Mental health disorders, and in particular depressive disorders, are common among women of childbearing age, including during pregnancy. As a result, antidepressants are frequently prescribed while pregnant. A study, which has just been published in Jama, should reassure future mothers who are taking antidepressant treatment: these drugs do not appear to harm the neurological development of their future child.
Many studies over the past decades have found associations between the use of antidepressants during pregnancy and developmental problems in children, primarily autism and ADHD. But more recent research seems to question their results, which is the case of this study led by Professor Elizabeth Suarez, of the Rutgers Institute for Health (United States).
Antidepressants during pregnancy do not increase risk of autism or ADHD
For this study, the researchers selected 145,000 pregnant women who took at least one antidepressant from the 19th week of pregnancy until delivery, the approximate period of synaptogenesis. Exposure to antidepressants was assessed for the 5 most commonly prescribed drugs: sertraline, fluoxetine, bupropion, citalopram and escitalopram. By comparison, a group of women who had received no antidepressants for 90 days before the start of pregnancy until the day before delivery was also followed.
In children, the researchers followed the possible appearance of autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, specific learning disorders, disorders of speech and language development, development of coordination, impaired intellectual property, or any neurodevelopmental disorder.
After analyzing medical data from pregnant women and tracking their children’s health until they were 14, researchers found that antidepressant use and exposure during pregnancy had no impact on development behavioral or cognitive neurological.
Source : Association of Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy With Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in ChildrenJama Internal medicine, October 2022
