healthbrief
Antidepressants in Pregnancy Linked to Autism
Slightly Higher Risk Involved
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Astudy by the University of Bristol, England, of 254,610 young people from Stockholm showed that children born to mothers taking antidepressants during pregnancy had more than a 4 percent risk of autism, compared to less than a 3 percent risk in children born to mothers with psychiatric conditions not on antidepressants.
Depression is common in women of childbearing age, with 3 to 8 percent of pregnant European women prescribed antidepressants.
But with 95 percent of them bearing children without autism, the risks and benefits must be carefully weighed, say researchers.