Taking aspirin during pregnancy may increase your risk of developing cerebral palsy

Newborn babies whose mothers take aspirin during pregnancy may double the risk of cerebral palsy, according to a new finding.

Cerebral palsy is a neurodegenerative disorder that develops during childhood and causes permanent damage in speech, movement and posture, vision and disability in a child's awareness and learning.

The findings suggest that babies born to mothers taking aspirin are nearly 2 to 2.5 times more likely to develop a long-term, incurable defect.

While newborns are exposed to paracetamol, there is a 30% higher chance of having cerebral palsy and 50% being able to get it on one side of the body. Ibuprofen has little or no effect, the Daily Mail reported.

This is because pain relievers such as paracetamol and aspirin can cause toxic conditions in the developing baby's brain and lead to permanent damage or can break the normal levels of maternal hormones needed to regulate the development of the young brain.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark said: " The safety of these drugs needs to be assessed more deeply and women should be more cautious about their use during pregnancy ".

This study was published in the International Epidemiology Journal, researchers surveyed 1,85,617 mothers and their children.

About 5,000 women take aspirin and some similarly use ibuprofen. Nearly 90,000 people - almost half - admitted taking paracetamol during pregnancy.

The team found that 357 babies developed brain-related problems and babies born to mothers who took aspirin had a higher risk of developing cerebral palsy on both sides of the body.

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