Treatment Online

New Concerns Over Pregnancy and Antidepressants
> 2/9/2006 10:36:00 AM

This week has seen a surge of news reports about several new studies on the dangers involved with pregnancy and the use of antidepressants. Specifically, the research has surrounded selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). For some of our earlier posts on SSRIs, see here, here and here.

Earlier this week doctors announced that up to one third of babies exposed to SSRIs in the womb were born with withdrawal like symptoms. Usually, these symptoms subsided within two days. Today however, the New York Times reports that there may be even more harmful side effects that could seriously jeopardize a new born's well being.

New information, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that a mother's use of antidepressants during the last few months of pregnancy significantly increases the chances of giving birth to a child with persistent pulmonary hypertension, a lung disorder which effects the babies ability to breathe properly.

Treatment for depression is always a difficult process, and pregnancy often throws a new angle into the mix. As we have stated before, in this post, any woman who plans on becoming pregnant should work with her doctor on a plan to come off her drugs so as to prevent any potential problems caused by fetotoxicity of her meds. The health of the child should be paramount, and working with a doctor or therapist, an expectant mother can safely and healthily experience the joy of childbirth.

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