Its use increases worldwide in the entire population and pregnant women are also affected. Not only is the physical health of the future mother important, also emotional health is paramount and in this case even more so, since Antidepressants during pregnancy double the risk of birth defects in the baby.
One of the first tips to avoid birth defects is to make rational use of medications and avoid self-medication: many drugs are dangerous for the fetus. The use of certain antidepressants was already under suspicion and a new study confirms the risks.
One in four pregnant women will suffer from depression or anxiety and for some of them the problem will come before, so if they were taking antidepressant medications they should consult the gynecologist before seeking pregnancy. Of course, also once you get pregnant.
In a recent report, conducted by researchers at the University of Monreal, it has been found that depression can be as bad for heart health as obesity or smoking. In addition, pregnant women who take certain antidepressant drugs during the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy, the most delicate moment in the formation of the baby, they are more likely to have children with birth defects.
The team reached its conclusions after analyzing data from more than 18,000 depressed women in the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort, which registered 289,688 pregnancies between 1998 and 2009. They found that 3,640 of the women (about 20%) took antidepressants during First three months of your pregnancy.
The results showed that between 6% and 10% of women who took antidepressants during this period had complications with birth defects, about double the rate compared to women who did not take the medications. Researchers believe that drugs that interfere with the intake of serotonin from the fetus can cause a wide variety of malformations.
Specifically, when examining the specific types of antidepressants used during the first trimester, it was found that the antidepressant citalopram (which interferes with the production of serotonin) showed a greater increase in the risk of congenital malformations, although all the analyzed antidepressants showed some increase in risk.
This year 2017 we will hear about depression more than usual, since World Health Day is dedicated to this complex disorder, which affects many people, weakening them and in many cases making them dependent on medication to improve their quality of life. But what is increasingly clear is that alternatives to drugs have to be sought in the case of pregnancy, and more when, according to health professionals, the effectiveness of such drug treatment is not usually effective.
It is complicated to diagnose depression and it is also difficult to find an alternative for the future mother who does not put the baby's health at risk, but it is necessary to weigh the risks and benefits of antidepressant drugs in pregnancy. Caring for mental health is important for anyone and at any time, but certainly at this stage of life there is one more compelling reason.
