Birth defects have been discovered by a research funded by the US government from mothers who were taking Prozac and Paxil, which are antidepressants, during pregnancy.
These drugs are also classified as SSRIs or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. As a result of an investigation that was prompted by older studies regarding this class of drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are now discouraging pregnant women from taking these antidepressants.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wanted to determine whether these SSRIs are responsible for birth defects. Results were reported in the British Medical Journal two days ago.
A group of 28,000 mothers were asked if any of the mentioned drugs were taken during the third month of pregnancy until a month before their due date. They were then monitored to find out who gave birth to babies that had deformities.
The scientists found that the women who took generically sold paroxetine or Prozac and fluoxetine or Paxil have caused abnormalities on newborn children. Pfizer's Zoloft, Lexapro, and Celexa have been ruled out.
University Herald notes that the two precarious medicines mutually caused abnormalities of the heart, skull and brain, while Paxil alone resulted in abdominal wall malformations. Researchers gave emphasis in the study, "Although our analysis strongly supports the validity of the associations that were observed, the increase in the absolute risks, if the associations are causal, is small."
Doctors are already informed about the effects of these antidepressants to babies of pregnant women and know not to prescribe similar drugs to the said individuals.
