Impact of Pregnancy on Psychotropic Medication Prescription: a French Cohort Study

Abstract

ObjectivesTo determine if and when prescription of psychotropic medication in women is modified by pregnancy. MethodPsychotropic prescription of 87 213 pregnant women affiliated with the French General Health System was examined. Period of analyses lasted 17 months to cover 4 months before and after pregnancy. A comparable cohort of 87 213 non pregnant women constituted the control group. ResultsMore than half of pregnant women to whom a psychoactive drug was prescribed were novel users during all three trimesters and after delivery. Prevalence of psychotropic medication before pregnancy is comparable to that of non-pregnant women. Rate of psychotropic medication during the peripartum stayed high, even though it decreased by half during the first trimester, showing a “pregnancy impact effect”. ConclusionsData show a dramatic impact of pregnancy. More information on specific patterns of prescription needs to be gained in order to establish decision-making models for psychotropic prescription during pregnancy.