Link confirmed between antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism risk in newborns

‘A recent study by researchers from the University of Bristol, England, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), is likely to cause great concern among pregnant women worldwide. Though the study’s authors have tried their best to downplay their findings, their research has revealed that children exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy are at higher risk of developing autism than children whose mothers have psychiatric disorders but choose not to take these dangerous drugs during pregnancy.
The researchers analyzed data from 254,610 kids from Stockholm, aged between 4 and 17, of whom 5,378 had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
According to Science Daily, “Of the 3,342 children exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy, 4.1% (136) had a diagnosis of autism compared with 2.9% (353) in 12,325 children not exposed to antidepressants whose mothers had a history of a psychiatric disorder.”
While the authors have tried to look for flaws in their own study methodology, and insist that the increased risk of autism is negligible, their insistence is not likely to reassure too many pregnant moms.’
Read more: Link confirmed between antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism risk in newborns