Abilify and Pregnancy

[elizabethryan23]

I am curious as to the latest information on Abilify and pregnancy. I currently take 10mg/day and am thinking of becoming pregnant in the next month or two. I plan on going off medication for as long as possible and especially during the first trimester. However, should I need to go back on the medication, I want to make sure that I am making an informed decision.

Thank you

[admin]

Dear Elizabethryan23,

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. It is not known whether aripiprazole can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman in first trimester or if it can affect reproductive capacity.

In a case report of a mother who took aripiprazole 18 mg daily in pregnancy (starting at 22 weeks gestation) and while breastfeeding, the infant did not breathe spontaneously and had poor muscle tone right after birth. Short-term resuscitation (1 minute) was required. The authors reported two potential possibilities; placental insufficiency due to spinal anesthesia during cesarean delivery or a possible adverse effect of aripiprazole exposure in pregnancy. However, the duration of the infant?s poor condition was short, therefore, the authors felt the adverse effects were most likely due to the spinal anesthesia. In addition, umbilical vein blood was drawn at delivery and the concentration was 96.4 ?g/L, this demonstrated that aripiprazole crosses the placenta.

Aripiprazole should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk to the fetus.

Tassneem Abdel Karim, MD
InfantRisk Center

[Jsim1234]

I am curious as to the latest information on Abilify and pregnancy. I currently take 10mg/day and am thinking of becoming pregnant in the next month or two. I plan on going off medication for as long as possible and especially during the first trimester. However, should I need to go back on the medication, I want to make sure that I am making an informed decision.

Thank you

Hi. Hope you’re doing well.

My wife is currently on 5 mg of abilify. We’re also thinking of pregnancy.

Not to be nosy, I’m worried about my wife getting pregnant with the medication. Did you have a healthy pregnancy?