Depression drugs damage baby heart

Tuesday November 25th, 2008

Taking anti-depressant drugs in the early stages of pregnancy may damage the heart of the unborn child, researchers warned yesterday.

The research links the drug fluoxetine to a four times increased risk of babies being born with heart problems.

And another drug paroxetine is linked to a three times increased risk, according to the findings.

More than 2,000 women were studied for the research in Israel, Italy and Germany.

The women had contacted organisations linked to the European Network of Teratology Information Services because of concerns their children might be at risk of birth defects. This included some 700 who had taken drugs for depression.

The findings, reported in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, linked smoking cigarettes to heart defects - with ten cigarettes a day increasing the risk by ten times.

The researchers found women on anti-depressants were more likely than others to be smokers - and relatively large numbers had undergone abortions previously.

Researcher Professor Asher Ornoy, from the Israeli Teratology Information Service, Jerusalem, Israel, said: "It's estimated that as many as one in seven women suffer from clinical depression during pregnancy and clinicians need to weigh up the individual risks of pregnant women taking, or not taking, drugs like fluoxetine.

"Many heart anomalies can now be treated, so it is important to bear that in mind when making a decision about whether or not to continue with one of these drugs during pregnancy. The health of the mother and the baby are both important."

Paroxetine and fluoxetine in pregnancy: a prospective multicentre, controlled, observational study. Diav-Citrin et al. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 66.5, p 695-705 (November 2008).

Tags: Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe

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