Acetaminophen use during pregnancy linked with language delays, University of Illinois study finds
CHICAGO (CBS) – Most people might not hesitate to reach for Tylenol when they have a headache, but those who are pregnant might want to think twice.
A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign linked acetaminophen with language delays in children. Susan Schantz, professor emerita of comparative biosciences and one of the authors of the study, spoke to CBS 2 about the findings.
Schantz said the study looked at language development among children ages 2 and 3, and found that those whose mothers took acetaminophen, especially during the third trimester of their pregnancy, had smaller vocabularies and shorter sentence lengths.
"So their language was delayed," Schantz said.
She said the researchers are continuing to look into other aspects of the neurodevelopment in the children, including behaviors such as attention prevalence and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They're also planning to follow the children to see if the language delays they detected persist as the children get older.
Still, Schantz said that acetaminophen is the only analgesic that is considered safe for pregnancy, so "I don't want women to go away thinking that they should not take it during pregnancy, especially if their doctor recommends it." She noted if a pregnant person has a high fever or severe pain, those conditions can have a negative impact on the fetus as well.
She said mothers may want to use more caution, especially if there are minor aches and pains, and weigh the risk of using the drug.