A Blaxland researcher has conducted a study of more than 5000 women with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and found that taking medication during pregnancy appears to be safe.
Dr Alison Poulton teaches medical students at the University of Sydney, and said that prescribing records pointed to a “great reluctance [among the medical profession] to prescribe ADHD medication during pregnancy.”
This reluctance stemmed from the belief that a baby has the best start in life if the mother is medication-free while pregnant. “But this view may not be taking the problems of living with ADHD seriously enough,” Dr Poulton said.
“We looked at the entire data of NSW for the past 18 years and found that having a baby appears to be safe and even continuing with stimulant medication for treating ADHD during pregnancy seems reasonable.
“This is an important study to reassure both prospective parents and their doctors about ADHD and risks in pregnancy.”
But she said further study was warranted on investigating directly the risks, both medical and social, of ceasing versus continuing ADHD medication during pregnancy.
ADHD is often thought of as a childhood disease, but it affects about 4.5 per cent of adults, she said.
“ADHD is an inherited condition. It’s diagnosed more often in boys, particularly those with hyperactivity, which draws attention to them. Many girls go undiagnosed at school and once they leave school the complex organisational demands of running a family may become a problem and it’s then diagnosed.”
The rate of treatment of ADHD in women in the Penrith-Blue Mountains region is thought to be double the rate for NSW as a whole.
“Given that ADHD runs in families and people with ADHD often work in jobs with lower wages, we would expect a higher rate of ADHD here than in the more affluent suburbs,” Dr Poulton said.
“ADHD is becoming increasingly recognised in young women – therefore the issue of treatment during pregnancy is a problem that will not go away and is one that I would like to study further.”
ADHD is a chronic condition that includes difficulties keeping attention on the task at hand and also affects planning and organising ability, as well as the more obvious hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Dr Poulton conducted the study with the assistance of the Australian Women and Children’s Research Foundation, based at Nepean Hospital.
Her research paper, produced with colleagues Bruce Armstrong and Ralph Nanan, was published in March in the medical journal CNS Drugs.