Husebye ESN, et al. - In this investigation involving 346 antiepileptic drug (AED)-exposed and 388 AED-unexposed children of mothers with epilepsy, and 113,674 children of mothers without epilepsy, researchers studied the effect of AED exposure during pregnancy on language abilities. The sample consisted of children aged 5 and 8 years of mothers with epilepsy. Study participants included children of mothers with and without epilepsy enlisted in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study 1999–2008. Compared with control children at age 8 years, those exposed to carbamazepine monotherapy had a significantly increased risk of language impairment. An association was found between higher maternal valproate concentrations and language impairment at age 5 years. In children aged 5 and 8 years of mothers with epilepsy, foetal AED exposure in utero was linked to an increased risk of language impairment. Periconceptional use of folic acid had a protective effect on language impairment associated with AED.