Women who take Strategic Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth prematurely as women who do not take the drugs, according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine and funded by the Danish Medical Research Council.

Many of the most popular depressants are SSRIs, such as Prozac.

Researchers compared rates of premature birth between different women receiving prenatal care at the same hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. They compared women who were depressed and taking SSRIs with those who were depressed and not on any drugs, as well as those who did not suffer from depression.

Women who took SSRIs while pregnant were two times as likely to give premature birth as those who did not take the drugs. On average, they gave birth four to five days earlier (relative to their due dates) than women who did not take the drugs.

The researchers also found that the risk of an infant needing intensive care immediately after birth was significantly increased by SSRI use during pregnancy. While only 7 percent of babies born to non-depressed mothers needed intensive care, along with only 9 percent of those born to depressed mothers who were not taking drugs, 16 percent of babies born to women who had used SSRIs while pregnant required treatment in an intensive care unit.

Babies born to SSRI-using mothers also appeared less healthy than other babies, the researchers said, based on measures including skin color, activity level after birth, pulse, breathing and response to external stimuli.

Previous studies have confirmed that SSRIs can cross the placental barrier into the fetal bloodstream, and that infants born to women who used the drugs during pregnancy can suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

Health professionals recommend that women who are taking SSRIs and are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant speak with a doctor about their options, rather than stopping treatment abruptly. Side effects of antidepressant withdrawal can be severe.

Sources for this story include: www.guardian.co.uk.

Studies like this GeneralEndocrinology confirm that there has never been any research done to determine the effect of SSRI’s during pregnancy and while breast-feeding until recent years. Millions of women have been and continue to be mislead by psychiatrist and psychologist and bloggers that somehow being depressed during pregnancy, which I am certain is nothing less than a nightmare, is somehow more damaging to the fetus than taking psychiatric drugs.

I spoke at a hearing here in Boston on Wednesday on a bill that has come up to screen women for Postpartum Depression for one year following the birth of a baby. It is always interesting to me that men on hearing boards related to postpartum always ask the billion dollar question about whether Postpartum Depression has something to do with hormones. Of course, there are those psychiatrist and psychologist that must be living on some other planet who continue to say it has nothing to do with it. I informed them about the book Karen Miller co authored “The Estrogen Depression Connection The Hidden Link To Hormones and Women’s Depression.” I will also be sending a follow-up letter to provide further information about Dr. Eric Schwartz drerika who is an outspoken advocate of the use of Bioidentical Hormones for Depression and Postpartum Depression.

If you are a women who is depressed, insist on having your hormone levels check by your physician. Two of the primary causes of depression in women and is hormone imbalances and trauma. Dr. Robert Scaer traumasoma documents in his book entitled The Trauma Spectrum that one of the most significant trauma’s that exists comes from a background in sexual abuse, incest and inappropriate sexual touching. This does not mean that because you have been sexual abuse you will become depressed but it does put women at a much greater risk. There are many life traumas that lead to depression, being a child of divorce, witnessing a shocking event, being bullied, being rejected as just a few.

Though it’s not easy to get off psychiatric drugs, there are ways you can accomplish this under the care of a medical professional. You might want to read the book “Coming off Psychiatric Drugs” by Peter Lechman to educate yourself before consider the option of working with a medical professional to help you come off these drugs.

As you all know by now I am advocating for baseline hormone levels to be used as a first line diagnostic tool for Postpartum Depression and Psychosis and the retraining of psychologist in the most current models for treating trauma.

I currently working with a psychologist who is trained in the practice of EMDR to help me process the extreme trauma I experienced as a result of my experience with psychiatric during my childbearing years. I will keep you updated on the progress as I have been told this is one of the most effective forms in changing the brain pattern which is essential in overcoming trauma.

I have begun college so that I can present my medical conclusion on what causes Postpartum Depression and Psychosis which I hope will finally lead to young women getting the real help they need to make going through a pregnancy and giving birth the most incredible life experience you can have.

There is nothing more important than your health and well-being during and following pregnancy.

Original article by Sheila Sullivan at http://postpartumawareness.com