Background
From previous research, it is known that women who are taking an AED may have a slightly higher incidence (4-6%) of having babies with birth defects than the general population (2-3%).
The Australian Pregnancy Register (APR) is an independent project that has been running for 25 years nationally. Information from pregnancy registers is a valuable resource for the study of comparative risks and benefits of anti-epileptic drugs in pregnancy. As a result of this study, we are getting closer to defining safer treatment choices.
The program needs a significant boost to the number of women participating in the study, as well as increasing the length of the study, to ensure enough evidence is collected for the findings to become treatment guidelines.
In 2015, Epilepsy Action Australia formed a major partnership with the APR to enable the research to continue and increase the number of women registered, aiming to reach 5,000 women.
Aim
To evaluate the incidence of birth defects resulting from exposure to AED’s;
To determine if certain AED’s or combinations are safer than others;
To determine the influence of the seizures, the epilepsy type, the genetic background and environmental factors on outcome;
To study the effectiveness of AED’s on seizure protection in pregnancy;
A link to further studies looking at developmental effects on children and or genetic variants in families.