We have received many emails and calls from colleagues and patients regarding the recent article on the safety of SSRI use during pregnancy published in the New York Times. In this article, health writer Roni Caryn Rabin, detailed the risks associated with the use of antidepressants during pregnancy.
Benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics are commonly used during pregnancy. However, there data regarding the reproductive safety of these agents has been somewhat mixed. Although initial reports suggested that there may be an increased risk of cleft lip and palate, more recent reports have shown no association between exposure to benzodiazepines and risk for cleft lip or palate. A new study shows no increase in the overall risk of malformations among children exposed to benzodiazepines.
When women come to us for consultation, we focus primarily on the risks of exposure to psychotropic medications. It is important, however, to consider the impact of other, potentially harmful, exposures that are common in [...]
A significant number of women experience anxiety symptoms during pregnancy, with nearly 10% of women meeting criteria for generalized anxiety disorder. Even more women suffer from milder anxiety symptoms or what some refer to as [...]
In this study 62 women hospitalized for high-risk obstetrical complications completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and Short-Form 12 (SF-12) weekly until delivery or discharge and once after [...]
This is the second part of a two part series on the use of antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. Read Part 1 here, which reviews data from the Australian antipsychotic registry.
This is the first part of a two part series on the use of antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. Atypical antipsychotic medications are commonly used for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Despite the increasing [...]
Over the last few years, we have reported on several studies which have suggested an increased risk of certain types of cardiovascular malformations among children exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy. The [...]
Pregnancy is a time of risk for women with histories of major depression. In a study where 201 women with histories of recurrent depression were followed prospectively through pregnancy, 43% experienced a relapse of major depression during pregnancy. Relapse rates were highest in the group of women who elected to discontinue antidepressant treatment proximate to conception (68% as compared to 26% in the group of women who maintained antidepressant treatment).
A recent study from researchers at the University of North Carolina reports that the children of depressed mothers treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy were more likely to develop Chiari type 1 malformations than were the children of mothers with no history of depression.
