A new study finds that women who take valproate (epilepsy drug) during pregnancy may give birth to babies with higher risk of autism.

This British study has been published in the journal Neurology 2nd Dec. issue and it adds something to those previous studies which show that many anti-epilepsy drugs including valproate can cause birth defects in babies.

Dr. Michel Berg, the lead author of the study, says in this connection: “Previous data indicates that epilepsy drug like valproate can become the cause of neural tube defects in babies and these drugs also seem to affect brain development.”

Doctors already avoid prescribing valpraote and other epilepsy drugs to pregnant women as well as to those who are planning for it.

“It wouldn’t change practice in a dramatic way, but if there is another option, it provides enough reason to avoid prescribing this drug,” says Dr. Jeffery P. Brosco, who is an associate professor at the University of Miami Miller School.

Some other problems have also been encountered by the drugs used for this condition and some other studies say that pregnant women who use another epilepsy drug known as Topamax alone or with other drugs, they may bear babies with different birth defects.