Antipsychotic drugs

Did you know…..

Taking antipsychotic drugs during pregnancy can produce a syndrome of withdrawal in the newborn?

This syndrome of withdrawal in the newborn occurs when a woman takes antipsychotic medication during the third trimester of her pregnancy.

In this syndrome the newborn baby has severe dystonia, akathisia (inability to sit still or sit), tremor, bradykinesia (slowness of movement) and stiffness. These extrapyramidal effects are due to the antipsychotic medication taken by the mother.

The Pharmacovigilance Working Party (PhVWP) of the European Union Medicines Agency advises that doctors assess case by case the medication to be prescribed throughout pregnancy.

(Edited by Dr. María Moya Guirao, MD)