February 26, 201011:59 am
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Antidepressants Slow Fetal Development?
According to recent findings antidepressants may slow fetal development. The study, which was reported in March issue of Pediatrics, found that children whose mother’s took antidepressants during pregnancy were more likely to have slightly delayed development milestones during the first 19 months of life. Children exposed to antidepressants in utero were twice as likely to be unable to focus on activities for more than 15 minutes at 19 months old; at six months old the same children were twice as likely to be unable to sit without support. According to Lars Henning Pedersen, MD, PhD, of Aarhus University in Denmark, and colleagues, “The potential delay in development thus might have limited, if any, clinical significance for the children but may suggest that human fetal brain development is susceptible to antidepressant exposure… longer follow-up monitoring of the children, with the use of more developmental endpoints, is needed.” Click here to read an article from Modern Medicine that discusses this study more.
