What to Know
- Acetaminophen is considered the safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer available during pregnancy, and studies show that 50% to 65% of women in North America and Europe have taken the analgesic during pregnancy.
- The most dramatic finding was that each use of acetaminophen in the third trimester of pregnancy was associated with an almost two-word reduction in vocabulary in the 2-year-olds.
- The findings need to be tested in larger studies, the researchers said. Until then, people should not be afraid to take acetaminophen for fever or serious pain and discomfort during pregnancy.
A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign exploring the relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and language outcomes in early childhood found a link between use of the over-the-counter drug and "modest but significant delays" in the child's future language development.
The language analyses involved 298 2-year-old children who had been followed prenatally, 254 of whom returned for further study at age 3.
The work was conducted as part of the Illinois Kids Development Study, by Development Study principal investigator Susan Schantz, a University of Illinois professor emerita of comparative biosciences and Megan Woodbury, who led the research as a graduate student of U. of I.
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“The previous studies had only asked pregnant people at most once a trimester about their acetaminophen use,” Woodbury said. “But with IKIDS, we talked to our participants every four to six weeks during pregnancy and then within 24 hours of the kid’s birth, so we had six time points during pregnancy.”
Acetaminophen is considered the safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer available during pregnancy, and studies show that 50% to 65% of women in North America and Europe have taken the analgesic during pregnancy.
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“The new study links acetaminophen use in pregnancy to modest but significant delays in the language development of offspring,” said Schantz.
The most dramatic finding was that each use of acetaminophen in the third trimester of pregnancy was associated with an almost two-word reduction in vocabulary in the 2-year-olds.
“This suggests that if a pregnant person took acetaminophen 13 times – or once per week – during the third trimester of that pregnancy, their child might express 26 fewer words at age 2 than other children that age,” Woodbury said.
Schants says fetal brain development occurs throughout pregnancy, but the second and third trimesters are especially critical times.
“Hearing is developing in the second trimester, but language development is already starting in the third trimester before the baby is even born,” she said.
Woodbury explains that acetaminophen exerts its analgesic effect through the endocannabinoid system, which is also very important for fetal development.
The findings need to be tested in larger studies, the researchers said. Until then, people should not be afraid to take acetaminophen for fever or serious pain and discomfort during pregnancy. Conditions like a very high fever can be dangerous and using a drug like acetaminophen will likely help.
“There aren’t other options for people to take when they really need them,” Schantz said. “But perhaps people should use more caution when turning to the drug to treat minor aches and pains.”
