Benzodiazepine use in first trimester not associated with higher risk for major birth defects
A population-based cohort study found that pregnant people who used benzodiazepines during the first trimester were not at a substantially increased risk of having a baby with major birth defects. The rates of overall major congenital malformations were comparable between pregnancies exposed to benzodiazepines and those that were not, providing reassuring evidence about the safety of these…
A study of nearly 4.2 million pregnancies found no increased risk of major birth defects for those exposed to benzodiazepines in the first trimester. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School analyzed Medicaid and commercially insured pregnancies from 2000 to 2020, comparing 79,000 individuals who took benzodiazepines early in pregnancy with those who did not.
The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found comparable rates of overall major congenital malformations and no consistent evidence of organ-specific malformations previously linked to benzodiazepine exposure. While the authors concluded early benzodiazepine use did not raise birth defect risk, they emphasized the need for further research to monitor rare defects, longer exposures, and other pregnancy outcomes.
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