Citations added later. And the extreme amount of editing and spell-checking.
Birth defects in pregnancy primarilly can be traced to several causes.
1.Nutritional Deficiencies.
2.Drug abuse.
3. Pollution in the area
Nothing can be done about 3 besides installing a large amount of air filters in the home or moving to a different area.
Those are the two primary causes of malformations found after birth. Here are some things people think are linked, but are not as directly linked.
4. Severe insomnia
5. Great lack of exercise.
However, depression, in and of itself, has not been linked to malformations and similar later in life, in and of itself, besides the genetics of someone depressed making it so someone will be more prone to depression later in life.
So, for antidepressants to be argued to possibly help the infants health, it must directly combat the first two, and possibly do something for 4 and 5. The bad effects of a so called "untreated depression" must go into these.
How of course, do people argue that adding antidepressants combats the first two? If someone is deemed responsible enough to consistently take the pill, which they must be more alert in consistency then ususal which is already considered to need that a good deal, then they are responsible enough to take a multivitamin or a some 300 calorie nutrition pudding/blend morning and night.
For the second, its considered bad practice to add additional meds on top of fighting a drug problem, besides those specifically added to counter withdrawal symptomes, such as benzoes for alcohol and perhaps a temporary antipsychotic. Those adding antidepressants in the second case are considered by many well, to be shills after a buck. Sure its done to some patients, but so is polypharmacy with similar types of medications, also a no-no done by scammers.
And of course, if an antidepressant is strong and euphoric enough to coutner drug abuse like opium or alcohol, won't it also have its own strong share of side effects?
The only drug I am aware of being offered to specifically reduce the consumption of another one is budipronon(wellbutrin) and that of reducing nicotine consomption. Though, with the high chances of relapse, its best to simply recomend one not getting pregnant until off the drugs.
So it coutnering the first two are false. First by the absurdity of giving someone a serious med who can't even be trusted to take a multivitamin consistently, second due to above meotioned. These things are simply not prescribed to aid in the reduction of the consumption of those drugs on a responsible basis. Some shrinks will do it, but some will prescribe the kitchen sink for more kick-backs and vacations too.
As for the second two, adding drugs to aid in sleep in teh first place amongst pregnant women is not considered a good thing. Its much more supported to find social supprot, different jobs and the like.
As for exercise, as antidepressants have some side effects like greater dizzyness, its utterly questionable to not prescribe only exercise as of itself, and due to antidepressents low utility and risk of sides, is considered best practice to be the first thing to rpescribe(as most behavioral interventions are). Its simply not the case of that in america because that's how doctors get paid more.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/for-depression-prescribing-exercise-before-medication/284587/
http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-and-depression-report-excerpt
Considering how exercise *works* just as well as these antidepressants (which by the way, don't work much better then active placebo in the first place, and long-term studies are all horribly marred by a large host of issues) this one is best accomplished by directly prescribing exercise itself. Two-3 sessions of 15-20 min a day is doable. Or a session of 30 minutes a day is doable.
So for the things that directly, and for those that are not as closely linked, antidepressants simply can't do anything about, except in some (Well obviously *happier*(not much better then active placebo) people are more likely to do properly!). If someone can take an antidepressant consistently, they can take a multivitamin consistently.
isn't is absurd what people
So why prescribe them at all in the population? Its commonly said that if a woman commits suicide both her and the baby are dead....but look!
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/suicide/psychopharmacological-treatment-reduce-suicide-risk
For starters, look at how weasly the support is for these decreasing the suicide rate. When directly comparing it to placebo, it looks horrible. In order to get good results, it looks at everyone in the nation not even on them, and compares national trends that way. With the large amount of variables, its like showing that the sales of a car decreases cancer because when it was being sold a lot, cancer rates were down.
But great. When directly comparing it to placebo in adults, its bad.
Why to never prescribe them? Simple, withdrawal at infancy.
"hese risks appear to be higher if medications with shorter half-lives are abruptly discontinued.26 Furthermore, findings from some studies indicate that antidepressant discontinuation is associated with increased risk of suicide.27"
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This is known as withdrawal, and how serious it is for something on its entire life to abrubtly go off these drugs! Of course, the people gettig paid for this will use the shoody long term studies to support giving an infant injectible SSRI's for the rest of its life to suddenly get two patients.
As it causes extreme withdrawal at the moment of birth, or withdrawal in the womb going off of them, that's really bad. Sudden withdrawal is thought to prompt cases of mental illness in adults with fully developed brains, let alone children already developing.
Hell, the reason "going off your antidepressants" all of a sudden is such a problem is because of withdrawal, and clearly not due to the protective effects of teh drugs themselves, as total suicide vs placebo studies will show. Why risk going on them at all then?
Studies of them in children.
The yougner you are, the worse antideprssants look for you in general. More studies.
Insert more
So great. The long term studies on depression are bad, and really marred by practices like pharma companies discontinuing studies for questionable reasons(such as getting poor results). The results on it decreasing suicide rates on woman of childbearing age are really really really bad.
Sure, it may well work for 6 weeks. But remember, so will caffiene and a cup of coffee in the morning for those who have not drinkedn coffe yet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/antidepressant-use-during-pregnancy-linked-to-increased-autism-in-kids_us_56706112e4b0e292150f72e3
With the already suggested risk, in a field where there have been so many statistical slights of hand with these studies, and plenty of cases of poor study control even in children, with their very low utility above exercise, best to just ban them in this case. And probably never prescribe them outside of that too with their sides, but I digress.