Paxil and PPHN
The fact that babies born to mothers who took antidepressant medications like Paxil during pregnancy can suffer from birth defects is hardly brand new information. But one of those defects can leave some parents scared and confused — a condition called PPHN.
Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a potentially fatal lung disease that affects one or two in every thousand babies born to mothers who took antidepressant meds like Paxil during pregnancy. PPHN kills roughly one baby for every 10 that have the condition. Those babies that do survive this condition often experience permanent hearing loss or brain damage, according to a study which was first published back in the Feb. 9, 2006 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. That is an alarming trend that should prevent doctors from prescribing Paxil or other antidepressants to pregnant women, and yet many women are still being given the drug.
There are various studies that show just how dangerous Paxil is to these babies, and many doctors have opinions about the findings. Dr. Sandra L. Kweder, MD, said "We find these results very concerning. We [the FDA] find the reported association of SSRI antidepressants with this very serious condition to be very worrisome."
While the study mentioned above was first published in 2006, there have been many others conducted since then that have shown similar findings. In fact, PPHN is only one of the birth defects that is caused by antidepressant use. Other defects that have been caused by Paxil include cleft palate, neural tube defects and heart and brain birth defects. The reason why I brought up the older study is to remind people how long this information has been available.
With this information being publicly available since as far back 2006, it almost seems insane for healthcare professional to continue prescribing antidepressants to pregnant women — especially when recent studies have shown that these meds may not actually work at all in relieving cases of mild to moderate depression symptoms. Research has come a long way since 2006 and one thing that is certain is that women should avoid taking Paxil and other antidepressants during pregnancy.
