In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assigns each medication to a Pregnancy Category according to whether it has been proven to be harmful in pregnancy. Oxcarbazepine is listed in Pregnancy Category C. This indicates that caution is advised, but the benefits of the medicine may outweigh the potential risks. Studies in animals have shown some harm to the baby, but there haven't been any good studies of results in women.

Talk to your doctor or another health professional if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. We don't yet have enough information to be able to estimate the risk of various types of birth defects that might occur if oxcarbazepine is taken during pregnancy. We also don't know enough to compare the risk with oxcarbazepine to the risk with other seizure medicines.

All women who are capable of becoming pregnant should take at least 0.4 mg (400 mcg) of the vitamin called folic acid every day because it helps to prevent one type of birth defect. (The most well-known of these is spina bifida, in which the spinal cord is not completely enclosed.) Women at high risk, such as those with a history of this kind of defect in a previous pregnancy, should take 4000 mcg (4 mg) daily, beginning before they become pregnant. In general, the risk of defects is higher for women who take more than one type of seizure medicine and for women with a family history of birth defects.

How much oxcarbazepine is passed through breast milk is not known for certain, but the way the body uses it suggests that probably a large portion does enter the milk. If you want to breastfeed your baby, check with your doctor about what seizure medicine would be best for you.

Reviewed by Steven C. Schachter, MD
Submitted: 01/03/08