Newer antidepressants in pregnancy: prospective outcome of a case series

Antidepressant drug choice in pregnancy is a complex problem especially for new drugs. Among 590 cases exposed to drugs during pregnancy who were followed by our center, 21 cases used newer antidepressants, i.e., venlafaxine, mirtazapine, nefazodone. We present the gestational findings and fetal outcomes of these cases. Ten cases had used venlafaxine, one case had used both venlafaxine and mirtazapine, eight had used mirtazapine alone or with some other drugs and two had used nefazodone, in the first trimester. Of the 21 cases, 17 (80.9%) had healthy babies, 3 (14.3%) decided to terminate the pregnancy, and 1 (4.8%) spontaneous abortion was observed in a case exposed to mirtazapine, alprazolam, diazepam and trifluoperazine. All obstetrical findings were normal during the pregnancy of each case. No congenital abnormality and developmental problem was observed in the babies followed up for 12 months. The aim of the present study is to contribute the data to the limited knowledge available in the literature regarding human pregnancy.