Antidepressant may be linked to birth defects, study finds

A large new study by U.S. and Canadian researchers suggests the use of some antidepressant drugs early in pregnancy may be linked to an increased risk of birth defects in the child.

But the researchers say the overall risk is low and needs to be weighed against the woman’s mental health needs.

A number of studies have looked at whether it is safe for women to take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, during pregnancy, particularly during the first trimester.

But the trials have been inconclusive, creating confusion. This new study, published Thursday in the British journal BMJ, suggests specific SSRIs seemed to be associated with an increased risk of some birth defects.

But like other studies on the question, it was not designed in a way that would allow the researchers to say the drugs cause the birth defects, only that they may be associated with an increased number of birth defects in the offspring of the women who took them.

One of the authors of the study is Dr. Jan Friedman, a professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia. In an interview, he suggested it is important to keep the findings in context.

“We talk a lot about the fact that there are all these studies and they don’t agree. The fact is they do agree, in the big picture,” he said. “There’s none of them that suggests that these are really dangerous drugs.”