Managing Maternal Depression During Pregnancy Presents Significant Challenge To Clinicians

Risk of adverse effects exists with and without antidepressant therapy during pregnancy

Women who take antidepressants during the final trimester of pregnancy through delivery increase the risk of "neonatal behavioral syndrome," a constellation of symptoms and behaviors largely related to drug withdrawal or side effects, University of Pittsburgh researchers conclude in a review of medical literature. Such findings reveal an additional challenge for clinical management of depression during pregnancy, Eydie Moses-Kolko, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and her colleagues write in the May 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The FDA and drug manufacturers recently agreed to label revisions for antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Now the label for these drugs includes information about potential adverse effects to newborns if the drug is taken late in pregnancy," said Dr. Moses-Kolko, who also is on staff with the Women's Behavioral HealthCARE program of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Late exposure was associated with increased risk for a range of complications including jitteriness, stiffened muscle tone, irritability, respiratory distress and feeding problems."

While most cases of neonatal behavioral syndrome are mild and generally resolve in about two weeks, a number are severe enough to require neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) hospitalization.

"Newborns exposed to antidepressants late in pregnancy had more than twice the risk of admission to a special-care nursery as those exposed only early in pregnancy," Dr. Moses-Kolko said, adding that late-exposed newborns also had twice the risk of respiratory complications