Findings of a new study have showed that the risk of certain birth defects when pregnant women take certain antidepressants increases just slightly.
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“It is important to keep in mind that the linkages might have other explanations such as underlying diseases among women who use SSRIs or other unmeasured factors”, said lead study author Jennita Reefhuis, PhD, of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in Atlanta, GA, in a press release. Results of past studies have been very mixed, with some claiming antidepressants caused birth defects, and some saying there was no correlation.
Pregnancy is a time of great change and, for many women, great joy. Without Paxil, the risk is 10 cases per 10,000, the study said. Any decision around treatment in pregnancy needs to weigh up the potential small risks of birth defects against the benefits of treatments including helping a mother get better from depression.
The researchers found no connection between the antidepressants and nine birth defects that previously had been linked to them.
Some doctors worry that studies like this dissuade mothers who truly need mental health treatment from seeking it-particularly since the stress associated with depression in the mother can impact the health of the baby.
The links between antidepressants and birth defects have been subject of much discussion.
“The take-away for me is some of these risks with some of these drugs… are probably real, although quite small in an absolute sense”, Friedman said.
In recent years, numerous studies have reported that there may be a link between maternal use of a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and greater risk of birth defects. Women should not stop taking the drugs without first talking to their healthcare provider.
But the study didn’t prove that the medications cause birth defects, and experts aren’t advising women to stop taking the drugs entirely.
The more common birth defects associated with anti-depressants include heart defects, issues with the abdominal wall, anus and malformation of the skull and brain.
“Meanwhile, the current analysis provides guidance to the safest treatment options during early pregnancy to minimize the risk of major birth defects, while providing adequate treatment of maternal depression”, they conclude.
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Urato believes antidepressants do affect the unborn child. “Chemicals have consequences, and chemicals going into a developing embryo and fetus are going to have consequences”, he said. “It does take a while to establish whether these drugs are working and it can take weeks to taper off if they are not”, she said. “Instead, it’s crucial to make full information available to them”, Urato said. He went in to add that unlike thalidomide or alcohol syndrome, these drugs simply don’t pose that kind of risk.
