Antidepressants Can Raise Blood Pressure During Pregnancy

Hypertension can cause problems for both mother and child.
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Published: April 09, 2012
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy raises the risk of high blood
pressure in expectant mothers, a new study shows.
Antidepressants are one ofthe most commonly used medications in
pregnancy, and hypertension can cause problems for both mother and
child. About one in five women suffer from depression during
pregnancy, and up to 14 percent of those women end up using an
antidepressant medicationto treat it.
Though the drugs are commonly prescribed to pregnant women, there has
not been much research on the effect theycan have on a mother's
health.
The new study, published in The British Journal of Clinical
Pharmacology, looked at more than 13,000 pregnant women, 1,200 of whom
had pregnancy-induced hypertension with no history of the condition
before they became pregnant. The researchers found that women taking
antidepressants of any kind had a 53 percent greater risk of high
blood pressure. Those who were taking Paxil, which belongs to the most
commonly prescribed classof antidepressants, known as selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI's, saw their risk rise even
higher, by 81 percent/

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