Use of Antidepressants During Pregnancy Increases

Researchers looking at antidepressant use during pregnancy found that, during the years studied, antidepressant use had increased and the increase was mostly accounted for by the rising use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of antidepressants which includes drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft and Celexa.

To conduct this study, Dr. William D. Cooper of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and colleagues looked at 105,335 pregnancies among women enrolled in Tennessee Medicaid from 1999-2003 and classified them according to antidepressant exposure. They found that antidepressant use increased from 5.7 percent in 1999 to 13.4 percent in 2003. The increase was mostly accounted for by the increased use of SSRIs.

These results are important because recent studies have reported an increased risk of both neurologic and cardiovascular abnormalities in fetuses exposed to SSRIs during pregnancy.

It is thought that around 10-15 percent of women of reproductive age have major depressive disorder and may be taking antidepressants. Given that untreated depression can have serious consequences for the mother and the fetus, it would be difficult to entirely avoid antidepressant use during pregnancy. It is therefore important, say the authors, that further research be done to better quantify just what the risks are.

Their research appears in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.