Women who take antidepressants during the later phases of pregnancy increase the risk of having a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by 87% compared to expecting mothers who did not take the medications, according to a 2015 study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
In addition, mothers using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – a class of antidepressants – face nearly double the risk of giving birth to a child with ASD. SSRIs include Zoloft (sertraline), Prozac (fluoxetine) and Lexapro (escitalopram).
According to the study, women prescribed more than one class of antidepressants during pregnancy’s final six months are nearly four times as likely to give birth to a child with autism as women who did not take antidepressants.
Aside from autism itself, ASD includes conditions such as Asperger syndrome and other developmental disorders.
An estimated 7 to 13% of American women take antidepressants while pregnant, Yahoo! Parenting reported.
In the past, studies have suggested that depression itself may increase the risk of autism, and the study noted depression was associated with a 20% increased risk.
The study examined data collected between January 1998 and December 2009 in the Quebec province of Canada. That involved 145,000 full-term pregnancies involving only one baby. Researchers kept track of the children until age 10. Of those children, 1,054 were diagnosed with ASD.
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About 3.2% of babies (about 4,700 infants) were exposed at some point to antidepressants during pregnancy, with 46 of them developing autism.
“But the researchers found that only a mother’s use of antidepressants during the second or third trimester was associated with a greater risk of autism in children. There was no increase in ASD risk that was linked to using these medications during early pregnancy,” Yahoo! wrote.
Study author Anick Berard, a University of Montreal professor of pharmacy, said the critical time for fetus brain development occurs in the second and third trimesters. By taking SSRIs, serotonin levels are inhibited; the chemical not only affects mood, but it’s essential for fetal brain cell development.
Berard noted that depression remains a potentially debilitating condition that needs to be treated, but said that psychotherapy and exercise can effectively treat mild to moderate depression – the kind found in the majority of depressed pregnant women.
Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told HealthDay that currently pregnant women should not panic and discontinue their medication.
“They could go through withdrawal symptoms that could be a higher risk than continuing on their medicine. They should consult their obstetrician and psychiatrist before deciding anything,” he said.
