Mood Stabilizers, Antipsychotics, and Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients With Bipolar Disorder During Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Narrative Review

Objective: Women with bipolar disorder are at higher risk of complications during pregnancy, which may be associated with risky behaviors by the mother during acute episodes, as well as pharmacotherapy's inherent risks to mother and/or infant. The goal of this narrative review is to discuss the treatment of bipolar disorder during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Methods: A literature search was conducted between October 2023 and July 2024 using the PubMed database, with MeSH terms "bipolar disorder" and "pregnancy" combined with the Boolean operator "AND." Publications from 2014 to 2024 were considered, resulting in the identification of 573 articles. After titles were reviewed, 84 papers were selected for full-text review, 33 of which were included in the study. Results: Cardiopathies associated with lithium use during pregnancy in infants were reported in the 1970s, but more recent case-control and cohort studies have shown that this risk is much lower than was previously reported. However, maintaining lithium levels during pregnancy can be challenging due to physiological adaptations in renal function. Valproate exposure has been found to be associated with increased risk of neural tube defects, craniofacial, cardiac, genital, and musculoskeletal abnormalities in infants. There does not appear to be an increased risk of malformations associated with lamotrigine, and results of studies diverge concerning carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine. No statistically significant association has been reported concerning the risk of congenital malformations and prenatal exposure to antipsychotics as a group, as well as for the subgroup of atypical antipsychotics. However, it is possible that risperidone slightly increases the risk of cardiac malformations. Electroconvulsive therapy during pregnancy appears to be a relatively safe treatment; however, the small sample size reported in the literature limits more robust conclusions. Conclusions: Pharmacotherapy during pregnancy and lactation requires careful discussion and documentation so that the prescriber and the patient can be aware of its risks and benefits.