By Lloyd Jones

Australian medical specialists are backing a “gold standard” review debunking a Trump administration call that taking paracetamol during pregnancy increases the risk of babies developing autism.

The call was made in September 2025 but an international research team has since conducted an evidence review of 43 previous studies and found no such link.

It found no correlation between taking paracetamol during pregnancy and babies developing autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or intellectual disabilities.

The study, published in the Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health journal, found earlier studies suggested small associations between paracetamol in pregnancy and increased risk of autism and ADHD, but these were often based on studies prone to bias.

The authors said the previously reported links might be due to other maternal factors such as underlying pain, discomfort, fever or genetic predisposition rather than any direct effect from paracetamol.

Professor Helen Leonard, of the University of WA medical school, said health recommendations on the issue should not change and paracetamol would continue to be prescribed for pregnant women to reduce pain and fever.

She told AAP there was not much that could be done about people who believed the Trump administration’s call on the issue, along the same lines as anti-vaccination proponents.

“All we can say is the science is there and this is what we recommend,” Prof Leonard said.

She said there was an association between fever in pregnant women and certain birth defects so it was important to control the fever and the pain, and that was why paracetamol was prescribed.

Gino Pecoraro, president of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said pain relief was one of the core duties of any medical practitioner.

“It is timely and reassuring for us to be able to offer pregnant women a well-established and studied safe pain reliever to be used during pregnancy,” he said in a statement.

Alex Polyakov, of the University of Melbourne’s faculty of medicine, said recent public debate in the US questioning the safety of paracetamol had generated understandable anxiety.

The study provided reassurance to clinicians and pregnant women about the use of paracetamol to treat fever and pain, he said.

“The harms of untreated maternal fever and significant pain are well established, including increased risks of miscarriage, congenital anomalies, preterm birth and adverse neurodevelopment.”