New Study Links Antidepressants Use During Pregnancy With Increased Risk Of Birth Defects

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A recent study by researchers at Université de Montréal reveals that antidepressants prescribed to women during pregnancy could increase the chances of giving birth to a baby with birth defects. They reveal that the risk is doubled in women who take antidepressants as there is a risk of 6 to 10 percent, compared to the 3 to 5 percent in women who do not take the drugs.

They believe that the percentage is high enough to merit caution in their use, especially since, in most cases, they are only marginally effective. "In pregnancy, you are treating the mother but you are worried about the unborn child, and the benefit needs to outweigh the risk," senior author and a professor at UdeM's Faculty of Pharmacy and researcher at its affiliated children's hospital, CHU Sainte-Justine, Anick Bérard said.

Bérard, who is an expert in the field of pregnancy and depression, has previously established links between antidepressants and low birth weight, gestational hypertension, miscarriages and autism. The current study is one of the first to examine the link to birth defects among depressed women, according to Science Daily.

Up to 135,000 Quebec women get pregnant every year, with up to seven percent of them showing some signs of depression, mostly mild to moderate and less than one percent suffers from severe depression. The researchers conducted the study on 18,487 depressed women in the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort, a population-based grouping of 289,688 pregnancies recorded within 1998 to 2009.

Up to 20 percent (3,640) of the women took antidepressants in the first trimester of their pregnancy. Bérard said they only looked at the first trimester as it is the period where all the organs are developing. The baby is formed at 12 weeks of gestation. The use of antidepressant during this critical period has the potential to interfere with serotonin absorption by the fetus, which can consequently result in malformations.

The researcher explained that during early pregnancy, Serotonin is essential for the development of all embryonic cells, and any disruption to the serotonin signaling process could result in a wide variety of malformations. When Celexa is taken in the first trimester, for instance, the risk of major birth defects increases from 5 percent to 8 percent, with 88 of all cases of malformations linked to use of the drug.

In addition, the use of Paxil (paroxetine) was linked with an increased risk of heart defects, venlafaxine (Effexor) with lung defects and tricyclic antidepressants (Elavil) with increased eye, ear, face and neck defects. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that depression is rising rapidly and is a leading cause of death across the globe, according to Medical Express.

During pregnancy, the rate of depression increases during pregnancy, which makes doctors to prescribe antidepressants to expectant mothers. The new study shows that those using antidepressant are mostly older people who live alone or on welfare, and may have diabetes, hypertension or asthma.

These people generally do not have the financial means, time or support to seek other solutions like exercising regularly or consulting with a psychotherapist. They believe that the need for caution with antidepressant use in pregnancy is warranted and that women should consider alternative, non-drug options. The researchers published their findings in the British Medical Journal.