Lynn News journalist Rebekah Chilvers: Trump’s unproven claims about paracetamol put unnecessary pressure on pregnant women

In her monthly column, Rebekah Chilvers discusses President Trump’s latest claims about painkillers in pregnancy and vaccinations…

Since I last updated you all, Clara has reached five months old, and there’s been a lot of rolling, interest in objects and the world around her, and just generally developing her personality.

It’s also now more than a year since my partner Lee and I found out that we were expecting Clara.

So when American President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr recently advised pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol (known as paracetamol in this country) due to unproven claims that there is an increased risk of autism in their children, I wondered how I would’ve felt had it been said this time last year.

Of course, no end of scientists and medical professionals have refuted these claims and said that it remains the safest painkiller for pregnant women.

I think it’s always best in these scenarios to listen to the experts, rather than politicians who have not backed up what they’ve said with actual evidence.

It was good to see that Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital were among the official sources reassuring pregnant women about the use of paracetamol.

In a Facebook post, officials from the hospital stated that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency had itself said there was no confirmed link between taking paracetamol during pregnancy and autism in children.

I feel that it is not only unfair to tell pregnant women to endure pain when they are already experiencing something exhausting, but it is also cruel to make them feel guilty if they do need to take the painkiller.

And that’s without even delving into the ethics of trying to “cure” autism and the knock-on effects of this all for autistic people and their loved ones.

Of course, it’s not just paracetamol in pregnancy that Trump and his team are attacking.

He has also claimed that there is a link between vaccines and autism, which has likewise been refuted by experts.

It’s come at a time when child vaccination rates are the lowest they’ve been in more than a decade.

A recent report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health stated that in 2023-24, only 88.9% of children received their first dose of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) jab.

That made it the third year in a row that the figure was below 90% and the UK now looks set to lose its measles-free status again, with thousands of cases having been reported in the last few years.

It’s not something to take lightly, as a child died after contracting measles at a hospital in Liverpool earlier this year.

The topic of vaccinations has become more controversial in recent years, but we have not hesitated to take Clara to get her childhood immunisations. Of course, it’s not nice to see her upset while she was jabbed, but we knew it was short-term pain for the sake of her long-term health - and that of others.

As I previously said, I feel that we have to put our faith in experts about what’s best for our kids and the general population.

If you or anyone you know feels uncertain about paracetamol in pregnancy or vaccinations, it’s worth carrying out your own research into NHS guidance or advice from official scientific or medical sources.