Study Finds No Link Between SSRI Use in Pregnancy and Infant Growth

Neither an expectant mother's major depression nor her use of SSRI antidepressants affected infant growth with respect to weight, length, or head circumference from birth through 12 months of age, according to a March 20 report in AJP in Advance. Katherine Wisner, M.D., director of the Asher Center for the Study of Depression at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated pregnant women at 20, 30, and 36 weeks gestation. The women were divided into three groups—those who had no depression and no exposure to SSRIs, those exposed to SSRIs, and those with major depression but no exposure to SSRIs. The researchers then evaluated mother and infant pairs at 2, 12, 26, and 52 weeks postpartum. Infant weight, length, and head circumference were measured.

Wisner and colleagues found that neither antenatal major depression nor SSRI exposure was significantly associated with any of the infant measurements they assessed. "Consideration of the impact of both antenatal SSRI and depression exposures on fetal and infant growth is an understudied component of the risk-benefit decision process for developing treamtent plans for depressed pregnancy women," they said.

 “Does Fetal Exposure to SSRIs or Maternal Depression Impact Infant Growth?” is posted here.  To read more about SSRI use during pregnancy, see Psychiatric News here and here.

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