U of M researchers explore link between antidepressant use during pregnancy and child development

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WINNIPEG -- A new study out of the University of Manitoba is exploring the connection of mothers taking antidepressants while pregnant and how that impacts child development in kindergarten.

The lead author for the study, Dr. Deepa Singal, who is a researcher at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy said the idea for the study came when she was pregnant with her second child.

"I was kind of weighing options that didn't have this much of an impact on the health of my child. So I was looking at things like should I drink coffee? Can I eat sushi? Kind of milder things like that," Singal told CTV News. "I just started thinking about all the stress moms and women go through when they are responsible for now having this child and responsible for their own health."

The research team, which also consisted of Dr. Marni Brownell and Dr. Dan Chateau, looked at data of over 3,000 children whose mother had a mood/anxiety disorder during pregnancy between 1996 and 2014.

The mothers were divided into two groups; those who took antidepressants while pregnant and those who didn't.

The researchers then looked at the developmental health of the children when they reached kindergarten using the Early Development Instrument, which is a questionnaire from teachers that looks at five areas; physical health and well-being, language and cognitive development, social competence, emotional maturity, and community skills and general knowledge.

Singal said the study found that 20 per cent of children, whose mothers were taking two or more prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy were assessed as being vulnerable on two or more of the five EDI areas.

Singal added that this is compared to 16 per cent of children who had a mother who didn't take antidepressants.

Despite the findings, Singal said the health and safety of pregnant women is the most important.

"If the benefits of taking these medications and treating their depression outweighs the potential risks, they absolutely should be used and we are not at all suggesting that women should be stopping their medications without the consultation their physicians," she said.

"Our study is a study contributing to the emerging evidence in this area, but it's really, really important for the mental health and well-being of pregnant women to be managed appropriately and this study demonstrates that more research needs to be done before these kinds of definitive clinical conclusions can be drawn."

She added this study also shows that these drugs are not benign and other forms of therapy even non-pharmaceutical options should be explored when possible.

The study was published in Pediatrics, which is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

RELATED IMAGES A pregnant woman is shown in this undated photo. (Pexels)