Migraine treatment can be difficult at best. During pregnancy, it often becomes even more difficult. We know very little about medications that are safe to take during pregnancy because "experimenting" with pregnant women just isn't feasible.

One way to discover what's safe and what isn't is to look at data collected about women who took certain medications during pregnancy. That's just what a team of researchers undertook in order to determine if valproic acid / divalproex sodium -- brand names Depekene and Depakote -- increase the risk of birth defects if women take them during the first trimester of pregnancy.

This study showed that there is indeed an increased risk of eight major birth defects when women take these medications during their first trimester.

You can find out more about this in my new article, Migraines, Depakote, and Pregnancy.

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© Teri Robert, 2010 Last updated June 21, 2010