We used to think that pregnancy could get rid of depression as the mother-to-be experiences a surge of hormones. However, it seems this is a myth. Women who stop taking their antidepressants during pregnancy run a serious risk of the depression coming back.
You can read about this new study in this week’s issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).
The researchers stress that the risk is of depression during the pregnancy itself, not post natal depression (post partum, after the birth), which is something completely different.
Now it seems, women with depression who become pregnant have to weigh the risks to themselves against the risks to their baby.
In the USA over eight million women of child-bearing age take antidepressants.
Previous studies have indicated that antidepressants may pose a health risk to the developing fetus.
In this study, the researchers monitored the progress of 200 women who had major depression. Whether the women carried on taking their medication during pregnancy or not was left up to them because of ethical concerns.
68% of the women who gave up their medication because they were pregnant relapsed into major depression. 26% of the women who carried on taking their drugs still went into depression. However, the researchers noted that giving up their antidepressants increased the women’s chances of becoming depressed again fivefold.
Paxil, a commonly used antidepressant, may be linked to fetal heart defects, says the FDA.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health