Paxil merits warnings for pregnant women

A group of obstetricians have recently warned pregnant women that Paxil poses possible risks of birth defects in their unborn child and should be avoided.

The opinion issued by the obstetric practice committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists comes nearly a year after the Food and Drug Administration and manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline reclassified the drug to reflect studies in pregnant women that showed the drug poses a risk to the fetus.

Their opinion is based on two studies of pregnant women who were taking Paxil during their first trimester. The FDA explained that the study showed that the babies born to women who took Paxil during their first trimester of pregnancy heart defects at a rate that is as much as twice the norm.

Despite these findings, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said the decision whether to treat pregnant women with SSRIs, a class of antidepressants that includes Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro as well as Paxil, should be considered on an individual basis.

Doctors say that short-term complications in newborns have been associated with SSRI exposure late in pregnancy.

It has been found that reproductive-age women have the highest prevalence of major depressive disorders, often warranting medication in the SSRI class of antidepressants, which complicates matters even more. Such a conflict causes one to question, “Does the benefit to the mother of treatment with any of the drugs outweigh the risk to their fetus?”