Antidepressant use during pregnancy may lead to childhood obesity, diabetes

Women who take antidepressants during pregnancy may be unknowingly predisposing their infants to type 2 diabetes and obesity later in life, according to new research from McMaster University. Previous studies have found that pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to depression and it is estimated that up to one in five pregnant women have symptoms of depression during pregnancy. Maternal use of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, resulted in increased fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver of the adult offspring, researchers have demonstrated for the first time in an animal model. This raises new concerns about the long-term metabolic complications in children born to women who take SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.