Large Decrease Seen in Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Feb. 3, 2025 -- There has been a large decrease in antidepressant use during pregnancy and no corresponding increase in psychotherapy claims, according to a research letter published online Jan. 30 in JAMA Network Open.
Claire Boone, Ph.D., from McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues measured antidepressant medication fills and psychotherapy claims of women and their spouses for two years before and two years after the birth of a child (2009 to 2019). The study included 385,731 women.
The researchers found that 4.3 and 2.2 percent of women filled an antidepressant prescription in the year before pregnancy and during pregnancy, respectively, a reduction of 48.8 percent. No similar change was seen in antidepressant use among 217,877 spouses, indicating that this behavior was not associated with co-occurring changes in the couple's life. During pregnancy, there was a slight decrease in psychotherapy claims related to a trend line. Women's mean medication fills returned to the prepregnancy trend line within one month of giving birth.
"We documented a large decrease in antidepressant use without an accompanying increase in psychotherapy during pregnancy," the authors write. "These findings, coupled with evidence of mental health challenges during and after pregnancy, suggest the need for increased focus on and discussion about mental health treatments by pregnant women and their clinicians."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted February 2025
Read this next
ADHD Drug Treatment Linked to Reduced Rate of Adverse Outcomes
THURSDAY, Aug. 14, 2025 -- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug treatment is associated with reduced rates of adverse outcome events, including suicidality...
Suicide-Specific Therapy App Effectively Cuts Suicidal Behavior in High-Risk Inpatients
THURSDAY, Aug. 14, 2025 -- A mobile phone app designed to deliver suicide-specific therapy reduces suicidal behavior among high-risk psychiatric inpatients, according to a study...
Risk for Incident CVD Increased for Women Who Reported Experiencing Stalking
MONDAY, Aug. 11, 2025 -- Women who report experiencing stalking and obtaining a restraining order have an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.