Pregnant women are urged to avoid Paxil

Pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects. 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. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also 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. Exposure to SSRIs late in pregnancy has been associated with short-term complications in newborns, the doctors said. The opinion appears in the December issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Courtesy of AP

Bonnie - I have been saying this for a while. Be extremely careful and look long and hard at the data before deciding to take or stay on antidepressants pre-pregnancy or during pregancy.