Antidepressants in pregnancy.

Nearly 7% of deliveries covered by seven HMO plans in 2001-2005 were to women who received an antidepressant during pregnancy. (1) Six percent of the almost 120,000 deliveries included in a retrospective study were to women who were given selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and 37% of these women had prescriptions for their antidepressant filled one or more times per trimester. The overall use of antidepressants and the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increased sharply from 1996 to 2004, when both trends plateaued. The researchers note that prenatal exposure to antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, has been linked to a broad range of adverse health outcomes tot both women and their infants. Moreover, they add that their findings are generalirable "at a minimum" to the one in four U.S. residents who are enrolled in HMOs. Therefore, the investigators consider antidepressant use during pregnancy "an important drug safety issue" and stress that further research "is urgently needed ... to assist prescribers and patients in making informed treatment decisions."

(1.) Andrade SE et al., Use of antidepressant medications during pregnancy: a multisided study, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2008, 198(2):194.el-194.e5.