The Tragedy of a True Effexor Pregnancy

Washington, DCIndiana Delahunty weighed in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces when she was born July 26, 2008. Her third birthday would be this summer. But Indiana will never see her third birthday. She never saw her first. "Indy," as her mother called her, was a victim of Effexor birth defects.

Christian had been taking Effexor since her own mother died in 2001, according to a poignant YouTube video under the auspices of uniteforlife.org. There had also been a history of depression in her family. Six years later, when Christian was planning to have another child, she consulted with her doctor as to the prudence of coming off Effexor for her pregnancy.

The doctor, according to the video, responded with the news that no studies existed proving that Effexor crossed the placenta or would get to the baby during breastfeeding. It would be okay to maintain Effexor.

In this way, Christian's pregnancy became an Effexor pregnancy.

All seemed to be well until July 26, 2008, when Christian—still taking Effexor—went into premature labor for a second time. According to the video, when the attending physician discovered that the mother was still actively taking Effexor, he notified the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital and instructed them to prepare for "an Effexor baby."

It was the first time that Christian had any hint that Effexor could prove dangerous to a baby, according to comments articulated by Christian to online radio host and blogger Jenny Hatch.

Indiana Delahunty was born one month premature, fighting for breath. But she survived, and the subsequent images are of relived parents, siblings and family members celebrating the birth, and the survival of a beautiful child. A child who had appeared to have stared down Effexor side effects and pulled through.

But it was not to last. Sadly, the Effexor newborn had more troubles coming.

The little girl, while looking hale and healthy on the outside, was found to require more visits to the hospital than Christian thought was normal. The little girl was, in fact, continuously in and out of the hospital with more issues than what her mother believed was expected with an average baby.

Christian didn't know that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had received, according to the video, reports of 145 spontaneous abortions, 150 premature babies, 208 babies born with heart disease and another 218 with other defects related to antidepressant use in the mother, all within the last few years. Christian knew nothing of this. She told interviewer Jenny Hatch that the attending physician at the hospital when Indiana was born overheard Christian asking her husband if he had brought her Effexor, "and [the doctor] was shocked," she said.

In September, Indiana stopped breathing. She was rushed to the hospital. Medical staff performed CPR on the Effexor baby for 45 minutes and succeeded in reviving the child, but to no avail. Her brain had sustained far too much damage given the sustained lack of oxygen.

Indiana Star Delahunty died on September 13, 2008, at less than two months old.