Obstetricians and psychiatrists are involved a couple of current FDA panel spreading misinformation in regards to the potential harms of utilizing SSRIs throughout being pregnant and postpartum.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Ought to pregnant girls and new moms take antidepressants? A current Meals and Drug Administration panel raised questions in regards to the security of those medication. An estimated 6% to eight% of pregnant girls take antidepressants referred to as SSRIs. Medical doctors and psychiatrists treating these sufferers say the FDA panel misrepresented proof and unfold misinformation. NPR’s Rhitu Chatterjee is right here to inform us extra. Rhitu, thanks.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: Completely satisfied to be right here, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So I perceive you watched the FDA panel. What precisely did the panelists say?
CHATTERJEE: So the FDA commissioner, Marty Makary, opened the occasion, framing the entire dialogue round these so-called potential harms of a gaggle of tension and despair medication referred to as SSRIs, that are medicines like Zoloft and Lexapro. After which a majority of panelists, together with some psychiatrists, psychologists, a social work professor, cited research they are saying illustrate well being dangers to each mother and child. One panelist – Roger McFillin, a psychologist from Pennsylvania – prompt that girls really feel coerced into taking these medicines and that despair is overdiagnosed in girls.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROGER MCFILLIN: Is that as a result of this underlying psychological sickness that we’re attempting to regulate for – one we do not check for when there isn’t a goal testing – it simply is extra prevalent in girls? Or are girls simply naturally experiencing their feelings extra intensely? And people are items. They are not signs of a illness.
CHATTERJEE: Now, to be clear, psychiatrists use a selected set of standards to diagnose despair and nervousness. And an individual has to have had 5 or extra of these standards for a despair prognosis, and simply feeling overly emotional is not sufficient to be recognized.
RASCOE: What are medical doctors and psychiatrists saying in regards to the panel’s claims of harms brought on by SSRI use in being pregnant?
CHATTERJEE: So a number of well being care teams and organizations have launched statements in opposition to these claims and mentioned that they’re deceptive. Now, responding to that critique, Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the federal Well being Division, advised NPR in an e mail that the declare that the panel was, quote, “one-sided” is, quote, “insulting” to the panelists.
Now, I spoke with Dr. Christopher Zahn, chief of scientific follow with the American Faculty of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – or ACOG – one of many teams pushing again on a number of the panel’s claims. He defined why the research cited by most panelists have been what he described as poor-quality proof or nonevidence-based.
CHRISTOPHER ZAHN: So in case you’re evaluating a pregnant affected person who has taken an SSRI, the management group ought to be the pregnant affected person with psychological well being abnormalities who hasn’t taken an SSRI. And a part of the issue with various these research – they do not use the correct management group. And in reality, it is type of like evaluating apples and oranges.
CHATTERJEE: , Dr. Zahn advised me that well-controlled research do not discover this affiliation of SSRI use with these well being dangers that the panelists talked about. Now, the one threat that does present up is for newborns of mothers who take the medication within the third trimester. And the infants can have some withdrawal signs, however they resolve on their very own in a couple of days. And in keeping with him and most others within the subject, the underside line is these research which have adopted tons of of 1000’s of girls discover that almost all SSRIs are protected for pregnant and postpartum girls.
RASCOE: What in regards to the people who find themselves simply attempting to resolve whether or not they need to take these medication once they’re pregnant or simply after giving delivery? What are the principle issues they should know?
CHATTERJEE: So firstly, Ayesha, is that there are dangers of not treating their signs at this stage of life. The unfavorable penalties on the well being of each mother and child are very well-documented. Here is Dr. Kay Roussos-Ross. She’s an OBGYN on the College of Florida, and he or she was the one individual on the FDA panel to spell these harms out.
KAY ROUSSOS-ROSS: When psychological well being situations go untreated, these girls are much less prone to attend their prenatal care appointments, and so they’re extra seemingly to make use of substances throughout their being pregnant. They’re additionally extra prone to face further dangers equivalent to preeclampsia and cesarean supply.
CHATTERJEE: And psychological sickness is a number one explanation for maternal deaths on this nation, together with deaths as a consequence of suicide. Now, I ought to add that SSRIs aren’t the one choice for treating nervousness and despair throughout and after being pregnant. For these with delicate to average despair and nervousness, you understand, speak remedy is the primary and most suitable choice. There’s additionally peer assist. However for these with average to extreme despair and those that are having hassle accessing speak remedy, which is a giant concern, then antidepressants are an choice. Now, it will not be proper for everybody, however speak about all of this along with your physician. Weigh all of it in opposition to the danger of not treating your signs.
RASCOE: That is NPR’s Rhitu Chatterjee. Thanks a lot.
CHATTERJEE: My pleasure.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts might differ. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
