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In a follow-up study of 50,282 pregnancies (lasting at least five lunar months) and the offspring, malformations identified before the first birthday, or at death before the fourth birthday, were identified in 3248 children (6.5 per cent). A total of 1870 children exposed in utero to meprobamate or chlordiazepoxide were compared with 48,412 children who were not. No significant differences were found either overall or in specific outcomes; rates were also similar when exposures occurred during the first trimester or at other times during pregnancy. Deaths (stillbirth to the fourth birthday) occurred in 2227 children (4.4 per cent), and there was no evidence that antenatal exposure to either drug increased the death rate. Finally, as judged by mental and motor scores at the age of eight months, and intelligence quotient scores at four years, there was no evidence that the drugs cause brain damage.

A prospective study has been performed on the use of psychopharmaca during 6 376 pregnancies and its correlation to certain socio-medical variables and pregnancy outcome. An association between drug use and later miscarriage or legal abortion was demonstrated and is conceivably due to an increased use of such drugs in unwanted pregnancies. No indication of an association between drug use and birth of a dead or defective infant was found. Pregnancies where psychopharmaca were used during the first trimester had, on average, a longer duration than pregnancies where such drugs were not used, but birth weight of full-term infants was not affected.