SSRI Antidepressant Use Found to Affect Birth Weight

Melbourne, AUSTRALIAA small but damning study originating in Australia suggests that SSRI side effects are eight times more prevalent in newborns whose mothers have taken antidepressants during pregnancy. A recent report from the UK also warned of increased incidents of babies born to mothers taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants exhibiting birth defects such as persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) at birth.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week on research from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Andrew Lewis, a psychologist at Deakin and author of the study, noted the lack of evidence that could establish whether antidepressants were safe for antenatal depression.

"All antidepressants cross the placenta, thus exposing the developing fetus during pregnancy," he said in the 5/14/10 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald.

For the purposes of the study, the researchers assessed 24 babies whose mothers had taken antidepressants throughout their pregnancy in comparison with a group of newborns that were not exposed to antidepressants of any kind.

The results were startling. The researchers concluded that fetuses exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy were eight times more likely to be born prematurely than those not exposed. The affected newborns also weighed less and were smaller in length and head circumference at birth than the control group of infants.

At one month of age, it was found that the rate of growth was significantly lower in babies exposed to antidepressants while in the womb.

Dr. Lewis noted that while about 10 percent of Australian mothers suffer from postnatal depression, it is unclear how many women in the country suffer from antenatal depression—defined as depression experienced and diagnosed either prior to or during pregnancy.

Lewis noted that antidepressant exposure in utero has been associated with a number of other neonatal and developmental outcomes.