Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy

Pregnant women who use antidepressants have an overall 68% increased risk of miscarriage compared with those who do not take them.

Dr. Anick Bérard, a professor at the University of Montreal, and her team conducted a study that was published May 31 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, saying that antidepressants, particularly paroxetine and venlafaxine, were associated with increased risk of miscarriage, and a combination of different antidepressants doubled the risk of miscarriage.

Up to 3.7% of pregnant women receive antidepressants during the first trimester. Antidepressants have also been associated with birth defects.

The generic paroxetine is an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) found in various brands such as Aropax, Deroxat, Paroxat, Paxil, Pexeva, Seropram, and Seroxat.

The generic venlafaxine is an SNRI (Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor) found in various brands such as Dobupal, Efectin, Effexor, and Pristiq.

These drugs also carry an increased risk of suicide. Warnings against using these drugs during pregnancy have been periodically issued since at least 2005.

Psychiatric drug use during pregnancy has another potential consequence: antidepressants may have a deleterious effect on a developing baby’s brain. In one study, children exposed to antidepressants in the womb are more likely to appear sad or withdrawn at age 3 than those whose moms did not take these drugs. [“Prenatal Effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Antidepressants …”; Oberlander, Papsdorf, Brain, Misri, Ross, and Grunau; Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 2010;164(5):444-451]

Click here for more information about the side effects of psychiatric drugs.

The true resolution of many mental difficulties begins, not with a checklist of symptoms, but with ensuring that a competent, non-psychiatric physician completes a thorough physical examination.

Recognize that the real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior or study problems as “diseases.” Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful. All psychiatric treatments, not just psychiatric drugs, are dangerous.

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