Is Tylenol Safe to Take During Pregnancy?

Managing pain during pregnancy is important for the health of both the woman and the fetus. Tylenol has long been touted as a safe medication when it comes to relieving pregnancy pain and bringing down fevers. But the question is whose safety? The safety of the pregnant mother? Or the safety of the developing fetus she is carrying?

The choices up until recently had been Tylenol (Acetaminophen) or Ibuprofen, a Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) However, the CDC has found that women who take NSAIDS even during the early months of their pregnancy run the risk of giving birth to babies afflicted with a variety of birth defects such as spinal bifida, cleft palate, cleft lip, pulmonary valve stenosis, and hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a heart defect that affects blood flow through the heart.

Another option was taking an opioid, but the findings on opioid usage were just as bad. In addition to the risk of dependency, opioids can cause ventricular septal defects and tetralogy of fallout, The former leads to congestive heart failure in the infant and the latter is a quartet of heart defects that results in the heart pumping out blood low in oxygen which affects every body part to which the blood flows. 

And so, the CDC issued a statement saying women who took NSAIDs and opioid pain medicines during early pregnancy were more likely to have babies affected with certain birth defects compared with women who took acetaminophen, 

It's worth noting that this study was carried out over a period extending from 1997 to 2015. Since then, research has arisen that suggests Tylenol isn't a safe remedy either. Although it doesn't result in structural defects it turns out that more and more individuals whose mothers regularly took Tylenol while pregnant with them were found to have autism or ADHD. This is because it can penetrate the placenta and get into the bloodstream of the fetus. While this was previously thought to be inconsequential, recent research strongly suggests that such in-utero exposure to acetaminophen can alter the development of the fetus and increase the child's risk of neuro-divergent disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and further highlighted by ActionMatters.org, bore this out. After a long-term study of children whose mothers had taken acetaminophen during their pregnancy, researchers found that by the time the children had reached the age of 8.9 years,

Findings such as these led an international panel of 91 pediatricians, obstetricians, and neurologists to draft a consensus statement which they published in September 2021 in Nature Reviews Endocrinology recommending that pregnant women

Unfortunately, these findings concerning the connection between prenatal doses of Tylenol and autism and the resulting directives came too late for many children and adults who have struggled with and continue to be affected by the quality of life issues posed by life on the autism spectrum or the pitfalls of life with ADHD. These include difficulties learning in or fitting into the social milieu of conventional school settings. As adults, they go on to face difficulties securing and holding onto a job.

However, as more and more individuals and families learn that makers of Tylenol and various generic acetaminophen compounds reaped profits from selling a product they promoted as safe for pregnant women, they are heartened at learning that Class Action lawsuits are being filed in all 50 states. The hope is that these will result in a global settlement that will result in reasonable settlements being offered to families and individuals whose lives have been impacted by autism and ADHD connected to in-utero exposure to acetaminophen.