Babies go through anti-depressant withdrawal too

When pregnant women take anti-depressants, their newborns are likely to feel symptoms of withdrawal, the second negative study published on antidepressants in a week. Last week's New England Journal of Medicine study showed that babies of mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy had six times the risk of a rare but life-threatening lung problem.

Researchers at the Children's Medical Center of Israel found that nearly one-third of 60 infants whose mothers had taken anti-depressants while pregnant had "neonatal abstinence symptoms," which include high-pitched crying, tremors, and disturbed sleep. Children of mothers who were not taking the anti-depressants did not experience such symptoms.

Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, February 2006