Antidepressants in pregnancy link to condition

Antidepressants in pregnancy ‘may raise risk of fatal condition’ in unborn child

The use of antidepressants by mothers during late pregnancy may be associated with a small increased risk of their baby developing a potentially fatal condition that makes it difficult for their heart to pump blood through their arteries, research shows.

Around two in every 1,000 newborn babies are affected by persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn in the UK, which occurs when a newborn’s circulation system in its lungs does not adapt to breathing outside of the womb.

However, the study carried out in the US found that this went up to around three in 1,000 where the mother had used an antidepressant in the last 90 days of pregnancy.

The severe condition has a 10% to 20% mortality rate.

The study, conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, examined the risk of the condition associated with both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants and non-serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants among more than 3m pregnant women.

They found that 3.4% of these women used an antidepressant during the 90 days before delivery: 2.7% took a serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant; and 0.7% a non-serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant.

Patrick O’Brien, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, described the research as extremely useful and the largest on the issue to date.

“Depression in pregnancy can be very serious for a woman and can also impact on the health of her baby, so we must consider the benefits of antidepressant medication in such cases,” he said.

The study is published online in the journal JAMA.