There is much debate about continuing antipsychotic medication in patients who need it when
they become pregnant because benefits must be weighed against potential teratogenic and malformation
effects related to antipsychotics themselves. To address this, we conducted a systematic review on the
PubMed, PsycINFO and CINHAL databases and the ClinicalTrials.gov register using the following strategy:
(toxicity OR teratogenicity OR malformation* OR "birth defect*" OR "congenital abnormality" OR
"congenital abnormalities" OR "brain changes" OR "behavioral abnormalities" OR "behavioral abnormalities")
AND antipsychotic* AND (pregnancy OR pregnant OR lactation OR delivery OR prenatal OR
perinatal OR post-natal OR puerperium) on September 27, 2023. We found 38 studies to be eligible. The
oldest was published in 1976, while most articles were recent. Most studies concluded that the antipsychotics,
especially the second-generation antipsychotics, were devoid of teratogenic potential, while few
studies were inconclusive and recommended replication. Most authoritative articles were from the Boston
area, where large databases were implemented to study the malformation potential of psychiatric drugs.
Other reliable databases are from Northern European registers. Overall conclusions are that antipsychotics
are no more related to malformations than the disorders themselves; most studies recommend that
there are no reasons to discontinue antipsychotic medications in pregnancy.