A new study of mothers and their babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers that suffer from migraines are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic as mothers without a history of migraines.

The research raises the question of whether colic may be an early symptom of migraine and therefore whether reducing stimulation may help just as reducing light and noise can alleviate migraine pain.

According to the American Medical Association, more than 18% of women suffer from migraines. This statistic climbs to greater than 22% for pregnant women. Prescription drugs are the most commonly used prevention method. Unfortunately, many pharmaceutical options, such as valproate also present adverse side effects including the increased risk of birth defects.

In February, 2010, the FDA issued a reminder about the heightened risk of neural tube defects in babies exposed in-utero to medications that contain valproate. Valproate therapy, initially devised as a treatment for epilepsy, is frequently used for migraine and bipolar disorder. The average rate of birth defects among US newborns is approximately 1 in 1,500 but children born to mothers that used medications such as Depakote, Depacon, and Stavzor resulted in a birth defect rate of 1 in 20. The rate of neural tube defects in children exposed to valproate during the 1st trimester is approximately 80 times higher than that of the general US population.