Recent studies suggest a link between fetal exposure to certain antidepressants and an increased risk of life-threatening birth defects.

In a study performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers discovered that women who took either Prozac or Paxil had a greater chance of having a child born with a heart, skull or brain defect.

The federal agency analyzed the data of more than 38,000 women who had given birth between the years 1997 and 2009. From that information, researchers then looked at those children who were born with birth defects and asked the mothers if they took an antidepressant during pregnancy.

According to the birth defect study, fetal exposure to Prozac leads to heart wall defects and irregular skull shape. Those women who took Paxil during pregnancy had an increased risk of having a child born with a missing brain, skull defect, heart wall defect or abdominal wall defect. Researchers determined that both medications pose a 2 to 3.5 times increased risk for birth defects.

Those women who took Paxil during their pregnancy had increased the risk of having a child born with a heart defect from 10 to 24 babies per 10,000 births. Pregnant Paxil consumers increased the risk of brain and skull defects from 2 to 7 babies per 10,000 births.

SSRI Birth Defect Study

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants work by preventing neurotransmitters from being absorbed into the nerve cell, rather the neurotransmitter stays in the gaps between the nerves. This process helps improve communication between nerve cells which in turn helps regulate a consumer’s mood.

SSRI medications have been under scrutiny in recent years for a possible link to birth defects. The Food and Drug Administration mandated that Paxil manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline update their warning label in 2005 to include the risk of birth defects.

The study performed by the CDC showed that while Paxil and Prozac carry an increased risk of birth defects due to fetal exposure, other SSRI medications do not. According to the CDC, researchers could not find a link to birth defects for those taking Celexa, Lexapro or Zoloft.

Despite their findings, other studies have indicated that the widely prescribed antidepressant Zoloft may carry its own birth defect risks including brain defects, gastrointestinal abnormalities, and persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Medical experts claim that the CDC SSRI birth defect study is reassuring that physicians should be able to prescribe certain antidepressants to women for use during pregnancy, while avoiding others.

SSRI Birth Defect Lawsuits

For years, the question of whether taking antidepressants while pregnant poses any risk has been debated. This most recent federal study may help women and their physicians to safely treat depression during pregnancy.

More than 1,000 SSRI lawsuits have been filed across the country by plaintiffs alleging that the medications caused birth defects. In general, the SSRI birth defect lawsuits claim that drug manufacturers failed to warn of the serious birth defect side effects that could occur if taken during pregnancy.

Nearly 800 Paxil birth defect lawsuits were settled in 2010, with GlaxoSmithKline paying over $1 billion to plaintiffs.