ArticleBirth defects research2019
Use of benzodiazepine medications during pregnancy and potential risk for birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.
Article in Birth defects research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drug Medications During Antenatal and Postnatal Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2025Pooled it
- Medication use during pregnancy and the risk of gastroschisis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Insomnia evaluation and treatment during peripartum: a joint position paper from the European Insomnia Network task force "Sleep and Women," the Italian Marcè Society and international experts task force for perinatal mental health.Archives of women's mental health · 2022Pooled it
- Prenatal Exposure to Anxiolytics: A Critical Review on Brain Development and Neurobehavioral Manifestations in Offspring.Neurotoxicity research · 2026Review
- Antepartum mental health disorders and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study using the premier healthcare administrative database (2016-2020).International journal of obstetric anesthesia · 2026Article
- Use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists in different pregnancy trimesters and risk of maternal and neonatal outcomes: a propensity weighted cohort study in Taiwan.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- PRENATAL AND OBSTETRIC RISK FACTORS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF DISABILITIES IN CHILDHOOD.Acta clinica Croatica · 2024Article
- Perioperative management of surgical procedure during pregnancy: a systematic review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2024Article
- The first review on prenatal drug exposure and ocular malformation occurrence.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Review
- Consensus Panel Recommendations for the Pharmacological Management of Pregnant Women with Depressive Disorders.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Polysubstance use during pregnancy: The importance of screening, patient education, and integrating a harm reduction perspective.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Sexually dimorphic effects of prenatal diazepam exposure on respiratory control and the monoaminergic system of neonate and young rats.Pflugers Archiv : European journal of physiology · 2022Article
- GABAkines - Advances in the discovery, development, and commercialization of positive allosteric modulators of GABAPharmacology & therapeutics · 2022Review
- Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes After Exposure to Alprazolam in Pregnancy.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Contemporary management of unipolar depression in the perinatal period.Expert review of neurotherapeutics · 2021Article
- Opioid and benzodiazepine dispensing and co-dispensing patterns among commercially insured pregnant women in the United States, 2007-2015.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Sterol Biosynthesis Inhibition in Pregnant Women Taking Prescription Medications.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBenzodiazepine medications can be used to treat anxiety, a condition affecting 15% of women of childbearing age in the United States. Studies have shown conflicting results for the association between benzodiazepine use during pregnancy and birth defects.
methodsWe analyzed 1997-2011 data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multisite, population-based case-control study. We assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with benzodiazepine use in pregnancy among mothers of live-born infants without a birth defect (control mothers). We used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between specific birth defects and benzodiazepine use; we estimated crude odds ratios (cORs) for defect categories with 3-4 exposed cases.
resultsExposure to benzodiazepines during pregnancy was rare (N = 93/11,614; 0.8%). Benzodiazepine use was more common among control mothers who were ≥30 years, non-Hispanic white, had more education, smoked, and took antidepressant medication. We observed significantly elevated ORs for any benzodiazepine and Dandy-Walker malformation (cOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.1, 8.6); for alprazolam and anophthalmia or microphthalmia (cOR: 4.0; 95% CI: 1.2, 13.1) and esophageal atresia or stenosis (aOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 5.9); and lorazepam and pulmonary valve stenosis (cOR: 4.1; 95% CI: 1.2, 14.2), but sample sizes were limited and therefore CIs were wide.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that benzodiazepines use is rare and may be associated with risk for certain birth defects. However, these results need replication and should be interpreted with caution.
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