The objectives for a study done by the Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, titled “Selective Serotonin reuptake Inhibitors During Pregnancy and Risk of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in the Newborn: Population Based Cohort Study from the Five Nordic Countries”, was to determine if maternal use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase the risk of pulmonary hypertension in newborns. This experiment was a population based cohort study that collected information from the National Health Registers. More than 1.6 million infants born after week 33 were used in this study.
Author H. Kieler from the above study states, “Risks of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn associated with early and late exposure to SSRIs during pregnancy and adjusted for important maternal and pregnancy characteristics. Comparisons were made between infants exposed and not exposed to SSRIs.” It was shown that 11,014 women who had been given an SSRI later than gestational week 20 were associated with an increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborns. There was an increased risk found for persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborn for each specific SSRI and the risks were similar in magnitude for all of them. Exposure to an SSRI before gestation week 8 was shown to slightly increase risks for malformations.
Kieler concludes with “The risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is low, but use of SSRIs in late pregnancy increases that risk more than twofold. The increased risk seems to be a class effect.” There is little information available about the risks of antidepressants taken during pregnancy. There is a high demand for more studies to be done in order for the medical community to have a sound understanding regarding all the risks involved.
With the publication of many studies such as this showing the danger of SSRI use during pregnancy, a number of SSRI birth defect lawsuits have been filed. If you or a loved one used SSRIs during pregnancy and your child was born with a birth defect, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation for the injuries your family has sustained by no fault of your own. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact our team of SSRI birth defects lawyers at the information provided below. We have the skills, resources, and experience required to win the justice you deserve.
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Our SSRI Birth Defects Lawsuit Information page is a great place to start if you have any questions about SSRIs and Birth Defects.