{"id":10213,"date":"2025-12-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=10213"},"modified":"2025-12-15T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:00:00","slug":"fda-panelists-questioned-antidepressants-in-pregnancy-but-doctors-call-them-a-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=10213","title":{"rendered":"FDA Panelists Questioned Antidepressants in Pregnancy. But Doctors Call Them a Lifeline."},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are pregnant or a new mother who is struggling with depression or anxiety, you can call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 24\/7: 833-TLC-MAMA (833-852-6262). Postpartum Support International can help connect you with a local mental health provider at 800-944-4773 or psidirectory.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before giving birth to her second child, Heidi DiLorenzo was anxious. She worried about her blood pressure, and the preeclampsia that prompted her to be hospitalized twice during the pregnancy. She worried that some terrible, unnamed harm would come to her 3-year-old daughter. She worried about her ability to love another baby as much as she loved her first.<\/p>\n

But DiLorenzo, an attorney in Birmingham, Alabama, did not worry about taking Zoloft. She had used the medication to treat anxiety before she had her first child, and she continued it throughout that pregnancy and this latest one.<\/p>\n

And since having her second daughter, in September, she credits an increased dosage with pulling her out of the \u201cdark hole\u201d of sadness she felt postpartum. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be as good of a mom to my girls if I didn\u2019t take it,\u201d DiLorenzo said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is among the estimated 20% of women in the U.S. who have depression or anxiety<\/a> during or after pregnancy. Yet only half of those mothers receive adequate treatment, according to Kay Roussos-Ross<\/a>, who runs the perinatal mood disorders program at the University of Florida. And just 5% take a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, a class of medications commonly used to treat both conditions.<\/p>\n

Now medical experts are concerned that a July panel discussion convened by the Food and Drug Administration could lead to more cases of untreated depression. Many of the 10 members of the panel expressed concern about the use of SSRIs, such as Zoloft, during pregnancy. They included Josef Witt-Doerring, a psychiatrist who owns clinics aimed at helping people wean themselves off antidepressants, and Adam Urato, an OB-GYN who recently petitioned the FDA to put stronger warnings on SSRIs.<\/p>\n

While the discussion did not represent any official FDA guidance, the panelists \u2014 in claims the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called \u201coutlandish and unfounded<\/a>\u201d \u2014 linked the drugs to increased risks of miscarriage, birth defects, and autism in children exposed to them in utero. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said its members were \u201calarmed by the unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims<\/a> made by FDA panelists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antidepressants are a safe, \u201clifesaving\u201d tool, given that mental health issues such as suicide and overdoses are the leading cause of maternal death in the country, ACOG President Steven Fleischman said in a statement on the group\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Christena Raines<\/a>, a nurse practitioner who in 2011 helped found the nation\u2019s first inpatient perinatal psychiatric unit<\/a>, in North Carolina, said SSRIs are \u201cprobably the most well-studied medicine in pregnancy.\u201d In long-term studies of children exposed to the drugs in utero, she said, researchers haven\u2019t seen problems.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too soon to know whether the panel discussion has affected prescribing rates \u2014 or whether those who are pregnant are avoiding the drugs more. But Raines, who teaches at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, said she\u2019s already fielding questions from patients. She said the misinformation the panelists spread \u2014 along with President Donald Trump\u2019s distorted claims<\/a> about taking Tylenol during pregnancy \u2014 is making her job harder.<\/p>\n

Dorothy DeGuzman is a family medicine physician who treats high-risk pregnancies in California. \u201cThere\u2019s already so much stigma around taking antidepressants in pregnancy,\u201d she said. \u201cThis will just add to the fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panel<\/strong><\/p>\n

The July panel discussion was one of four the FDA has convened since May. In the past, the agency vetted members of advisory committees to avoid conflicts of interest. Yet these panels were chosen in private and the events were held with scant public notice. In a July investigative report by MedPage Today, researchers and consultants raised questions about<\/a> the events\u2019 ethics and legality.<\/p>\n

Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard did not directly answer when asked about the panelist selection process. She called the panel events \u201croundtable discussions\u201d in which experts review the latest scientific evidence, evaluate potential health risks, and \u201cexplore safer alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The July panel appeared to be following an executive order<\/a> Trump issued in February establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission and directing it to \u201cassess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors\u201d and other medications.<\/p>\n

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the FDA, is a frequent critic of such drugs. He has claimed<\/a>, without evidence, that they might be contributing to school shootings.<\/p>\n

In opening remarks at the July panel discussion, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary also voiced concerns about the medications. \u201cFrom a national standpoint, the more antidepressants we prescribe, the more depression there is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not a Luxury\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sole member of the panel who was both a board-certified psychiatrist and an OB-GYN \u2014 the University of Florida\u2019s Roussos-Ross \u2014 raised a different concern. \u201cResearch shows that in women who stop their medications in pregnancy, they are five times more likely to experience a relapse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mothers with moderate to severe depression and anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to give birth early and have low-birth-weight infants<\/a>, she added. If they don\u2019t receive treatment, she said, they are more likely to misuse drugs or alcohol<\/a> and are at risk of suicide. They can have trouble bonding<\/a> with their babies, Roussos-Ross said, and those children are at higher risk for problems such as attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder<\/a>, depression, or anxiety \u2014 due to their mother\u2019s mental health challenges, not the SSRIs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stress that treating mental illness in pregnancy is not a luxury,\u201d she told the panel. \u201cIt\u2019s a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, about 19% of U.S. women in their 20s and 30s experience depression, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and roughly 10% take SSRIs. But studies show that half of women decide to stop taking antidepressants before or during their pregnancies.<\/p>\n

One reason so few expectant mothers receive depression treatment, doctors say, is that they are already afraid to take any medications during pregnancy. The majority of DeGuzman\u2019s patients rely on Medicaid, the government health coverage for those with low incomes or disabilities. Half are Latina. She often prescribes SSRIs, she said, but her patients rarely take them.<\/p>\n

The issue is especially urgent for Black and Latina mothers, who experience higher rates of depression and anxiety<\/a> than white, non-Latina mothers but are less likely to receive adequate treatment<\/a>. Many factors contribute to this disparity, including systemic racism, exposure to violence, misdiagnosis, and a lack of access to care.<\/p>\n

Shanna Williams, a perinatal mental health therapist who treats African American mothers in Philadelphia, said many of her clients were already more likely to trust friends and family over their doctors when it comes to whether antidepressants are safe to take while pregnant or breastfeeding. The FDA panel is \u201cone other voice that\u2019s saying you shouldn\u2019t do this,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd that does not help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judite Blanc<\/a>, who studies perinatal mental health in women of color, said universal child care and paid parental leave would help. \u201cMy research showed that the most important thing we can offer is social support,\u201d said Blanc, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. \u201cWe need the village to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kellyn Haight experienced debilitating depression after she moved to the mountain town of Brevard, North Carolina. The former labor and delivery nurse had no child care for her then-2-year-old daughter and no family or friends nearby as her husband was traveling for work.<\/p>\n

Her doctor prescribed Prozac \u2014 it didn\u2019t help. She called her husband to return home, but her insomnia just got worse. One morning, she begged him to end her suffering. He took her to the emergency room, and staffers sent her to the psychiatric unit of a local hospital. She said she was stripped of her clothing and put in a locked room. \u201cI felt like a creature, like an animal,\u201d said Haight, now 37. \u201cOne of my biggest fears is that happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n

After she was released, Haight found a psychiatrist and started taking Zoloft. She built a community of friends and began to feel stable.<\/p>\n

Now that her daughter is 5, she\u2019s trying to have another child \u2014 and plans to keep taking Zoloft throughout the pregnancy. \u201cI would rather be safe and present for my child,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m OK with assuming the risk, because I know what the alternative looks like, and I\u2019m not going there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n

This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are pregnant or a new mother who is struggling with depression or anxiety, you can call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 24\/7: 833-TLC-MAMA (833-852-6262). Postpartum Support International can help connect you with a local mental health provider at 800-944-4773 or psidirectory.com. Before giving birth to her second child, Heidi DiLorenzo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}