[Fwd: Prescription Drugs Affect Unborn Babies]

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from an unrelated risk but perhaps relevant to women on UF.

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--- Prescription Drugs Affect Unborn Babies

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 21:53:10 EST

From: sList@...

To: sList@...

Prescription Drugs Affect Unborn Babies

February 10, 2004

http://www.ivanhoe.com

Ivanhoe Newswire -- Women who use a serotonin reuptake inhibitor

(SSRI) to treat depression or other psychiatric problems during pregnancy

may be putting their infants at risk for neurobehavioral problems, report

investigators publishing in this month’s Pediatrics.

The lifetime risk for depression in women ranges from 10 percent to 25

percent, with the peak prevalence occurring during the childbearing years.

Some reports suggest as many as 14 percent of pregnant women suffer from

depression and up to 35 percent of women use antidepressants during

pregnancy. Studies involving infants exposed to SSRIs in the womb have shown

few ill effects, so most doctors believe these drugs can be safely

prescribed for pregnant women. However, most of these studies have only

compared major outcomes, such as physical growth and complications evident

on the medical record.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

studied 17 full-term newborns whose mothers had taken an SSRI during

pregnancy and 17 similar infants whose mothers had not taken one of the

drugs, assessing them for more subtle neurobehavioral differences. They

found infants exposed to SSRIs in the womb were more likely to have had a

shorter gestational age, and were also more likely to suffer from a range of

neurobehavioral problems, including nervousness, startles, and sleep

disturbances.* After adjusting the findings for gestational age, differences

in nervousness and sleep disturbances remained significant.

Researchers conclude, " Results of the present study call into question

the conclusion that SSRI use during pregnancy has little impact on the

developing fetus and infant outcome. "

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by

e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to:

http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

*Or have these babies simply genetically inherited the condition or

similar condition that their mothers had that they needed SSRI

medication for????? -Val