Antidepressant drug linked with increased risk of birth defects when taken in early pregnancy
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - 13:56
in Health & Medicine
Using paroxetine -- a medication prescribed to treat conditions including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder -- during the first trimester of pregnancy may increase newborns’ risk of congenital malformations and cardiac malformations. Up to one-fifth of women of childbearing age experience depressive symptoms that often lead to mild to moderate depression, and prescriptions for antidepressants during pregnancy have increased in recent years. The most common drugs for treating depression in pregnant women are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and up until 2005, one drug in that class -- paroxetine -- was considered to be safe for use during pregnancy.