Benzodiazepine Use in Pregnancy Not Tied to Congenital Malformations

MONDAY, Oct. 19, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Benzodiazepine use in pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk for major congenital malformations, according to a study published online Oct. 13 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.Kelly Fung, from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues conducted a population-based U.S. cohort study to examine the risk for major congenital malformations from first-trimester exposure to benzodiazepines. Data were included from the Medicaid (2000 to 2018) and Merative MarketScan (2003 to 2020) databases.The researchers found that 2.1 percent of 2,478,434 publicly insured and 1.6 percent of 1,750,721 commercially insured pregnancies had benzodiazepine exposure. For any malformation in exposed versus nonexposed pregnancies, the adjusted absolute risks were 4.0 versus 4.1 percent in Medicaid and 4.9 versus 4.8 percent for MarketScan, with a pooled adjusted relative risk of 0.99 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.03). In sensitivity analyses, associations with organ-specific malformations were not consistently observed, nor was there a dose-response relationship. Results were similar in analyses of different benzodiazepines. In some analyses of coexposure to benzodiazepines and other psychoactive medications, there was an increased risk for selected organ-specific malformations, but no consistent pattern emerged."However, these drugs have other significant risks, regardless of pregnancy, such as dependence, misuse, cognitive adverse effects, and withdrawal. Thus, treatment with benzodiazepines should be limited as much as possible to patients with strong clinical indications," the authors write.Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required).Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Benzodiazepine Use in Pregnancy Not Tied to Congenital Malformations

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