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Depressed pregnant women who take antidepressants increase their risk of giving birth prematurely, while those who choose counseling instead reduce their risk, according to the findings of a new study. The research adds to the medical literature indicating greater risks of adverse effects for the offspring of mothers using antidepressants. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is calling for more investigation into these risks and for prescribers to fully disclose the risks to expectant mothers who are using antidepressants.
Researchers at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute compared antidepressants to counseling as treatment options for addressing the increased risk of premature births experienced by depressed expectant mothers. Babies born too early face a greater risk of health complications, including feeding and digestive problems, difficulty breathing, heart ailments, anemia, and a weak immune system.
Analyzing the health records of more than 82,000 depressed pregnant women, researchers found that those receiving no treatment had a 41% increased risk of preterm delivery as compared to women who were not depressed. That risk was increased by an additional 31% in expectant mothers who took antidepressants, but reduced in those who received any mental health counseling instead.
Other recent research has provided additional evidence of potential harm to babies born to mothers using antidepressants. Taking antidepressants during pregnancy was linked to a greater risk of the babies needing neonatal hospitalization and a more than doubled risk of newborns experiencing withdrawal symptoms compared to discontinuing the drugs during pregnancy.
Up to 30% of babies exposed to antidepressants before birth experience withdrawal symptoms after birth, including excessive crying, irritability, jitteriness, feeding problems, respiratory distress, and hypoglycemia.
Among newborns exposed before birth to any psychiatric drug, including antidepressants, 41% required neonatal hospitalization as compared to 3% of newborns who were not exposed.
Pregnant women’s use of antidepressants can negatively affect the brain development in their children and increase the risk of certain birth defects and miscarriage. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that some birth defects occur 2 to 3.5 times more frequently among infants of women treated with certain antidepressants early in their pregnancy.
Fetal exposure to antidepressants, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk of fetal death, including stillbirth, according to new research.
Still other research calls into question the prescribing of antidepressants to depressed individuals. Researchers conducting a re-analysis of safety summaries in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database found evidence that depressed patients receiving antidepressants attempted suicide at a rate more than 2.5 times higher than those who received a placebo (sugar pill).
More fundamentally, a 2022 study found that the theory of a chemical imbalance in the brain – a lack of the brain chemical serotonin – causing depression had no scientific basis. If a lack of serotonin is not the cause of depression, then antidepressants which increase the availability of serotonin in the brain are fixing a problem that does not exist.
“More investigation is urgently needed into the connection between antidepressants and premature birth, birth defects, and fetal death,” said Anne Goedeke, president of the CCHR National Affairs Office. “Prescribers have an obligation to fully disclose to their pregnant patients the risks to babies of taking antidepressants during pregnancy, as well as discuss evidence-based, non-drug alternatives.”
“Anyone who wants to stop taking an antidepressant or other psychiatric drug is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a physician because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms.”
About Us: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights was co-founded in 1969 by members of the Church of Scientology and the late psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz, M.D., recognized by many academics as modern psychiatry’s most authoritative critic, to eradicate abuse and restore human rights and dignity to the field of mental health.
Contact Info:
Name: Anne Goedeke
Email: Send Email
Organization: Citizens Commission on Human Rights, National Affairs Office
Address: Washington, DC
Website: https://www.CCHRNational.org
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSfkwNmYeSQ
Release ID: 89144360
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