Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected and analyzed federal data on more than 38,000 women who gave birth over a span of more than 10 years.
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It found a slight increase in birth defects in babies born from women taking Paxil and Prozac.
The analysis suggests that certain serious birth defects occur 2 to 3.5 times more frequently among babies born to mothers taking the antidepressants Prozac or Paxil early in pregnancy. The findings do highlight a need for research to evaluate potential associations between specific SSRIs and individual birth defects. “We took into account mother’s race/ethnicity, education, smoking, and obesity prior to pregnancy since these factors can affect the risk for birth defects”, says Reefhuis. Paxil manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline said the drug carries a warning that doctors must counsel their patients on the risks involved in taking the antidepressant medication.
The associations could not be explained by other factors that influence the risk of birth defects, such as the mother’s ethnicity, education, smoking status and body-mass index.
Jamie Walker Erwin, MD, an OB-GYN at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, told dailyRx News, “I typically try to avoid paroxetine and fluoxetine in pregnancy if possible because of the associations that have been found and since there are other SSRI anti-depressant options”.
“Continued scrutiny of the association between SSRIs and birth defects is warranted”
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The research conducted by researchers of Canada and United States however also suggests that overall risk of this happening is considerably low and also depends on the pregnant woman’s psychological health requirements. While some tests have shown a conclusive link between birth defects and antidepressants, there have been others that have shown no link at all. Zoloft, made by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is the subject of a major lawsuit over charges of birth defect.
Importantly, in the BMJ study, pregnant women with depression taking SSRIs in early pregnancy were not compared with untreated pregnant women with depression in early pregnancy. They included heart defects, problems with brain and skull formation as well as abdominal wall defects.
The most commonly prescribed antidepressant was sertraline. “Counsel them about drug exposures in pregnancy, and allow them to make the best choice for themselves”. They found that two drugs were associated with birth defects, while three of the drugs were not.
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The researchers based their findings on women who took citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine or sertraline at least once between the month that led to conception and the end of the first trimester. The researchers were wanting to see if the risk of birth defects was for the entire class of antidepressant medications or if the risk was only associated with a few different treatments.
