This article was first published on July 15, 2017. It was last reviewed, updated, or edited on April 18, 2023.
Why are pregnancy registries important?
1. We have limited data on the safety of using psychiatric medications during pregnancy.
2. For ethical reasons, many kinds of research cannot be done on pregnant women.
3. To identify risks that occur in a very small proportion of those who take a particular medication during pregnancy, we need data on very large numbers of pregnant women who took that medication.
This is why “pregnancy registries” have been established to collect data on large numbers of women who took medications during pregnancy—and on their babies.
It is extremely important that mental health clinicians encourage every pregnant woman with a history of a mental disorder to register at a pregnancy registry to allow data about the pregnancy to be collected by the registry.
Pregnancy registries need data on pregnant women with a history of a mental disorder if they took a psychiatric medication during pregnancy AND even if they did not—for use in a control group.
Refer every pregnant patient with a mental disorder to this pregnancy registry
The Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School maintains a National Pregnancy Registry for Psychiatric Medications. The image below shows the home page of their website.
Their toll-free phone number is 1-866-961-2388.
This pregnancy registry is collecting data on pregnant women with a history of psychiatric illness who:
– Are taking one of the 3 A’s (atypical antipsychotics, antidepressants, or ADHD medications)
– Are taking a sedative-hypnotic or other sleep medication
– NOT taking any psychiatric medication.
For information about other pregnancy registries—for pregnant women on an antiepileptic drug for any reason and/or with epilepsy, please see the following article on this website:
Encourage pregnant women on an antiepileptic drug to enroll in these registries
Related Pages
Pregnancy—General articles
General approach to treating women during pregnancy and lactation
Refer all pregnant patients to pregnancy registries!
Encourage pregnant women on an antiepileptic drug to enroll in these registries
Pregnancy and psychotropic medications: Online resources
Does this medication increase the risk of bad outcomes in pregnancy?
Pregnancy—Specific treatments
Potential risks of second-generation (atypical) antipsychotics in pregnancy
What are the possible risks of using lurasidone (Latuda®) during pregnancy?
Tips on using lithium during pregnancy
Is the use of lamotrigine during pregnancy safe?
Does methylphenidate during pregnancy increase the risk of congenital malformations?
Bright light therapy for depressive disorders during pregnancy?
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for depressive disorders during pregnancy?
How to manage agitation in a pregnant woman
Serious dangers to avoid if it is essential to physically restrain a pregnant woman
References
Cohen LS, Church TR, Freeman MP, Gaccione P, Caplin PS, Kobylski LA, Arakelian M, Rossa ET, Chitayat D, Hernández-Díaz S, Viguera AC. Reproductive Safety of Lurasidone and Quetiapine: Update from the National Pregnancy Registry for Psychiatric Medications. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2023 Apr;32(4):452-462. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2022.0310. Epub 2023 Jan 30. PMID: 36716275.
Cohen LS, Viguera AC, McInerney KA, Kwiatkowski MA, Murphy SK, Lemon EL, Hernández-Díaz S. Establishment of the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Jul;76(7):986-9. doi: 10.4088/JCP.14br09418. PMID: 25939066.
Cunnington MC. The International Lamotrigine pregnancy registry update for the epilepsy foundation. Epilepsia. 2004 Nov;45(11):1468. doi: 10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.451105.x. PMID: 15509254.
Freeman MP. Psychotropic medication use during pregnancy: changes to the labeling system and the importance of exposure registries. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Jul;76(7):990-1. doi: 10.4088/JCP.15ed10163. PMID: 26231008.
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