Antidepressants On Pregnant Women May Increase The Risk Of Autism In Children

Researchers have found that women who take antidepressants during their third trimester can greatly increase a child's risk for autism. One specifically mentioned drug is serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). As stated by the researchers, the link between antidepressants during pregnancy and autism was blurry until the results of this study came up. 

Data of all pregnancies and children from Jan. 1, 1998 to Dec. 31, 2009, were obtained and analyzed from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort in Canada, according to a research published at JAMA Psychiatry. The data indicated that the mothers of over 140,000 infants were under a drug plan by the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec for 12 months before and during pregnancy.

4,724 infants were exposed to SSRI in the utero, according to the data. 4,200 were exposed during the first trimester and 2,532 during the second and third trimester. Thirty-one children out of 2,532 were diagnosed with autism while 40 out of 4,200 had showed a significant risk of autism.

The results of the study had led to a conclusion that using antidepressant drugs especially SSRI could greatly increase the child's risk for autism up to 87 percent. These children could be diagnosed at an average age of 7.

"Our study has established that taking antidepressants during the second or third trimester of pregnancy almost doubles the risk that the child will be diagnosed with autism by age 7," Professor Anick Berard said from the University of Montreal and one of the pioneers of the study. "Especially if the mother takes selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, often known by its acronym SSRIs," .

Depression will remain as one of the top leading causes of death until 2020, making antidepressants a constant demand, especially to pregnant women, reported Newsweek. The result of this study poses a great concern especially to pregnant women who are experiencing maternal depression.

However, Alicia Hallyday of the Autism Science Foundation argued that pulling off from taking an antidepressant during pregnancy is "a little unfair".  Instead, she highly urges women who are taking antidepressants to consult their obstetrician-gynecologist and psychiatrist. Hallyday also recommended conducting more research studies to explore more of the association between SSRIs and autism.