A recent study suggest that a re-evaluation of psychiatric treatment is needed for pregnant women treated with antidepressant, emphasizing the necessity for focusing on obstetric complications for severely depressed pregnant women.
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| Photo: Pregnant Woman Treated with Antidepressant | InStyleHealth |
Researchers stated that, “Additionally, as relapse was
associated with increased benzodiazepine use, it is important to carefully
monitor all women who stop antidepressant treatment during pregnancy.”
The study aimed to monitor the trajectories of
antidepressant use during pregnancy and the postpartum period among women chronically
treated with antidepressants prior to their pregnancy, as well as to evaluate
the characteristics correlated with each trajectory.
Additionally, the study included the data of all
pregnant women in the General Sample of Beneficiaries (EGB) database affiliated
with the French Health Insurance System from 2009 to 2014. The participants
were monitored until 6 months after childbirth.
Chronic treatment was defined in this study as
exposure over the 6-month period preceding pregnancy. The researchers estimated
a group-based trajectory model to identify distinctive longitudinal profiles of
antidepressant usage.
There was a total of 760 women were chronically
treated with antidepressants before their pregnancy, of whom 55.8% discontinued
therapy permanently in the first semester, 20.4% stopped for a minimum of 3
months and resumed postpartum, and 23.8% maintained treatment throughout pregnancy
and postpartum.
There was no sociodemographic or medical characteristics
correlated with any trajectory group. Obstetric complications and postpartum
psychiatric disorders happened more frequently to those women who are keeping
their treatment.
For those with interrupted use of antidepressants,
prescription of benzodiazepines and anxiolytics reduced at first but increased
postpartum to a higher level than before pregnancy.
For complete details of this study, click here.
Source: Br J Clin Pharmacol 2021;87:965-987