Antidepressants and pregnancy: More research needed

Follow me at @Drmoniquetello For many women, pregnancy and the arrival of a new baby is a joyous time — but not for every woman. Recently, postpartum depression — extreme feelings of sadness and anxiety following the birth of a child — has come out from the shadows. But what about depression during pregnancy? It’s more common than you think: as many as 14% to 23% of pregnant women will experience symptoms of depression. It’s of sufficient public health concern that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening all pregnant women and new moms for depression. However, treating depression during pregnancy raises a number of questions, particularly about the use of antidepressants. Each year, an estimated one million pregnant women in the U.S. take these medications, according to a report from the CDC. The study looked at the records of 5.8 million privately insured women of reproductive age and found that 15.4% of them were taking antidepressants. Given that there are roughly 7.5 million pregnancies per year in the United States (and about half of these are unintended), there could be as many as a million developing fetuses exposed to antidepressants early in pregnancy. The actual number may be higher, as previous studies have suggested that antidepressant use is more common among women on public health insurance (and data on these women were not included in the report). SSRIs and birth defects? The CDC report found that four of the five most commonly p...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Depression Behavioral Health Drugs and Supplements Family Planning and Pregnancy Source Type: news