Antidepressants taken in pregnancy don’t cause autism

By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women who take a common type of antidepressant during pregnancy are not more likely to have a child with autism, according to a new study from Denmark. But children did have a higher than usual risk when their mothers took the drugs – known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – for depression or anxiety before becoming pregnant. "Our interpretation is that women with indications for SSRI use differ from women who do not use SSRIs because of these indications (depression, anxiety), and some of these differences are somehow related to an increased risk of having children who develop autism," Dr. Anders Hviid said. The findings, combined with a separate analysis of the same database published last month in the journal Clinical Epidemiology, suggest people looking for a link between autism and SSRIs need to look elsewhere, Dr. Mark Zylka said.