Antidepressant Link With Preterm Birth

According to research published online ahead of print in March 2014, women who take antidepressants during pregnancy are more likely to deliver their babies prematurely than women who don’t take them.
Increased fourfold
Lead author of the study Krista Huybrechts, MS PhD from the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School said the number of women using antidepressants whilst pregnant has increased over the past twenty years.
“Preterm birth is a major clinical problem throughout the world and rates have been increasing over the past two decades. At the same time, rates of antidepressant use during pregnancy have increased approximately four-fold,” said Dr Huybrechts.
41 papers studied
According to senior Author Dr Adam Urato, they found a link between antidepressants and preterm birth.
“We studied 41 papers on this topic and found that the available scientific evidence is becoming clearer that antidepressant use in pregnancy is associated with preterm birth”.
Could depression be the culprit?
Apparently not!
“The complication of preterm birth does not appear to be due to the maternal depression, but rather it appears likely to be a medication effect” said Dr Urato.