SSRI antidepressants: altered psychomotor development following exposure in utero?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (SSRIs) are sometimes prescribed to pregnant women. The potential consequences for the unborn child are gradually becoming clearer. In a case-control study of 298 children with autism and 1507 controls, 6.7% of mothers of autistic children had been prescribed an antidepressant during the year before delivery, compared to 3.3% of control mothers. The antidepressant was usually an SSRI. A dozen other small epidemiological studies of neurological development in children exposed to antidepressants in utero have provided mixed results. Two of these studies suggested a risk of psychomotor retardation. In practice, SSRI antidepressants should only be considered for pregnant women when non-drug measures fail and when symptoms are sufficiently serious to warrant drug therapy.