Fight Dependency

The US FDA released a warning regarding one of the most famous antidepressants used by consumers as it might cause birth defects. Zoloft with generic name sertraline, has been linked to a variety of birth defects especially when taken around the third trimester of pregnancy. Zoloft even placed the warning in its website saying that pregnant women or those planning to get pregnant should check with their doctor prior to taking the antidepressant. A study that was published in New England Journal of Medicine around 2007 found out that women who took Zoloft had an increased chance of giving birth to babies with omphalocele, a type of birth defect. Doctors have been careful in prescribing the medication to pregnant women but some patients are reluctant in talking about depression to physicians hence the proper treatment cannot be given.

Pregnant Woman With Depression

When a woman becomes pregnant, a lot of changes happen to her. This is the time where she must be very careful with the type of food she eats, her medications and the activities she performs. Plenty of factors are to be considered since she is also after the health of her baby. Everyone would want her pregnancy to be as healthy as it gets. However, when someone is diagnosed with depression prior or during pregnancy, the risk becomes greater. Depression can be harmful to the baby’s healthy especially with the treatments the mother has to have. This condition is managed generally with antidepressants but research has shown that it can cause birth defects when used by pregnant women. Alternative treatments to antidepressants are present but usually, physicians would use it in conjunction with the medications. Also, for those women diagnosed prior to pregnancy, the medications cannot be stopped abruptly as it may cause them more serious side effects.

Zoloft Use on Pregnant Women

Zoloft is an antidepressant belonging to the SSRI drug class. A Pregnancy Category C was given to Zoloft by the FDA and was reported to be the safest antidepressant among its drug class. However, with all the studies mentioning Zoloft birth defects such as heart defects, neural tube defects and craniofacial anomalies among others, doctors are becoming extremely cautious in prescribing the antidepressant medication to their pregnant patients.

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Tags: birth defects, FDA, health, zoloft