Paxil, Other Depression and Anxiety Drugs Can Boost Preterm Labor Risks

Women who take the depression drugs Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac or anti-anxiety pills Xanax and Ativan later in pregnancy may be more likely to deliver their babies early or have other birth complications, a new study finds.

About 2,800 women in Washington took part in the study, which determined mothers-to-be who started taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the second or third trimesters had a higher risk of preterm birth compared to women not on the drugs, according to a Reuters news report. In fact, women on the drugs were nearly five times more likely to deliver prematurely, the study found.

Of the 2,793 pregnant women included in the study, 11 percent used a psychiatric medication during pregnancy. Of these, 138 were on an SSRI, while 85 used a benzodiazepine.

Among those women not taking any medication during pregnancy, 9 percent gave birth prematurely, compared to nearly 50 percent of women on benzodiazepines.

Earlier Use of Drugs Linked to Problems

Women who started on an SSRI either before pregnancy or in the first trimester were not at the same increased risks, according to the study published in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Zoloft is also sold in generic form under the name sertraline, while Paxil is marketed as paroxetine and Prozac is available under the generic name fluoxetine.

Women in the study who took the anti-anxiety drugs Ativan (lorazepam) and Xanax (alprazolam) also were linked to increased risks of low birth weight, newborn respiratory distress, and poor scores on the Apgar scale, a measure of general newborn health, Reuters reports.

Consider the Pros and Cons

While the study identified several serious birth-related risks associated with the drugs, researchers said the relative benefits and risks of all drugs must be considered carefully by patients and their physicians in deciding which treatments are advisable.

In the case of anxiety and depression disorders, leaving the conditions untreated can have tragic and devastating health complications, officials said.

“It is very important to have other studies of the risks associated with (these) drugs, but also of benefits associated with treating mothers,” Reuters quotes Calderon-Margalit, a former University of Washington researcher who participated in the study.

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