Study Shows Antidepressants Safe for Nursing Mothers
Reported March 8, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Thirteen percent of women experience postpartum depression. Many breastfeeding women, however, elect to not take antidepressants because of fear of exposing the infant to the drug through her breast milk. Now, a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clincial Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Orlando, Fla., shows antidepressants are safe for nursing mothers to take.
Researcher Amy Lee, MSc, of the University of Toronto/Hospital for Sick Children, explains that previous short-term studies suggest there is minimal exposure of the drugs to nursing infants and they are not considered a risk. However, women become confused because their doctors often warn them of antidepressant use because of the lack of long-term neurodevelopmental studies. In fact, the American Association of Pediatrics states, “Exposure to maternal psychotropic medications through the breast milk may be of concern to the nursing infant.”
Lee and her team set out to conduct the first study to quantify the health and wellbeing of depressed, breastfeeding women, looking at the untreated vs. the treated. They examined three groups: 56 depressed, breastfeeding women treated with antidepressants and their infants, 32 depressed, breastfeeding women not taking antidepressants and their infants, and 59 healthy, breastfeeding women and their infants. The women-infant pairs were followed up at four, 13, 26 and 52 weeks postpartum. Only one infant showed adverse effects associated with antidepressant use, which consisted of increase bowel movements.
The mental wellbeing of women who chose to treat their depression was better than those who chose not to treat their depression, and they were less likely to be depressed at one year postpartum. However, they were not doing as well as the healthy breastfeeding women, suggesting that even after a year, they still were not being adequately treated.
Lee concludes: “Effort is required to disseminate knowledge to physicians and women in order to conduct a proper risk-benefit assessment in this specialized population. By doing so, it is the hope to empower women to make informed decisions that will attribute to improvements to their health.” She continues saying women requiring antidepressants postpartum should continue to breastfeed and be adequately dosed to control their depression.
SOURCE: Amanda Jackson at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Orlando, Fla., March 2-6, 2005
