Observational studyJAMA network open2026
Breastfeeding and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children of Women Taking Antiseizure Medications.
Observational study in JAMA network open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Importance: Concerns regarding infant exposure to antiseizure medications (ASMs) via breast milk frequently discourage breastfeeding in women with epilepsy (WWE). Longitudinal neurodevelopmental data for breastfeeding while taking contemporary ASM regimens are essential for evidence-based management. Objective: To evaluate the association between breastfeeding duration and neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 6 years in children exposed to contemporary ASM regimens. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Maternal Outcomes and Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs study is a prospective, multicenter, cohort study. Pregnant WWE and healthy pregnant women were enrolled from December 2012 to October 2016, with children followed up to age 6 years. Children's outcomes were analyzed between January 2023 and December 2024. Exposures: Breastfeeding duration (none, <6 months, ≥6 months) and children's exposure to contemporary ASMs (primarily levetiracetam and lamotrigine). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes at child age 6 years included verbal language (Verbal Index Score) and adaptive behavior (General Adaptive Composite score in Adaptive Behavior Assessment System Scale). Results: A total of 273 children of WWE (median [range] maternal age, 31.0 [19.0-46.0] years; 127 [46.5%] male) and 84 children of healthy women (median maternal age, 31.0 [15.0-38.0] years; 47 [56.0%] male) were included, with 262 children of WWE and 80 children of healthy women in the language outcome sample and 261 children of WWE and 83 children of healthy women in the behavioral outcome set. Adjusted mean (SD) verbal language (107.93 [0.71] vs 107.18 [1.40]; difference, 0.75; 95% CI, -2.40 to 3.89; P = .64) and adaptive behavior (102.91 [0.75] vs 102.14 [1.46]; difference, 0.78; 95% CI, -2.52 to 4.07; P = .64) outcomes did not significantly differ between groups. Within the WWE cohort, breastfeeding for 6 months or longer was significantly associated with higher adaptive behavioral scores compared with no breastfeeding (estimate, 4.68; 95% CI, 1.34 to 8.03; P = .01), driven by practical and conceptual subdomains; whereas shorter durations (<6 months) did not differ. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were comparable within each specific ASM regimen-including levetiracetam, lamotrigine, other monotherapy, and polytherapy-regardless of breastfeeding duration. Notably, the benefit associated with breastfeeding for 6 months or longer remained significant in the pooled monotherapy group (difference, 5.88; 95% CI, 2.21 to 9.55; P = .001) but not in the polytherapy group. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of children born to WWE, breastfeeding while taking contemporary ASM regimens was not associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 6 years. The observed improved adaptive behavioral outcome supports clinical recommendations for extended breastfeeding (≥6 months) in WWE.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.