high temperature is a risk factor for poor pregnancy outcomes, including adverse foetal outcomes. High temperature and inflammation have a negative impact on foetal and neonatal brains and untreated inflammation can cross the placenta.’
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